Any music major should have their own piccolo, or at the very least access to one, be it from their university, a music store, or just borrowing it from a friend. I would not be at all concerned about the availability of piccolos at this level...They're practically a necessity for any serious flutist, and if you're majoring in music, clearly you're a serious musician.

As for switching back and forth, I meant that in general it's difficult at first, however over time you learn to do it much more efficiently. It's not at all unusual for a flutist to switch back and forth from flute to picc during the course of a single piece (I've actually had a piece where I played flute, two different piccs (one in C and one in Db), and alto flute). The more you play, the easier it becomes to make a seamless (and fast) transition.

Very helpful. Thanks.

I own an Artley. Even though it's about 20 years old, the person that owned it before took great care of it (besides the fact that she's an AMAZING flute/pic player!)It has a sterling silver head and plastic body. I really like it.

I have a piccolo somewhere but I don't admit it.

I really want a piccolo but sadly, it'll have to wait a bit as I just bought my great Yamaha flute last year. Maybe I should hire.

But if you want to play piccolo, at the very least, master the high notes.
The piccolo's range is:
G4 to C8. The highest note on flute, but an octave lower. Basically a sopranino concert flute.

But if you want to play piccolo, at the very least, master the high notes. The piccolo's range is: G4 to C8. The highest note on flute, but an octave lower

Unfortunately, that's not quite accurate, The_piano. The piccolo's standard range is D4 to C8. Also, the piccolo plays one octave ABOVE the concert flute, rather than an octave below. Some piccs also have a range down to C4 and it's not impossible to play above C8, though most players will never need to do this.

Also, if you're going to play piccolo, mastering the high range comes after learning the lower ranges and developing good tone, pitch, vibrato, etc. The top of the picc's range is not the most important thing to learn.

<Added>

Please excuse my typo...That should be "The piccolo's standard range is D5 to C8."

<Added>

Oops! Did the same thing again!

"Some piccs also have a range down to C5 and..."

I used to have a plastic one, silver one, and solid silver(school) then a wood one but none now, but ill get a new one soon(:

I do NOT own a piccolo.

But today I rented a flute and have been going over the fingering charts all afternoon.

I have a feeling that I'm going to be good, really good.

fingering is not the only thing you need to learn there are many skills to learn like the clarinet, but thats good

I agree with FlutesandPiccolos. It's great that you're learning the fingerings, but those are likely to be less of a problem for you than proper embouchure formation and use. I would suggest starting using just the headjoint until you can get a solid, repeatable tone out of it. Once you've accomplished that, you can add the body and start worrying about fingerings.

how much does a grenadite pearl piccolo cost?

I spent $1250 on mine, but the prices look like they have come down since I bought mine. I think flute World is selling them for $950.00 now.

i two piccolos, a gemeinhardt C(very very old, but very, very good sound) and a JZ composite(Very, Very, shrill sounding) that i usually use for marching.

I have 1...I'm still working on getting some of my notes out its like a schill or something like that really weird name and probally never heard of