Since I acquired a mandolin I’ve had trouble motivating myself to keep up with my flute. I really suck at flute and whistle. My embouchure is only getting worse. I suck at the mandolin too, but it is so much fun. It is nice to play an instrument without sitting up straight or worrying about breathing. I don’t know what to do. I need to focus or else I’ll never be a good musician.
Just wanted to check in and complain. Thanks for your time.
If you could be a musician, then music begins within you, and not from without.
An instrument is only a machine, and its manipulation is only a matter of technicalities.
Reach deep within yourself, and then reach deeper, and then deeper still, and when you’ve found the depths of your heart, then let it out, as music.
Begin small, begin simple, and let your heart be your guide, always.
I’ve been playing and studying music almost my entire life, on several different instruments, so I’ve heard plenty of teachers advice about the importance of dedication. And it’s true, if you aren’t dedicated, and willing to practice, you’ll never be a good musician.
But, IMHO, if you don’t truly love the instrument… and if, after a serious try, you’re not getting any enjoyment from it…then move on, try something else. Not everybody is good at everything. It doesn’t mean you can’t make music just ‘cause the flute (or whatever) is not your cup o’ tea. If you enjoy the mandolin, then that’s what you should be playing!
I think they said do whatever you find fun at the moment, and if none of your instruments seem fun, then don’t bother them. Music should never feel like work. If you want to be a musician, then you are one. It’s just your technique that might need a little work. 
I played “at” the guitar for quite a few years and enjoyed it but wouldn’t play for anyone. Now after six months I shamelessly play the flute in a packed pub. Go figure! Don’t fight nature, go with it. But do expect to put in some serious time. But it’s not hard when you love it, my problem is stopping so I can get work done!
In addition to what I just said, as above…
When it comes to musical instruments, a sign of real, genuine progress is when the student can acknowledge that they really are in serious need of improvement.
Call it a moment of honesty, but that’s near universally where great musicians begin, yes, perhaps including you, Diane.
So, you suck at playing? Great! Now, get serious about it, and get on with it, one tone at a time, and straight from the heart.
Yes, you can!
I’m kinda the opposite of you… I have played trumpet for a LONG time and have always loved it. The Irish flute has all but taken over my musical life, though! I still practice a few times a week with the trumpet, but the flute is my current “love”. I don’t think I suck at it any more, either! But then again, I haven’t really sucked on the trumpet for about 30 years!
Pat
Personally I’m just obsessed with the sound a flute makes.
Always have been.
Irish music… on flute… just gets me.
Ok… Fiddle also does but I have to pick.
Which is to the point.
Dump all your other instruments and just play flute.
No whistle, no mando.
Find some flute tunes that just get you and listen to it.
Get those tunes in your head and then learn to play them.
Now it might be that that you aren’t that interested in flute.
Pick an instrument.
Stick to it.
Learn and love the tunes… the music.
That is what is most important.
Later you can try another instrument.
You need to focus… and love what you focus on.
I have the same problem (with having the work done)… Can’t keep from adding one instrument every year… or less… Too late to be a professional anyway (might not have the skill either)! So what’s left is “just” pleasure… So don’t blame yourself for that.
Pascal.
I love the flute, I love the whistle, I like the low whistle less after I got the flute, I love strumming some new tunes on the guitar and also like to play my loved tunes on the keyboard. Bare fun, no dedication or serious faces.
The flute though, I practice everyday and care about perfectionism I guess I’m a bit dedicated to it…
I can certainly sympathise! In fact I’ve been considering writing a similar post for some time. I gave up the fiddle (after playing for about two decades) due to a shoulder problem and have been fluting for less than 2 years.
Maybe it’s because I can’t remember the early years on the fiddle, but I feel like I’m really struggling with the flute, so I too could do with some words of encouragement!
I have a really great instrument (Chris Wilkes Pratten keyless in ABW), so I can’t blame that!
I’ve learned quite a few tunes now, but I’m not very happy with them. Also my cuts and rolls are coming on okay, but playing is still a frustrating experience. I think in my case it’s to do with flow - because my embouchure is still developing (and will be for several more years they tell me!) I have to keep stopping for breath in inappropriate places (and of course more often than I like), so the flow of the tune is interrupted which I find very frustrating. I suppose that with the fiddle (as with you on the mando) it’s reasonably easy to keep a tune going once you’ve mastered the basics.
If anyone has some advice or encouragement regarding this flow thing, I’d be very grateful indeed.
I’m not tempted to give up and try another instrument - I love the flute! But it is sometimes hard not to smash it against the wall when things aren’t going right… 
Don’t worry Chris, only joking…
I agree as others have said above, that you need to find the instrument(s) that suit you best - it may be flute or it could be stringed instruments or ones with buttons. So if you find Mandolin more rewarding, go with that for a while.
But don’t sell your flute just yet! You might find that coming back to it in a few months time will be surprising and rewarding or you might not.. At the end of the day the flute is a very simple instrument but can also be a bl**dy frustrating instrument. I think everyone experiences that.
I took up playing concertina about this time last year - I like the co-ordination required between both hands - I like the fact that you press a button and it generates a good consistent solid tone. There’s an ease about it in that sense but challenges in other areas. It’s a change from playing flute or whistle but I know that at the end of the day, when I play well on flute - it’s very very satisfying and I have no doubt that despite the little frustrations in playing flute, that in my case, it is what suits me best. Or in other words, when I play a tune well on concertina, I think ‘that’s nice - good stuff’ but when I play well on flute, I think ‘that’s wonderful’!
I wanted to add, that life is full of phases - while you feel you don’t want to play your flute now, it might change back again in the future, near or far.
