I'd keep on playing no matter what anybody said.Like when ur parents arent home,play...But you didnt hear this from me...LoL

Definitely don't do that if the doctor has advised against it. Playing through the pain can have potentially debilitating consequences that could end your flute plaing permanently. In my mind, a few weeks off is more than worthwhile when you compare to the option of continuing to play now, and then not being able to in a few more years.

lol i do that all the time

lol i do that all the time

*high fives*I know its bad,but u cant stop the music.I once had to go a whole summer(and summer in Arizona is forever!!!)without playing flute...I almost killed my self!!LoL j/k I was just bored as heck.

i'd imagion, I see in arizona that the air its like 110. Even here in florida it doesn't get that hot. I feel sorry for you

I feel ur pain. you guys are scaring me. This is my...(counting in head)...4th year playing (I'm 13). I get kind of a cramp in my left shoulder if I practice too much over a short period of days, but nothing else yet. So everyone goes through this stage? Oh wells, the flute is well worth it if you love it!

I know it is hard to stop because of pain.

But pain is a warning and a defense from the body, to protect itself against more serious and possibly even irreversible injures.

So it is not a good idea to neglect pain and go on as if nothing happened. The causes must be found and a cure be applied.

Flautists_R_Us, not everyone goes through this stage. I have never experienced pain from playing, and I'm going on 10 years now, with some heavy duty practicing and performing in there. If you experience any discomfort, it should be addressed before it progresses to the level that the OP has reached.

I hate to come in like this on a topic that has nothing to do with mine, but for some reason I cant start a new topic. So I'm just going to ask my question here.
On ebay I have come across a ebonite piccolo with 24k gold plated keys. And it is just $169. Are they just scamming me, or is the piccolo so bad that they have to sell it cheap?
Oh, its a Venus piccolo.

Just for curiosity, is the Gemeinhardt flutes considered professional enough like the muramatsu, miyazawa, sankyo, etc?

I would not suggest purchasing that piccolo. They are not worth even $169, IMO. They are from China, and while quality is improving, they have much work to do before they have stabilized quality at an acceptable level. These instruments, as well as instruments of many many other names, but similar origin, are very hit-and-miss. Some will work decently for a couple years, and others fall apart in a matter of months, and most techs won't even look at them (it's not cost effective to work on them). The mechanisms and scales on the Chinese imports are often very low quality, and when there are so many fixer-uppers from name brands available for very little money, it's just not a smart move to buy one of these potential junkers.

I don't know quite what you mean by "professional enough," but Gemeinhardt makes solid student and intermediate instruments, but I would not consider them to be on the same plane as Muramatsu, Haynes, Miyazawa, etc. Like many other makers, Gemeinhardt offers a "professional" line, but a principal in a professional orchestra or a recording artist would almost certainly not be found playing on a Gemmie. I have no hesitations suggesting that a beginner or intermediate player try them out, but if someone was looking for a professional model instrument, I would steer them to other makers.

h...I dont mind the heat.
But in florida you have humidity,which we don't.

"Atleast it's a dry heat!!!" .:Arizona's Motto:.

well i had to wait for the bus to come this morning and to me this is cold (never seen snow for you all in northern us) it went to 30 degrees ferenheit (not so good at spelling if you haven't noticed already and i had to wait out there in the freezing weather for 20 minutes. Also i found out today not so good with sound on a flute (very, very, airy) and not so good at memorizing music either

i've seen a headjount that will let you play vertical... that would help, but maybe make you look a little wierd... lol