I have been playing for 3 years and I need a flute for concert season.My Yamaha -281 is being used for marching so what type should I get?
Also my cousin is going away to college to play, we were going to get her a flute. What kind should we get her?

Why do you need a different flute for marching and concerts?

>>Why do you need a different flute for marching and concerts?<<

Marching band + flute = trashed flute Mainly, they get rained on. But, they also have a better chance of getting dropped (and then stepped on), banged around, etc.

There are quite a few threads on here about different brands of flutes. What exactly are you looking for? If you have a flute teacher, what does he/she recommend? If you're not sure, then I'd recommend a silver or resin/"plastic" piccolo--you can get one for under $500 (new--used would be cheaper, but buyer beware), and, IMO, they are a better option for marching band, anyway. Then you could keep your Yamaha as an "indoor" flute until you decide exactly what you want.

As for your cousin, it's best to choose your own flute. You might consider contacting someplace like Fluteworld and giving her a gift certificate that she can put towards a new flute, or headjoint, or other music supplies/sheetmusic she needs in college. If she's not majoring in music, she might be happy with the flute she has; if she *is majoring in music, then she may have very decided ideas about what she wants--and it may be at more of the "investment" than "gift" price level.

a former student of mine was given a flute by a relative that was all wrong for her and actually slowed her progress, even though it was an excellent flute, she just wasn't ready for it yet.

my cousin told me that she got one from her parents but I still don't know about me. My flute teacher say I should but that i should never play it unless i'm actually at the concert. He recommend I get a higher grade yamaha or a nice Sankyo. Are those good brands. He was going to offer me a school pearl flute.

I have to disagree with your teacher, unfortunately. I also don't think you necessarily need different instruments. With proper care, a flute will not be damaged at all by marching (I took a Yamaha 581 through marching season my sophomore year, and it never was damaged once because I took reasonable care of it). Your teacher says you should only play a nice flute at the concert. I completely disagree. Learning to get the best out of a flute only comes from experience on it, and pulling it out once every couple of months is not the way to learn how to use its strengths. Also, when you are rehearsing music as a group, you are subconsciously learning what to do with your air to get a good tone, good intonation, the right articulation, etc. for that piece, and there is no way to adjust quickly enough to perform well in a concert on a flute you are not familiar with. Yamaha, Sankyo and Pearl are all solid brands, but there are several others you should look into. Depending on exactly what your budget and needs dictate, any of these would be worth looking at:

Haynes
Powell
Muramatsu
Brannen
Miyazawa
Tom Green
Landell
Emanuel
Arista
Louis Lot
Nagahara
Trevor James
Brio
Amadeus
Azumi
Sonare
Burkart
Altus

In the end, it is impossible for us to tell you what type of flute you should get, and you must play test as many different options as is feasible. Everyone wants something different, and the right flute for me might be a terrible match for you. Take your teacher (or other flutists) to help you playtest them, and do blind tests so you are not influenced by anything other than how the instrument plays.

I would get a geminhearthd (sp? Sorry im bad at spelling.....) you can get the holes filled in or get here an openhole but that's kinda hard to learn all the keys at once.... take it out one by one...

If you're stepping up to A higher range Yamaha or a Sankyo, I would steer away from Gemeinhardt unless you have play tested flutes and find it to be the best match for you. There are better flutes available for the money that will allow you to grow more musically. And music4god, do you mean a plateau (closed hole) flute vs. a French (open hole) flute?

Music4God is talking about getting an open hole flute and plugging up the holes untill more comfortable playing with the holes open.

You do have to take in account that a lot of younger school aged kids have not had the experience to know what kind of higher end model flutes are out there. They are going to recommend which ever brand they play on at the time. I know that I was always proud of which ever brand I was playing on at the time. Well...except for the Bundy, but I didn't know much better back then.

>>You do have to take in account that a lot of younger school aged kids have not had the experience to know what kind of higher end model flutes are out there. They are going to recommend which ever brand they play on at the time.<<

Right. Or the cool flute that the first chair in the high school band plays because that's the one they think they want.

<---guilty of this

get a reputable brand flute that works

Okay, I decided on a highr end Yamaha but I don't know what model. I'm thinking the 481H?

As everyone is saying.....play it (and several others) before buying it. You'll want the flute to fit you in everyway.
Like Patrick said, start with reputable brands, then test play over and over.
There isn't a best brand, only THE one that works best for YOU.

It would be nice if we had a sticky note thread thing at the top of this forum. This subject must come up almost once a week. It would be helpful.

That would be excellent....Admin, is there any chance of something like this being possible? It would save us all so much time.