I play in my school concert band and the other day this girl was chewinjg gum while playing her flute. I was completely and utterly revolted! I have this theory and i don`t know how many of yo agree but i say if you don`t respect your flute you will get heaps of problems and it will cost you heaps.

wow, i guess i agree w/e. Its kinda stupid to chew gum while playin ur flute, my freind was eating a jolley rancher(or sum other sucking candy like that) while playin the flute and she spit it right into the flute. It got stuck there and she had to keep poking it with things and washing it out with water untill it came out.

I agree with both posters here, but here my thinking:
If your playing your instrument (no matter which one), and your eating candy, the candy could get stuck, it also rots your mouth piece (or reed).

Besides, how do you play and chew gum, I`ve yet to figure that one out. *Scratches head*

Not only could she spit it into her flute..

Tiny bits of sugar and plaque are present in your saliva, especially when chewing gum or eating. You do not want to blow this onto your flute.

The sugar could actually cause the pads to stick, and even rot.

I think that girls should chew gum while they play the flute. Not only does it taste good, but it also helps to keep their mouths fresh. Chewing gum also makes a girl look better.

sometimes i kind of have to eat when playing (i.e. long rehearsals) and i know many professional symphony musicians who do. but we all agree that it`s not a good habit to start and i totally agree with what everyone is saying (exclude the random comment about girls and gum!)

I have played flute for many years with candy in my mouth, to continue sucking during bars rest.

I blow moist AIR into my flute, not saliva !!!

I do not have a problem with sticking pads, any more than anybody else does.

I am skilled enough not to blow the candy OUT of my mouth.

Teeth is a separate issue.

I certainly would not have cany in my mouth while playing a reed instrument.

"moist air, not saliva"

i believe that the air is moist because it has saliva.. which is basically blowing sugar into your flute. =/ i`d never eat anything sugar before playing. the bassoon is so damn high maintainance that i can`t afford to. lol.

"the air is moist because it has saliva"

No. it is moist from evaporated water (and perhpas a touch of evaporated alcohol :-) from the lungs. When sugary water evaporates, it is only the water that evaporates, leaving the sugar behind.

Now actually spitting salivea into the flute - that is a different storuy. I just don`t do that!

I have to agree, that is really gross. I never eat or drink anything (except water) when I play, and I always rinse my mouth out before I play, and/or take out a listerine pocket pack if I have one. This trombone player in my class was drinking gatorade while playing. I asked him why, and he said "it`s the school`s horn, I don`t care". That, to me, demonstrates a great lack of musicianship, and care for the instrument.

i work at an instrument repair shop and it`s disgusting what you end up cleaning out of the instruments especially the school instruments.

i always brush my teeth before practicing! i think it also makes me play better...but i doubt there is a real reason behind that...just me being hopeful!

doesnt eating sweets while your playing make you produce more saliva? i admit to doing it once because of a long practise and my tone was so crap because of the excess saliva. i never tried eating and playing at the same time again.

i probably sound like a goodie goodie, but i have friends that don`t really care about their flute , and they don`t take care of it. I`d probably tell them not to chew gum because it`s bad but like I said ... i`m probablya goodie goodie