Um, yes, Im kinda new around here, but I have a question that Im hoping someone knows the answer to.

Ive been playing flute for about 6 years now, and I still cant tune by ear. I can tell if the flutes out, but i cant tell if its sharp or flat unless its really extreme. It would be a huge help if someone could offer me some advise or tricks to improve my 'musical ear'

Ta

Only way to tell (unless you have perfect pitch) is to hear the note in relation to another note. So, you wouldn't be able to tell if you were sharp or flat unless you had a tuning note to compare it with.

I would suggest getting one of the new-fangled tuning/metronome gizmos available at music shops. You can get a whole lot of capability for just a little money these days - these things are under $20. They are about the size of a cell phone and are completely electronic - use battery power. Perhaps this will help you train your ear. When you play a note, the dial tells you whether it's sharp or flat. There is also a clip-on adaptor you can buy and clip onto your instrument when playing in the band which will allow it to listen only to your instrument and tell you whether you are in tune.

So if i compare my note with the tuning note, my ability to tell how sharp or flat i am will improve?

I can tune fine with a tuner, but my teachers prefer to tune by ear, which is a liiittle bit of a problem