Help, help! What type (or level) of flute is recommended for an incoming high-school freshmen. Our daughter is in her 3rd year; Honors Band; Honors Soloist at the Flute Festival, 2004 & 2005. Currently has a Gemeinhardt (3 or 3SH, I think).

Also, how much depreciation is there for a Miyazawa? A 202 model is offered by another student and I'm not sure what would be a fair price; it was purchased new from Carolyn Nussbaum Music Summer of 2004. (This is what brings me to ask if I should be looking at this level of flute!) ;-)

Thank you very much.

i play on a muramtasu and love it. maybe an EX or GX would be good... it all depends on your price range. miyazawa is nice but not many professionals play on them. try pearl too. a lot of high schoolers play them

What she has is fine unless it is in bad repair. I am not sure if I would go out and buy a professional flute that will cost you $,3000 and up until you know for sure that she is going to go to College with it. I am happy playing at professional gigs with an all silver plated student Yamaha flute.

Hi,
My daughter is a Freshman this year. My daughter plays a Yamaha 561 with a Powell Headjoint. I know that Yamaha has changed there numbering system and I don't know what the model # now would be but it is solid silver, open hole etc.

There are 20 flutist's in the 3 bands at the high school here and there is only one other girl that has moved on from a student model.
That girl(a freshman) sits 1st chair in the lowest band and my daughter (a freshman) sits 1st chair in the highest band. Every flutist in between is playing a student model flute. I have invested more because I know that my daughter is serious about flute and she is almost certain that she will be studying flute in college.

I agree with Kara and unless there is some sort of problem with your daughter's flute then that flute would probably be fine until you know that she will pursue it further after high school.

If you do decide to purchase a new flute I really recommend that you talk to your daughters private teacher and get his/her input before purchasing.
Kim

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My intended point when mentioning the chair placements was that the freshman are sitting in those chairs. It is not there flutes it is their dedication and hard work. The original poster had inquired as to what most freshman are playing and my point was to point out that 18 out 20 flutist's between 9-12 grade are still playing on student models ...and not higher end flutes. I also posted that my daughter is playing a Yamaha so not exactly what most would consider a high-end flute

Good suggestion Andrew.

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I might add that is doesn't matter if you are playing on a student of a $10,0000 flute for chair placements. It is the player that is responsible for the music.
I was first chair all through High School, until I dropped out and got home taught out of over 40 flutists. Do you know what flute got me there? A nickel plated BUNDY!

Andrew said: I agree. A freshman, will most likely not need a flute like a miyazawa. If you want to help her, I'd reccomend getting her a professional headjoint which will make her gemeinhardt seem like a brand new flute!

I didn't consider that..... Interesting.....
Thanks!

Hi,
I would not necessarily recommend adding a more expensive head to a Gemeinhardt. Their mechanisms have not been all that reliable IMHO. I think some of it depends upon the school system. Some kids can be dangerous to flutes in the high school ages. This includes the other kids in school since they don't care how expensive a flute costs when they are trying to pull a practical joke. Assuming this isn't a problem, you want a reliable flute that has a decent tone quality for our daughter. Now another person recommended a Yamaha with a Powell head. The model number for the silver tube has moved up to the 600 series (over $2400) since the regrading has made the 500s with a silver plated tube. Since the plated bodies may endure a knock or a ding better than the silver ones, I would actually recommend the 500 series Yamahas as a step up from a Gemein. model 3. Then looking around for a different head joint for a personal sound at a later point.
~Bilbo
N.E. Ohio

I agree with Bilbo, schools can be dangerous places for a fine flute. Some of my students who have pro flutes at that age keep the older one to use at school and keep the good one at home.

Wow...I haven't been on this site in AGES. Maybe its because I was busy...

I just want to say, as a high school freshman, I have a Gemeinhardt 2sp. I am happy what I have, and I made first chair out of 27 or 28 flutes of the concert band with it. All four flutes of the wind ensemble (and the My fellow second chair has a Yamaha.

My friend upgraded her flute because her old band teacher said, "Let's go upgrade." My friend did. My friend, sadly, isn't going to continue in band next year, because she has to take an AP class in place of her study hall instead band taking the place of her study hall.

I am upgrading sometime soon, but I just want to say that I was perfectly happy for what model I had. I am not a professional or anything, I am just an average high school student. My private lesson teacher didn't really do any upgrades until she was a junior or senior and she was the best flute in her band.

It's not about how fancy your flute is; I know flutes who are 20-something chairs, and they have open-holed flutes! It's all about dedication and how much effort you put into it.

Again, I am not a professional, I am just an average high school freshman girl.

YUP. Schools are VERY dangerous you guys. One time i left my flute in front of my locker on the ground by accident!!..sad..my new pearl. And 5 minutes later i RUSHED back to my locker and it wasn't there. Took me 10 minutes to find it. It was on top of the locker! it was so scary and sad ...and the lockers are REALLY high, good thing it didn't fall. I like to use my new flute for school..it's just better for me. IT's just that....i loose it sometimes. OMG, i know.

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ppl steal A LOT in my school, but my flute didn't get stolen!! :D
i lost it like 5 times..yikes! BUt, i get lucky. Don't worry you guys, i try not to lose it now. ;)

When I was in school I had a pretty crappy flute, even so, I was still so protective of it that I wouldn't put it in my locker or keep it in the band room. I carried in a bag throughout the whole day and kept it beside me. Yeah..people made fun of me, but at least I knew where it was at all times. I got made of fun of for wiping down all the finger prints on it after I cleaned it too. I was a dork, but I didn't care when it came to the flute.

be careful with your flute if you fly often these days, sometimes the TSA goons want to handle it, and don't forget to pack your repair tools in your checked luggage if you bring those alonng in your gig bag.

TSA goons? i don't know what that means..but that makes me laugh! :D
Oh, i just stuff my flute in my band locker. I have a name tag on my flute..so whoever reads my name better not DARE to steal it. I'm a pretty LOUD and well known flute freshman^_^

But i guess i have to be VERY careful. I lost $60 in the begining of the school year. I know..very sad. Someone in band took all my money out of my purse..and there's other ways i lost a part of my $60. I mean..who steals in band?...i thought band were like a BIG band FAMILY. it was like that in middle school..but highschool?..ehhh, nope. it's the real world^^..OH BOY!



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Patrick, repair tools? that'll be cool to put it in my flute case..but i would have NO CLUE how to use it!! I used to have one of those mini screwdriver..but lost it.:)..boy, i loose everything!

I know what you mean Patrick. I had a seperate headjoint in it's own case in my carry on bag and those goons wouldn't let me throught. They just could understand that it was a flute headjoint. I refused to let them open it which made them weary, but too bad. I have also had them wanting to look at my flute, but I never let them open it. I was asked to play it one time, which was fun. I love playing in front of lots of people.

ME TOO! playing in front of ppl is A LOT of fun. i LOVE being the center of attention