Yeah, I’m buying a new flute from <woodwindbrasswind.com> in the next week or so and I’m wondering; is a Gemeinhardt 3SH the way to go? It’s only $600 and has a solid silver head joint, open holes, and a b-foot joint.
Do you guys have any other good suggestions for flute buying? I’m in ninth grade but am very advanced (trying not to sound stuck up…) for my age; my school has two bands and of my entire grade (like 80 in band) i was the only flute picked to go straight to the higher band. The last person who was a flute and was picked in ninth grade is now a senior.
So do you think this flute will meet my needs? Or do you have another idea?
Also, what is better, in you guy’s opinion; a gold lip plate or not? I don’t care about the money for that; I just want a pretty flute that I won’t get sick of looking at in the next ten years or so.
Thanks for reading this, and can you bear to read just a little more?
I’m experimenting with the fourth octave, do you have any good fingerings for me? I can’t get past the fourth Db .
A gold lip-plate won’t make anything except a cosmetic change. A gold riser could make a difference in sound but I don’t think they are available on Gemeinhardts unless maybe on the very highest-end KG custom flutes.
In ten years, believe it or not, you won’t care so much about how the flute looks…but you’ll either hate it or love it depending on how it plays.
–James
P.S. the 4th octave is brutal, even on a good flute. Keep trying, the notes will come. Just don’t sacrifice good tone and control to get them. It takes patience, a lot of work…and if you’re going to play in the 4th octave much, you really should invest in some earplugs, as at that range you really risk real damage to your hearing.
Hello Jill,
Welcome to the flute forum. Most of the people who hang out here play the Irish flute, but there are some good silver flute players as well. So stay tuned for awhile, and someone may be able to give you some good advice on what to buy.
Looking through my woodwindbrasswind catalogue, I can tell you that the flute you mentioned is their most popular step-up flute, so that should tell you something. It is probably so popular because it is a good flute at a fair price. I think that it would suit your needs throughout high school. You might price a similar Yamaha flute, but I think that they would be more expensive. I have a Yamaha YFL-381H, and I am satisfied with it.
Gemenhardt is OK. In this price range, the Japanese usually do better (Yamaha). But if you have a chance, try out a few different flutes and buy the one that you like best.
My Boehm system flute is a Gemeinhardt and it does the job for a relatively low price. It’s quite easy to play and mechanically sound. I’m not sure if it’s the model you mention. I don’t have any experience with Yamahas but I would need to improve quite a bit before I outgrow the Gem. (Flute is nowhere near my number one instrument.)
My first flute was an armstrong and then I tried a Gemeinhardt. The responce was a world of differant. I did not know how much I was struggling with the armstrong. I was only renting it to learn with. I took it back and bought a Gemeinhardt XV solid silver. I have never met anyone that did not like a Gemeinhardt. I also bought a used one to take back packing.
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