Maybe mandolin does suit you best. I switched the other way a couple of years ago and have not regretted it, yet.
I have realised that, for me, practising things that require coordination of my hands and fingers is more tiring and slower to show any progress than using lungs and lips etc. Breathing and embouchure development is still very slow but at the end of a week there is something to show for it. With the mandolin, and to a lesser extent fingering on the flute, it was much more of two steps forward one step back, with occasional stagnation.
Maybe it is the other way round for you.
The main reason for switching was a realisation that I wanted to hold notes but did not like the sound of tremelo, and that my interest was in melody.
But I just got new set of strings.
I like instruments. Period. I started out as a child learning to play guitar from an accordian teacher. I know that it is hard to conceive now, but guitar was really not that popular in 1953, at least in my home town. Somewhere along the way I started playing recorders, again reading music. Then I got the urge to play the flute and the violin. Now I have a cello, viola, two violins, two mandolins, a guitar, and more flutes and whistles than I care to mention. Right now my playing time is pretty much divided between the flute (Irish and silver alto) and a new fiddle that I am trying to break in.
There are two sides to every coin. One side says that if you intend to be serious about your music, then you need to stick with one instrument. However, the other side of the coin says to go ahead and enjoy playing other instruments at the same time, especially if you don’t plan to be a professional musician. I do think that it is a good idea to stick with one partner (wife, husband, or significant other), but I give myself more liberty when it comes to my other loves.
I took a few lessons from Bill Ochs some time ago and he told me to drop a note when I need to take a breath and the FLOW will continue. After listening to me a few minutes he marked the notes (I was reading) that I should drop and explained when to drop them. It was hard to do at first but I got used to it.
Hi Diane.
I have struggled with this same issue for many years. I am basically self-taught, aside from the occasional class or workshop. I have played the whistle and flute for many years, and while I progressed, it has been at a snail’s pace. Three years ago I got bitten by the banjo bug. Actually, it was a couple years earlier than that. I was also bitten by the fiddle bug. I had friends who played these instruments and well, the just got to me. I started dabbling with the fiddle and took a few initial lessons from a classically trained fiddler who recently got into Irish music. I played, but sporadically. At the same time, I picked up the banjo and was really taken by it’s percussive nature. I started play the banjo and would let the fiddle sit for longer and longer periods. Now, I play the banjo for at least 45 minutes a day (during my lunch period at school), and use my time at home to learn tunes by ear on the flute and play through the ones I already know, or break apart difficult sections, etc. I have also started to take lessons on the fiddle again and am trying to incorporate the fiddle into the lunch routine so as to play it daily. I am finding that the banjo has helped me to figure out tunes on the fiddle (same fingerings (sort of) and the string tunings help with the ear training and interval recognition). Anyway, to echo some of the other contributors, follow what you have a passion for. Use the knowledge you have gained from one instrument and apply it to others. It does become a little frustrating making time for all of them, but go with the flow and passion of the moment. It’s not a bad idea to take a break from an instrument for a while. Gives one time to reflect on one’s playing.
Now,
get back to playing!
Arbo
I also agree with Cork’s suggestion. I play a number of instruments, and have been playing music in some form for about forty years. I’ve only been at Irish flute for a couple of years. On a good day – when my mind is right – I can play good music on any of them. On a bad day – when I’m lazy, distracted, or generally “off” – I can’t do anything worthwhile on any of them.
I actually feel that being a multi-instrumentalist is a good thing for me. I often get an idea on one, and say “I wonder how that would sound on the …!”. It keeps things fresh.
The worst mistake you can make is to constantly play the stuff you already know. The way to get better is to try new things, stretch, and (most of all) PLAY WITH OTHER PEOPLE!.
Good luck! 
I too have been unfaithful to my flute, though not in the extreme. I borrowed my mother’s guitar because my wife sings and I though it would be nice if I cold play a some simple accompaniment. My aspirations on the guitar are pretty low, but it is certainly addictive and very much fun. Not only that, but I am learning more about music by playing the guitar. It’s also helping a bit with my “singing”.
The flute still commands about 90% of my music time.
If I can also add, it can really work out practice-wise for you to play both a wind and a stringed instrument. For instance, I tend to eat dinner shortly after getting home, then have to wait for at least an hour before playing the flute. Now that I have a guitar, I can play around with that while my food is digesting.
It seems there’s a real temptation to begin a new, unfamiliar piece of music, and then attempt to play it through, from start to finish, in tune and on time, and it also appears that there are those rare players who can do just that, but then there are the rest of us, myself included, who must work at it.
So, what to do?
Well, one proven technique is to break a new piece of music into many little pieces, as bite sized chunks, of maybe two measures. Work on the first two measures until they are comfortable, then work on the next two measures until they are comfortable, and then try putting them together, to make a sequence of four comfortable measures. Then, in a similar way, keep adding two more measures at a time. Eventually, you’ll have a “string” of measures, and a complete piece of music!
Now, when it comes to the flow of the music, wind instruments (pipes excepted) are at a natural disadvantage, simply because a player must momentarily stop, to breathe. Here, however, the general rule is to not breathe on the beat, as it’s the beat which keeps the flow going! So, try breathing either just before, or just after, the beat, depending on circumstances. It can also be helpful to breathe more frequently, to take smaller, shallower breaths more often, at least until you know a piece so well that you know just how often you must breathe. A shallow breath simply takes less time than a deep breath, and, as it happens, in the world of flute playing there are some relatively long, technical passages which simply demand a frequent series of quick, shallow breaths, in order for the flow of the music to remain alive.
Edited, a little