A used Yamaha in good condition would be a good flute to buy. Again, I recommend Nancy Shinn of http://www.flutestar.com . Otherwise, make sure that a qualified flute teacher or good flute tech looks the flute over before you buy it.

ekdavies had a valid point about the occasional dis-reputable repair tech who receives a comission on selling new flutes. Make sure there is not a conflict of interest being given with the opinion regarding repairability.

A Yamaha 200 series flute in good repair will hold its value well, should remain repairable if taken care of, and should be serviceable through high school. If your daughter shows more interest/talent, you can upgrade the Yamaha 200 flute by buying a pro-quality headjoint. This will cost $300 minimum (ballpark) used for a Yamaha EC, maybe $450 to $500 for a Sankyo used. A new headjoint would be in the $650 to start range. Once again, a qualified flute teacher could help her with this upgrade when the time comes.

By the way, the Yamaha: good scale, repairable, available, good resale value, reliable mechanic and solid design. The Cibiali: surface looks similar, but not easily repairable, wears out more quickly, very VERY low resale value (like NONE!), and likely to frustrate your daughter into giving up flute playing! Keep in mind that the eBay feedback is given within a few days of receiving the flute- before their band instructor tells them it will not do!

>>. There is no point in buying a student flute and then an another intermediate flute 1-2 years later.<<

There certainly is a point if it's a younger student who has a non-working, well-used student model already. A good-quality student model flute would be an appropriate purchase. In a few years, if the student continues on enough to take private lessons, then the flute instructor can guide her in an intermediate model purchase and the high-quality WORKING student flute can be used for marching band or as a back-up.

Flute Dad,

Any Name brand flute for a beginner will be fine. The criteria is that it needs to be of good construction and materials, a sound design, and reliable.

All the Name Brand flutes will do the job for a beginner. Jupiter, Gemeinhardt, Emerson, Armstrong, Yamaha are some examples that you will most likely come across.

The problems with the off brands is not that they don't play, it's that the quality of materials and construction can have reliability problems to continue to play without frequent trips to the repair shop. A flute has to be reasonably reliable to play consistantly at a standard. You should be able to get a good working used student flute starting @$250 and sometimes less, but they may need a little work. (adding to the cost)

New flutes are a little more..

Reputable name brands will at least give you the option of having dealer networks to support the product when service is eventually needed. Given that many repair shops won't work on OFF brands, you may be stuck with an instrument that might be less reliable and need more service than usual with no one willing to fix it.

Joe B

take it from me, listen to Joe B...