Hi

any flautists out there that can advise me about upgrading my flute? Im currently playing the yamaha 211s student model and have got to grade 8 with this. thought it was time to upgrade to something a bit flasher!!

i particularly want something for more warmth of tone (so I think that solid silver head joint for the very least), but my biggest dilemma is whether to have open or closed tone holes!!!

Im really not sure which to go for, or whether these will make much difference to my playing.

all advice gratefully recieved.
Angela.

Im not a flautist... but I think you can get little plugs for the holes, so you could go for an open hole one, and just get plugs, then take them out when/if you need them.

you may get a response in the woodwind forum :-) if you search this forum you may find it has already been debated as it comes up quite frequently.

Go to some of the large flute shops (e.g. All flutes plus, Just Flutes) and try as many different ones in your price-range as possible. I did this last summer and went to the shops one day, narrowed it down to a shortlist of around 6 flutes, stayed the night at a friend's who lives near london (I live the other end of the country!) and then went back the next day to try out my shortlist again. If you can, take a musical friend with you to listen and give feedback. You should be able to get some instruments on a short trial basis which I'd recommend because you can then try them out in lots of different rooms and get your teacher to look at them. When I tried out flutes last summer I found that one of the ones I'd really liked in the shop (in a small practice room with good acoustics) sounded really thin and lifeless in the rooms I usually played in.

Don't assume that more silver or a higher price automatically equals a better flute - my teacher plays professionally on a silver-headed flute with a silver-plated body.

Have a look for the flute which is best for you, rather than having your choice determined by what your friends play - different flutes will suit different players. For example, I know several people who all play a certain type and model flute and absolutely love it, but I really didn't get on with the flute in question.

Re open/closed holes I'd recommend talking carefully to your teacher and trying the different options. My teacher does not like people to get open-holed flutes if they require plugs/bungs in the holes because she finds that the majority of people who buy open holed flutes with bungs and expect to change their hand/finger position actually struggle to do so and still have the bungs in several years later. Some flutes are best as open-holed instruments and some are best as closed-hole ones - and the only way of judging is to try. Using bungs on open-holed flutes can have a significant impact on the resonnance and tuning of the instrument. One of the lasses in the orchestra I play in has been using an open-holed flute with bungs for ages and has been struggling to get the sound she wants and with tuning (the flute was always flat despite the crown being positioned correctly, and moving the crown just added a separate set of problems by changing the octave). I eventually persuaded her to try taking some of the bungs out and it has transformed the instrument.

If you do a search on here, you'll find that there are already lots of threads on this topic which include good advice.

Hope you find the flute you want.