i have a friend that learned flute so she could march next year. She says flute is an "easier" instrement. I like playing and well i take that as an insult. I think it`s easier for her because she`s band in band 3 years now, but is it true that flute is easier? I don`t think so but I was just wondering...

I think every instrument has it`s own challenges. I think developing good tone and getting clear notes with well developed lip muscles and good support and air stream and good intonation are some of the most difficult things about the flute. I think other instruments feel it does not take much air to play flute when it does. Also i`ve heard of circular breathing that seems easier to do with reed instruments and I can`t fathom how to do it on flute at all!

Oooh I play saxophone and flute, and am right now, trying to get circular breathing on my sax. Circular breathing on flute is VERY VERY HARD. This is because the flute has no resistance, and the saxophone does. Barely anyone knows how to circular breathe on flute because not knowing how to circular breathe will not shatter your dreams on becoming a famous flutist.

In regards to flute being a hard instrument. I would say it has its difficulties. I transitioned from sax to flute and I found it very difficult to get high notes. But my lip muscles eventually got stronger and now I can . Everything takes practise.

well, circular breathing on a flute is like trying to circular breathe with your mouth open ie near impossible because you can`t puff your cheeks. it sounds horrible when i try to do it but i guess it takes practice

on the easy/hard question though: flute = easy to learn but hard to master. so you shouldn`t feel offended when your friend said that. each instruments have their own challenges, so if you haven`t met any on the flute, don`t get discouraged

best of luck

Well, if your friend was a real musician, she wouldn`t say things like that because of the things the people ^ up there said. Yes, flutes circular breathing is hard you`re constantly blowing no pressure air so it`s hard to keep the air in the cheek and doing the stuff. Other traditional flutes are different, and the players can do circular breathing because they obviously pratice so much!

my old flute teacher told me that flute is an instrument that is easier to begin, but much more difficult to make professional sound... to develop it to a level of being expert at it, i mean.

It really depends. I think that some instruments can be easier for some people to play than others. Some people can pick it up no problem when others can not. I was able to pick up the flute right away and play it because I believe that it was meant for me. Where as if I try to pick up the sax or clarinet, I really suck and it just never came naturally to me as the flute did.

If you were to be a person who actually loves music, and tried the flute for the first time, they wouldn`t say it`s so easy, etc. etc. because it`s just not very smart to say things like that, since there will be tons of more people playing flute seriously in the real world, and like you said, it is an insult to say that the flute is really easy, even if it is to be easy, your friend shouldn`t have said that.