Does it matter what brand of flute I have?

Question

I'm a beginner and have been playing for 4 months. I am in my school band, and I just started getting private lessons. However, the brand of my flute is not well-known at all (manufactured by a friend of my mother). Is this okay? Will it be okay once I become more advanced?

P.S. I got this flute as a gift from my mom's friend long before I started playing, so I didn't have a chance to pick the brand.

Answer 1

no but yamaha is good.

Answer 2

Have the instrument checked your private teacher. He/she will let you know how far the instrument will carry you. Some relatively unknown brands can be very good, solid instruments, while others will be more frustration than anything else.

If you find it difficult to play and get any type of a decent sound, try a different flute (either a friend's or ask to try one at school or your local music shop). If it is easy to play on a different flute then bring the flute to a repair person. If the flute needs to go to the shop more than twice a year, then you really need a better instrument.

Chances are vary good that you will need to upgrade as you become more advanced. A good private teacher will help you make the decision when the time is right.

Answer 3

In essence No!! Yamaha, Jupiter, gemeinhart are all good brands for beginners. When you get advanced you may need a better Flute depending on what sound you want. But that's for a later time. Just enjoy it now! But I would also get it checked by your Flute teacher! There are also very bad brands out there that require constant repairs. I am not saying that your mothers friends is a bad manufacturer but just be to careful!

Answer 4

As many other people have suggested, no, if you're just learning.
But, better quality flutes give you better tone qualities. As you progress, you'll understand the need for a quality instrument.

However, it DOES matter what brand you have when it needs repair. Little-known brands will not have accessible parts, or, they will be really expensive parts. Repairmen will refuse cheap or unknown brands simply because the risk of repairing them is too great should an accident occur. As someone who works in a repair shop, this happens often. I try to help to find interchangeable parts with other brands, but many of those brands do not have that characteristic.

Answer 5

Is your mom's friend in the business of hand making flutes? If so, then you quite possibly have an excellent instrument that will carry you for years.

Otherwise, you've already received some excellent suggestions on this thread. If you do find you need to replace the instrument, Geimenhardt and Yamaha are great instruments for beginners.

Answer 6

As long as it's the same kind of flute (has all the keys for the range needed for a beginner) that's required, it should be fine.

After several years, you're going to wear out the flute anyway, even with repairs. And you're going to need to upgrade to a B foot joint open hole (silver).
So don't worry about the brand now, just as long as it suits the requirements for beginning flute.

Here's a helpful guide (mentions brands):
http://www.markshep.com/flute/Finding.html#Metal

Answer 7

can you imagine how cool it would be to be given an Altus handmade as a gift by mom's friend who makes flutes and then hear everyone you know say "you should buy an Armstrong" without realizing you're holding a $10,000 flute that they've never heard of because they can't afford one (and they aren't allowed to touch those in the shop). Wouldn't that be something?

Answer 8

I'd go for an Armstrong or Yamaha.