I was walking the flea market and this silver plated flute jumped out and stopped me so I took it home. I play guitar but I envy a flute player. Anyhow, I have some questions Im trying to answer and I found this forum. It looks like the keyless flute might be more simple to play than this one. All the keys!
How do I know what key my flute is?
Can I find anything out about the flute with the serial number? I tried FEOLDS.COM and didnt see my serial number. Model NA77S, serial 11132
I picked this flute up and I cant even figure out how to hold it.
Is there a cork grease or something to dress the surfaces that slide together?
I wonder if I can check the tunning with my guitar tunner?
Is there a nice website that will address my interests in how to begin learning?
It seems to me if this instrument is in the key of C that there will be 8 main keys to blow the C scale and a resolving C.
And what might it be worth? Is in real nice shape except it has 2 dents that dont seem too bad. They do not interfear with fitting the parts together.
Hi Geoff, don’t use grease on the slides, use graphite from a pencil lead.
You can probably get the beginners manual that the 8th grade and high school students use for the marching band. Also, most all city libraries will have a book on how to play the flute. Becasue the flute is chromatic, they usually designate it by the keys on the bottom section, either C or B. Probably a big help will be the local high school band director.
Blow in an empty pop bottle for a while, then just the mouth piece, then hold your hand over the open end of the mouth piece and practice getting a sound. Next, practice “octave leaps” on the mouth piece (open-ended) for a while until you can do it precisely and with a tone you like.
FINALLY, add the rest of the flute and start learning notes. Don’t even put together the flute until you get a teacher, player or book to tell you how as you can do a lot of damage by holding it wrong when you put it together.
You’re smart to want to learn to blow first. Practice that for a while and then when you are learning songs, your embouchure will be well formed and not the limiting factor in what you can play (for the most part. It can always be improved!).