Is it Time to Upgrade Your Flute?

Have you thought about upgrading your flute? If so, this is an exciting time! But are you asking yourself whether it is necessary? Are you unsure as to whether you should invest in the step-up instrument?

So, you have been playing flute for a while, and you’ve been playing on a beginner flute. The natural question that comes next is this question of whether it is time to move up to the step-up instrument. Now that is a question that is for you to decide. The bottom line is, if you have the funds you can upgrade to the next level flute any time you want.

There have been a few times in my private teaching life where an adult comes for lessons, and they have a really nice flute. By “really nice” I mean that they have way more flute then is necessary for them as a beginner. As long as the student knows how to take care of an expensive instrument, I am fine with that. But I would not recommend an intermediate flute for a young beginner.

Okay so if you are asking the question is it time to upgrade? Then let’s discuss why it might be time for you to upgrade to a better flute.

Generally, I think it is best to start off with a beginner instrument, especially with the younger students, because you want to test the level of interest. A beginner instrument allows you to develop as a flutist and musician for a while with a flute that will respond easily enough. It allows you to decide whether you want to continue learning and move to the next level.

For younger students, these beginner instruments are built hardier than the step-up instruments, and they can take a little bit more of a beating. If you are shopping for a beginner instrument you do not need to try a lot of different ones. They are all in the same basic price range, are factory made, and have a variety of sound qualities that will generally allow the beginner student to get a solid beginner sound.

When I believe it is time to upgrade is after my students and I have been working on tone quality and embouchure for a while. Since every student is different, I recommend upgrading at different times and ages. The key is embouchure. I do not think that a new flute will do for you what you want it to without having worked on your embouchure.

By the word embouchure I mean tone.

A step-up instrument allows you to develop a better tone quality because you are adding silver to the instrument. More silver equals a more refined tone. Beginner flutes have a silver plating that is mixed with Nickel. Intermediate flutes have solid silver head joints and either a solid silver or plated body. Either of these options will directly affect the tone that one can achieve on the flute.

If you have been working on tone, then trying a step-up instrument with a solid silver head joint will make a world of difference for you. If you have not been working on tone development, then you may not be able to hear the difference from your beginner flute. This will make it harder to choose which flute is the best for you. Plus, it can be discouraging to not hear an instant improvement in your sound.

Now, it is true, you can get an upper-level flute first, and then work on your embouchure. The potential for improving your performance is still there in those instruments – waiting for you to unlick. But I think when you move up to the next level instrument, you do want to hear the difference right away. However, you may not hear that improvement, if you have not begun to develop a nice tone on the instrument you already have.

Besides tone, there might be a couple other considerations when you are thinking about stepping up. One of those is the finger action. That is, how do the keys move for your hands? Flutes are made generally the same, so it isn’t that they keys are in different spots. So, it is more about how the keys feel for you. Maybe you are developing a nice quick technique and you are looking for key action that is quiet and smooth. Beginner flutes do not usually have quiet smooth keys. You can definitely feel the difference in the key action of a beginner flute (clunky action) and an intermediate flute (smoother quiet action).

Perhaps you are looking to move from a closed-hole instrument to an open-hole instrument and moving from a C foot to a B foot. Those are all legitimate reasons to upgrade.

But I think the most important thing is your tone. If you can get a great tone on your beginner instrument, then it is time to experiment with an intermediate flute and the improved sound that silver can offer.

So, my advice about whether to step-up is to begin by improving your embouchure. Work on improving your sound so that it is almost to what you are looking for. Then when you upgrade to that silver head joint or silver body (depending on how much money you are going to put into it) then you are going to be amazed at the power and the resonance that you can get when you do step up to a better flute.

Have fun!

Doctor Flute

Watch my video as I help you decide if it is time to upgrade your flute.

Is it Time to Upgrade Your Flute? FluteTips 131