Hey, I’ve been playing a Feadog D, and a Susato C off and on for about a year, and am thinking about giving the flute a shot. How many of you have picked up the flute, and what are your thoughts on making the transition, learning curve, similarities, differences, etc.?
Thanks in advance!
I went the other way around, from flute to whistle.
Were you thinking of going to Irish flute or to a Boehm system? The Irish will be fingered more like the whistle. A Boehm flute (the one with all the keys) has the advantage of being totally chromatic (you can play in any key) but the fingerings are different in subtle but important ways.
For example, the F# is the biggest bugaboo for me when swapping back and forth from whistle to Boehm. On whistle it’s XXX XOO and on flute it can be either XXX OXO or XXX OOX and you make your choice based on factors like the previous note or next note. E is XXX XXO, so it’s easier to transition in and out of F# by moving right one finger with the first option rather than swapping all right fingers with the second.
On top of that, there can be tonal and tuning variations between the two fingerings…
And then you have to learn how to blow the danged thing.
Wouldn’t you be just as happy with a nice low whistle? 
M
Hi Marguerite.
Were you thinking of going to Irish flute or to a Boehm system?
Irish. I’m thinking about ordering one from Mr. Tipple (http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace/index.html).
Yeah, I’ve thought about a nice low whistle, but the flute looks like fun, too. 
I have started with a Tipple. It’s a great flute to learn with, I think.
(Get the Tipple-Fajardo wedge)
Be prepared to invest a lot more into just learning to blow the thing.
It’s just not as intuative as the whistle. You have to develop your
emboucure and breath control before you really start to get a good sound
out of any flute. Even learning to hold it properly took me a few days.
Stick with it and don’t get discouraged; the learning curve eventually
lightens up.
I went from whistle to flute a couple of years ago. I greatly enjoyed the whistle, but the flute is on a whole nother echelon of pleasure. And difficulty for that matter. Similarities: the fingering is the same; if you’re intending to play the same music on the flute, then the music will be the same.
Differences: Although the fingerings are the same, the muscles you use to move the fingers are different, so there’s really not all that much muscle memory involved. The flute requires you to make the sound rather than to just blow into it. So there’s a long learning process just to get a sound, to conserve air, to get the right sound, to get different sounds, etc. OTOH, the flute is much more dynamic. After some time, you’ll be able to play loudly or softly in either octave, you’ll be able to get a reedy, pure, breathy, or dirty sound from it. It’s really a remarkable woodwind that way.
Enjoy!
I’ve tryied a flute I made myself… making it sound was not so difficult, but holding it sideways and playing C# in a tune without loosing the sound was almost impossible to me bacause I moved it a lot 
Maybe I’ll try again someday, but right now I prefer to stick with whistles.
GO FOR IT! And hey, if it doesn’t work out, at least you will have given your lungs a good workout. You’ll probably notice that you’ll have more air to play whistle with.
Yeah, learning to hold it such that it is steady when no holes are covered
is the first step… If you search the Flute Forum (or look in Grey Larson’s
Essential](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0786649429/qid=1122569370/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8469129-9941600?v=glance&s=books&n=507846%22%3EEssential) Guide), you’ll find many tips for a proper grip.
Sounds fine to me. I have a Casey Burns “small hands” folk flute. I like the tone but I’m having trouble fingering it comfortably–not a fault of the flute, I hasten to say, but because I have arthritis damage on the left hand and have trouble hitting the holes. My Boehm has keys…much more forgiving to the differently-abled. (I’m trying out a “buddy strap” for my uncooperative finger and that adaptation shows some promise.)
M
Don’t do it, don’t go over to the dark side! 
Dow,
It is your Dessstiny!
On a cynical note, if spending a great deal more money for a functionally identical instrument is your idea of a good idea, go for flute. 
[KIDDING!]
In all seriousness, I find them to be very different instruments for the reasons alluded to in prior posts. At the moment, I am very much on the fluter side of things, for a few reasons. Ergonomically, the stretch on a low D whistle doesn;t really work for me. Also, I am a bottom dweller tonally. I like bassy things, so a focus on a regular whistle isn’t in my personality. Probably most important, I think my playing style lends itself to flute moreso than whistle - I couldn;t pinpoint exactly why but there it is.
To paraphrase Robin Williams,
“There are whistle people and flute people - find out which you are and BE that person.”
Or not. 
Do it.
I say the Tipple is the best PVC Flute around. I did it and it was the blowing that is hard you just have to practice a lot.
Oh, don’t go letting everyone scare you. My wife could play an octive plus scale the first time she picked up one. It was a Dixon 3 piece polymer flute of a board member we were visiting. I bought her one flute, which we opted to return and she currently has a Bleazey Rudall.
Really, don’t let everyone scare you.
Flute is not whistle, but it’s fun and worthwhile. It requires that you work on more stuff to get the music to happen, but the resulting sound is delicious.
Start with a Tipple. If the hole spread is too big for you, but you still like the flute sound, then get a Burns small-handed folk flute. It’ll be just right.
Yeah, what she said. I think flute offers a greater range of expression through embrochure rather than fipple. Maybe that’s ‘cause I started out on flute. Not that you can’t have great expression with a whistle, but it’s necessarily different. Don’t know nuthin’ about no Tipple, so I’d trust those that play it.
I’m babbling…time to go to bed.
M
Give it a try. Besides. Flutes should be cheaper than whistles anyway. They arn’t much besides a hollow stick with seven holes in them. I think a lot of them grow that way to begin with.
This is true! A whistle clearly requires far more skill and effort in the making . . . it has that complex fipple structure whereas a flute just has . . . another doggone hole.
Considering the extra effort required to play the flute, you should get a discount. A big one. 
I started both around the same time. I’m primarily a flute player, but both are a lot of fun.
There is more variety of things you can do with the flute because you form the airstream with the shape of your mouth. It takes a lot of practice to do this well. It takes a lot of practice to play any instrument well.
It really comes down to what you’re going to enjoy more.
My first flute was a Tipple. He does amazing things with plumbing!
The sound is great. I had some trouble/awkwardness with the finger spacing and posiotioning but that may have been just because I was such a novice. I haven’t played one for years since and probably ought to.
The flute will take a bit of effort. Be patient and focus on getting good tone before fussing with speed or ornaments. All that will come in time.
Good luck.
Doc
Well, I started The whistle (low D) four months ago, and the flute about six days ago, and the flute is taking some work to learn…
BUT!! that Low D whistle was harder for me to get used to than the flute. Not that the flute is actually easier, but the whistle was my first wind instrument, and getting me fingers to actually cover the holes without squeaking was quite a trick. I do think I like the sound of the flute a touch more, but I can fly all over the place on the whistle now, and the flute takes more brain power. The soprano D is another story, of course, being that it’s always easy, and always sounds great. I’ve actually begun to love my soprano D even more now that I’m started on the flute, and my Low D less.
That’s weird, but so goes life
