How long would it take to learn how to play the flute ?

Question

I am thinking of a wooden flute and trying to learn by book instuctions.

Answer 1

It depends a lot upon some different factors. One of them is your musical background. There is a woodwind methods class that can be taken by music majors where you have a semester to learn many or almost all of the woodwind instruments. There have been people who started out at the beginning of a semester and were able to play fairly proficiently at the end of the semester on pretty much all of the woodwind family. That is to say: three months later they could play any woodwind instrument if you handed it to them. Others in the class couldn't get a sound out of a flute by dropping it. A strong knowledge of music before learning an instrument can help one to learn it faster, but that usually is a result of already playing an instrument. If you don't yet, it might be hard to learn to play, but I can tell you it is worth it.

The second factor is dedication. In the aforementioned woodwind methods class, there were some who practiced on the new instruments a lot so that they could become better quicker. Others didn't practice hardly at all. Those who practiced in general did much better at learning the new instruments. If you want to learn to do something, you have to stick with it and try hard. If it seems like you aren't making progress, maybe you can stop for a bit and come back later, but you should definitely not just stop. Paraphrased from a character from an opera by Mozart (paraphrased because the opera is in German) "He who tries suceeds more often than he who doesn't."

The third factor is a good teacher. If you have someone who can help explain how things should be done if you are having trouble, it really helps a lot. Since you are learning from a book, that sounds less likely. You should try and find someone who already plays something to help you if you can, though. Even it is just explaining a little bit about how to read music, it will definitely help.

The last factor is your practice regimine. If you spend 3 hours a day practicing the wrong notes, you are going to get extremely good at playing wrong notes. The saying of "Practice makes perfect," is not totally correct, and a better saying is "Perfect practice makes perfect." How can you have perfect practice? Let me give you some ways I've found: 1) Break it down. Simplify what you are practicing as much as possible. Let's say you want to memorize the Declaration of Independence. That can be a pretty daunting task to try and remember the whole thing all at once, so how is it possible? People take little section after little section and memorize them. Then, they tie them together to former a bigger little section, then several big sections, and finally the whole thing. Try practicing maybe 2 or three measures at a time. If that seems too hard, take less. Maybe a measure, maybe one beat. Later, as practicing becomes easier, you can take bigger sections when you practice. But always make sure it is managable. 2) Slow it down. Here is a really great example I like. Think about someone learning how to juggle. They have three balls and keep dropping them. How can they slow it down? Get three tissues instead of balls and juggle them, and it is extremely easier than the balls. This builds the coordination necessary for juggling other things and allows that person to have great juggling technique. It's considerabley easier in music to slow it down; a metronome is a great tool for a musician. Start out the metronome at a slow beat, slow enough that you can play every note in tune, in rhythm, perfectly. Take the little chunks at a time I mentioned earlier, and get them perfect. After they are, work the tempo up slowly. You may only be able to gain a few beats per minute a day, but if those measures are perfect with those few beats per minute, then it is well worth it. 3) Simplify it. If you are having trouble with something in particular, say with a rhythm, then maybe put your flute aside and clap out the rhythm so that it can be great. When the rhythm is good, then you can pick up your flute and work on both the rhythm and the notes. This might seem almost like something someone slow in the head might have to do, but I've seen my professor do this very thing. Some of my classmates have tried it, and so have I, and it works great. Eliminating other elements makes it so much easier to fix specific problems with parts of the music and is definitely worth while. I have a Viola piece I'm practicing that I had to eliminate everything but the shifts with. The shift goes up extremely high, and is terribly hard to hit. I kept trying it in a slow rhythm with the bowings and the dynamic markings, but it was too hard. I stopped and just did the shifts, and then added the rhythm when I could hit them every time. I then added the dynamics. That shift is great now.

Learning a musical instrument is not an easy task, but it is well worth it. Stick with it, and rock on.

Answer 2

Ok, first off, get a good flute. I started playing flute when I was 9 and had one of the cheapest flutes you could find and hated it. I almost gave up my first year until I got a new flute and LOVED it. I've been playing flute for 5 years now and still have a long way to go but I found once I got the notes and fingerings down, It was just about improving my embrasure.

When you're working on you embrasure the trick is to keep your mouth tight but relaxed at the same time. Kind of tricky but if you play around you should be able to feel what's right and what's wrong.

It takes a long time to master the flute as well as any instrument, but with practice and lots of patience you should be playing in no time.

Answer 3

Before you even buy a FLUTE - contact a teacher! You will save lots of time - and probably money, too. They can advise you about the purchase of an instrument, and make sure that you have the *correct* instructional materials.

Many of us start beginners on a Yamaha fife, which you should be able to get for about $10 or less. The fingerings in the first two octaves is almost the same, at least diatonically (no sharps or flats) and you'll get the hang of the embouchure ( mouth position). Do NOT buy a flute off eBay!!!! Every day, there are about 3,000 flute for sale there, and 2,900 of them are trash. We experts then cull the best of the rest - maybe WE can find you something, but do not attempt this stunt at home.

You should be able to produce a decent sound and be able to play simple songs in one to two weeks - with a TEACHER. On your own - no estimate from me!

Answer 4

Hi ya,
Im a music tutor in the Ottawa,Canada area.
The most difficult part of learning to play a flute is embuchure,
(thats the shape the mouth takes to make a note sound clean and pure)
Its basicly the same shape you would use to hear a note when
blowing across the top of a bottle.
Once you have mastered that,learning the fingering takes a few weeks,and after that its practice,practice practice.
Hope this helps.
Rob