Well I've been playing my little Yamaha 61 piccolo for several months now along with my flute for 2 years and the pic is a whole lot less work getting the highs and lows. I wouldn't mind playing just the piccolo. Does anyone play piccolo only? It's great for Irish trad.

Most flautists I know find piccolo harder, few like playing it & only two really enjoys it!

Maybe your flute needs a service

Ian

Well it just responds better especially the high notes. The high notes on my Yamaha 381 are very resistant. I have to stay on top of them or I really struggle. The piccolo just take no effort at all. I will admit though that it's a challenge to control.

I agree with the other posters that piccolo takes more work, especially for tone and intonation.

Yes, the notes might come out easily, but are they in tune? Does it have a good timbre?

I play in community bands and have heard way too many people who enjoy playing piccolo, but haven't spent the time to learn how to play it in tune and to not sound shrieky. Also, not many can play in the upper register quietly.

It may seem easy, but piccolo takes a lot of work to play well. But once you put in the work, piccolo is a lot of fun to play!

I would agree with that - surely you'd need to use both. Having the piccolo as well gives you an edge - especially if you play it well. And it might be easier to play, but playing WELL is a different matter. If you have command over it and can demonstrate a tight control over the intonation in all registers and a wide range of dynamics in all registers then you've got a great advantage.