If anyone has heard of the band piece "Africa: Ceremony, Song and Ritual", you might know the kind of trouble I may be having.

I've been playing piccolo for 2 years & I have some yamaha piccolo... its all silver, and probably the cheapest model (I'm not good with these things... I couldn't find it on a website). I noticed the model our school owned was a black plastic one by yamaha... and it seems to play the notes easier. The problem I have is that I'm not allowed to use it because there's piccolo division in this song. I've never ever played a grade 4 piece before, and our school has never taught one before this coming year.
The 5 leger line B flat is something I'm really struggling with... I'm not having trouble with that on flute though. I feel like there's nothing I can do but buy a new piccolo. I can hit the g just below it and sometimes the a. I think what I need is an affordable piccolo (as much as possible) but one which would assist with these notes. Help?

Before going out to buy a new piccolo, take yours to the shop to be sure that it doesn't have leaks. Leaks in a piccolo can have an even more drastic effect on tone production than on flute, and if this is the case, it will save you a lot of time and money. Also, remember that you must not tense when trying to play into the third octave. Yes, you need a certain amount of muscle in the embouchure, but tension will actually make it more difficult to hit these notes. Try to keep a firm, but relaxed embouchure, and work on these notes at home. Since you can play G, start there, and slur upwards to A-flat. When you feel secure in this, go up to A, and so on and so forth. It will take some time, but will really help you learn what you need to do with your air and embouchure to produce these higher pitches. There are also many alternate fingerings for piccolo aimed at getting a better response or correcting intonation that might be useful to you. Check the piccolo fingering chart at www.wfg.woodwind.org for these, and experiment a bit to see what works best for you and your instrument. Every piccolo is a bit different, so you really do need to play around a bit to find the optimum fingerings for your individual instrument. Let us know if none of this helps, and we should be able to help you on the new piccolo question, but if at all possible, you should try to avoid an unnecessary purchase.

Alright... these are all very good pointers, but I already have those charts bookmarked, which is how I found this site. I've done as much as I can with this piccolo and I'm just finding it harder and harder. I've tried scales up every day and my efforts are seemingly pointless. I need something easier to play... this thing just gives me headaches over and over whereas the different model didn't [as much]. When I do sell this one I will check if it has a leak though, and thanks for that tip

You're welcome....I take it that you're rather set on a new piccolo, then? Would you like me to go ahead and suggest some solid, but relatively inexpensive piccolos?

Oh, and if you want me to start off the suggestions, what price range are we talking about? And do you have any preference for materials?

well if you know of any particular models from your own experience which would assist with this... my price range, alas, is in Canadian dollars. Probably up to 1200 at the extreme most

That comes out to roughly 1086 USD according to XE.com, which actually is quite enough to get you a good piccolo. In fact, that plastic Yamaha (YPC-32) is just about the right price. I have one of these myself that I use when my wood picc is not suitable, and it is a fine instrument, and very widely available. An Emerson EP6 might be worth considering if you want a wood picc. It's slightly above your 1200 price new, but fluteworld has a used one on consignment for less, and it's a very good mid range piccolo that would be well suited to concert work. You might keep an eye out for used piccolos as well, as you can generally get "more" piccolo for your money this way. Just stick to the name brands and play test whatever you are looking at purchasing and you should be alright.

ohhh I have YPC-30 by the way... and question: should I consider Gemeinhardts at all? And wondering if they are any better...

They are definitely good middle of the road piccolos. Definitely give them a play and see what you think...You might also try out some Jupiter or Armstrong piccs while you're at it. Instruments are a personal thing, so what you consider better, others might dislike. Play as many piccs as you can, and choose the one that you feel mst comfortable with.