For my town's youth symphony, there are only 4 flutes including me, and from the sound of it none of them can play the piccolo. I played piccolo on almost all of my 8th grade band pieces and I consider myself very good at it. So the director asked me if I had experience with a piccolo and if I owned one, and I don't at the moment.

So basically, I'm looking for a good, very playable, piccolo. My favorite brand is Yamaha, but I can go for others. Also, my master class teacher at a band camp I went to over the summer had a Grenadilla wood flute and she let me try it, and it had such a good sound!

Any recommendations on a piccolo I should get? (I don't have a price range and I most definitely DO NOT want a used piccolo or an all silver body pic.)

What do you recommend?!?

First off, all piccolos play high and screetchy so it is not going to matter if it is silver, plastic or wood. It is not like this is a professional band or anything. Just get a simple run of the mill student piccolo like Armstrong, Emerson, Yamaha or Jupiter. I can't believe how many threads asking which brand should I get! Just try reading the forum!

Wow. Are you trying to make me feel terrible?

I'm asking for help and all you do is put me down. Thanks, jerk.

And by the way, how do you think professional players got ahead in their own musical career? Sit on their butts and watch TV? No. They played in their high school bands and town's youth symphony's. That's what I am going to do. I'm not even old enough to be in a professional band/orchestra.

So back off pal.

And I don't want a run of the mill piccolo! And if you play well piccolo's can be very beautiful instruments!

Ugh. Yahoo! Answer's treats me better than this.

It is simple, if you are not playing it in a professional band and it is only for HS then what is wrong with a plastic student Armstrong or Emerson piccolo? If you want the best then try out the high dollar top of the line Grenadilla piccolos then like Burkart, Haynes, Keefe or Powell. It isn't that hard. What do you want, us to tell you which one to get? We can't do that. That is up to you to decide what you like. Use your brain, that is what it is for. Start calling dealers that specialize only in flutes or piccolos.

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Also, this question on what brand is brought up almost weekly. Would it be so hard for you to simply use the SEARCH button? There is also this thing called GOOGLE. Try it! You can do it!

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Sorry, I didn't realize that you were only 14 after viewing your profile. Still, I would hope by that age you would know how to use a search button.

Maybe I'll be nice and help.

I have a Yamaha 32 piccolo. The intonation can be difficult (although the Briolettes are a lot worse!), but it has nice tone for the price and it is very durable. It has a metal head, which I know you don't want, but if you practice hard you'll be able to get a nice mellow sound out of it. It's not the nicest piccolo out there and if you go to music school your teacher will hate it, but it's great for high school.

My personal opinion is that you should become pretty darned fantastic on a student model instrument before you shell out thousands of dollars for a professional instrument. If you can make the absolute most of a student model, you'll be able to make even more of a professional model. Another reason is that you should be experienced enough to have a lot of preference. What happens if you buy a Keefe, and a few years later you decide that you like Burkart better?

Anyways, have fun and good luck.

A Yamaha 62 or a Gemeinhardt 4W should be available used, rebuilt for less than, or about $1000.
I would try Nancy Shinn of Flutestar http://www.flutestar.com

Send her an email and she'll probably be able to come up with something for you.

If you have a really excellent local technician, you could try eBay- but keep in mind that you will probably have to buy a 'returnable within a 7 day period' instrument. If you keep to Yamha 62 or Gemeinhardt 4W (probably an Emerson grenadilla picc would also do), and have the tech look at it to estimate cost of repairs, you could get a nice instrument that way. But on eBay, you will usually find 'oh, the pads are fine', or 'just rebuilt', or 'I've been playing it and it's fine' but the instrument will need some pads and adjustments to be in good shape.

I agree that a piccolo played poorly, or a metal-body piccolo, can sound dreadfully screetchy. Ick. But if one actually takes the time to learn to play picc well, it can be really rewarding.

And if you find a Haynes all-silver picc in your price range (and tuned at A=440, not 338 or 335 as some of the 1920's and earlier ones were, and a C, not a Db piccolo) you might be really surprised at the sweet and lovely sound they make. I'd sure go for a Haynes silver picc.

Some other model possibilities are Roy Seaman or Zentner, but these will have to be used, since they aren't made anymore. Gemeinhardt bought the Seaman name and the piccs that they're making just aren't as nice as the older ones. But Seaman and Zentner were essentially the same with a different name put on the instrument.

You also might try usedflutes.com

Just to state what I hope might be obviou: you need to try different piccolos and find one that you like and can play expressively. I would advise against paying alot more for an instrument unless it sounds better or you can play it better. You should also give some thought to the ensemble(s) you play in - what sounds appropriate in a marching band might be to shrill for a symphony orchestra.