Is renting your first flute...

Irish Flute
1

…a generally better idea than splashing out on one? I’m looking to try my hand Boehm flute but, having read up on it, have noticed that:

Beginner (yamaha 211’s, etc) are only a few hundred £’s short of intermediate flutes (say a Trevor James Cantabile). If I was to buy a beginner, then intermediate flute, (lets say £350 & £650) then thats £1K I’ve spent.

Would it not make more sense (assuming that I’m going to advance to an intermediate level, of course) to spend £100 on hiring a beginner flute for a few months, then buying my intermediate, longer-term flute?

Or would it take more than a few months to outgrow the beginners advantages over the intermediate?

2

Sure, you could rent a flute to see if it’s something you like.

This board deals mostly with wooden simple system flutes.

Jessie

3

Yeah, I noticed that, but finding a classical forum has proved a task too much for my Google skills :frowning:

4

On 2002-10-30 19:03, ONEN wrote:
Yeah, I noticed that, but finding a classical forum has proved a task too much for my Google skills > :frowning:

I like the forum on James Galway’s site…
http://www.jamesgalway.com
You need to register, and they will send your password to your e-mail address. Lots of nice people, all different levels, from lots of different backgrounds ~ kind of like here!
Mary

5

Don’t you think here is more fun? :slight_smile:

6

Yep!! Happy Halloween, y’all!
Mary

7

Another option is just jump in and start with something nicer than the bottom-level student flutes. If you’re sure enough that you’re going to like and stick with it.

The low end student flutes are really made with the 10 year old student in mind. They're sturdy to take abuse and cheap so if the 10 year old sits on it, mom and dad don't do anything illegal.

Also keep in mind that some of the "intermediate" or "step-up" flutes are little more than the bottom-line machanism soldered onto a silver tube. It costs more, but otherwise isn't really much different than the entry level model.

Me? I started on a bottom end Pearl (at age 40) and 3 years later am in the process of choosing something a little higher quality, like a Yamaha 600 series, or a low-end Miyazawa or Sankyo or Altus.

Lots of different ways to play the game.

As noted, this board is mostly for simple system wooden flutes (all kinds of flutes are lots of fun!). There is a nice active mailing list that is more centered on Boehm flutes. Info at http://users.uniserve.com/~lwk/fluteweb/fluteweb.htm click on the FAQ button for subscription info.