Hi, I have been playing the flute for four years and I am in need of at least a conservatory level according to my teacher. Could anyone tell me how to determine if a flute has an offset G or an in-line G? Also, does the curved head make a difference? Which brand is the best for a conservatory flute at this stage? As you can see I am completely clueless.

the curved head is for little people who can't reach far enough or a normal flute is uncomfortable for, so i'd stick with a nice straight head joint, and if all the key on the body run down in a straight line then a flute has an inline g, if two keys stick out slighty then it is offset, but which to get is a matter of prefferance,

as far as brands go, ask your teacher what features your new flute has to have, and try all the flutes you can with these features, that are with in your price range (as the flute you get is again a matter of prefferance)

i'd try some yamahas. like a 5xx or a 6xx
or some of the flutes that are made by a handmade flute company.

like sonare(powell)
lyric(myazawa...or however you say it)
ect ect.

The general recommendation is that unless you are doing jazz and modern solo work, you don't need the open holes at all, because they really are there to facilitate tone bending and the occasional quarter-note sound and the like(or maybe tiny adjustments to the upper octave).

For normal playing, though, the last octave on a flute is usually the occasional quick note, and the rest of the time, you are concerned with playing with the other instruments.(ie - stable clean tone is key). So open holes actually are pretty much a gimmick for classical and orchestral music. Most players tend to plug them, and the closed hole/standard models also cost less money.(usually $100 or so less at the level you are considering)

The pads on the standard keys also seal more precisely. Your finger pads are a fairly poor material to seal anything with.

Offset G is more ergonomic. No difference in the sound.(it's basically a metal tube as as long as the hole is at the right distance and the correct size, it could be on the back side.

The material that the flute is made out of is of only a few %age points difference at best in the sound of the flute.

- All modern flute body tubes are made on machines. As such, solid silver alloy versus plated non silver alloy only costs the flute maker a few dollars more for the metal tube from the supplier, or to make them if they make their own tubing. Mostly solid silver is a gimmick to allow the makers to charge large sums of money for their "better" models. The sound difference between plated and gold or titanium might be barely discernible, but even pros can't tell between silver and silver plated.

That said, most of those models *do* sound better, but it's because they put their better (usually hand-made) head joints on the solid silver ones. But for something like a college or semi-pro level flute, there's usually no difference at all. A Yamaha 500 and a Yamaha 600 are the exact same - swap the parts around and other than one being more expensive, there's just no difference between the two. So the smart money is on a good flute with a plated body and the same headjoint as the solid silver models.


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I own a Yamaha myself - it's a good flute(very good tuning/scale for the price, IMO). The handmade EC headjoint that comes on the 500 series is pretty much all you'd need to get through school and beyond.

I agree 100% with Plekto's comments - great post! I play a Yamaha 674 which I think is a very good flute. My back-up flute is a Yamaha 221 and the EC head off the 674 fits very nicely on the 221.

When I play the EC head on the 221 the result is a flute that plays about 90% as well as the 674, and would probably cost about half as much as the 674 - less if I put a good used EC head on the 221.

The mechanism on the 674 is a bit nicer than the 221 but the 221 is definitely OK.

I would recommend seriously thinking about putting a pro handcut head on a well adjusted student flute body (200 series Yamaha is ideal for this, 300 series if you want a B-foot), and this combination will take you a long way at a very reasonable price.

When you know you are really serious about playing the flute, you can fork out many thousands for a top-end flute and still have the cheap flute with the pro headjoint as your back-up flute.