I have an 8 year old recorder student who really, really wants to play flute. Whenever he comes in for his lessons he is mesmorized by my flute and wants to play with it, etc. He is too small for a normal flute and would need to use one with a curve headjoint. The only one available to rent through the local music store is Jupiter 313s which has no trill keys or foot joint only going down to low D. Anyone have experience with this instrument? Is it a good place to start for younger students?

My information is not firsthand, but my friend and longtime flute teacher has used these successfully before with very small students. (She uses these only if the student is too small for a standard student flute.) She also likes the newer Jupiter flutes in general for students, since they have a good headjoint design and good scale, at an affordable price.

The Prodigy model has not just a curved headjoint, but another feature that might be necessary for little-bitty fingers. The keys have key extensions, or buttons, on top of several keys much like a piccolo does, to facilitate fingerings where it would be a stretch to reach the next key. Try a Google search on the Jupiter Prodigy and look closely at a picture, and you will see what I mean. I think this puts the D# key in closer to reach, and that one would probably be of most concern regarding the strength in a little pinky finger.

The Prodigy model does not have a footjoint. This makes it lighter, so that your small student could play longer, or with less fatigue.

You might be able to find a curved headjoint to buy to fit a standard student (rental) flute, I believe that Gemeinhardt might make one. Jupiter also obviously makes one, too. I have seen these come up infrequently on eBay for around $50. This would give you low C# and low C, as well as trill keys, but not the ergonomic finger positioning for small hands.

When you teach flute, at what point do you introduce low C# and C, and trills? If you could reasonably put these off for 18 months or so, I think it would be worth a try. Since your student is so keen on flute and he's so small, I think the Prodigy flute would be a good choice, especially since it is available to rent.