granted the flutes themselves when played can be annoying, but they can be the most beautiful instrument in the band. it just depends on how u look at it. it`s the same way with ppl. there aren`t that many flute players that are snobby that i know but there are some and they give all us flute players a bad name. don`t sweat what ppl may say about u because of what u play. they are just jealous because they don`t play something that can be so beautiful.

because of the high pitch and the limited number of flautists in an orchestra, a flautist can be quite a high profile person in the orchestra, with lots of exposed playing. This, together with fierce competition for a few places, can put a flautist a bit in the position of a prima donna. Notwithstanding that reason to be a bit snobby, none of the flautists I have known are in fact remotely snobby, nor have I ever heard the connection until I saw all the comments in this thread. Is this perhaps a US phenomenon which does not extend to the UK?