Chiff and Fipple Forums

I'd just like to back up Jim's point above, that moisture buildup isn't uncommon and there are ways to deal with it. It's just a part of flute playing. I see small beads of condensation on the metal-lined bore of my headjoint after the first few tunes in a practice session. That alone doesn't cause ...

The only thing that gives me pause about the design is the nylon keys sitting in resin blocks. I wonder how wear-resistant that is over time? Seems to me that they might loosen up after enough use with the two plastic materials wearing against each other. But then I guess most people wouldn't be buy...

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This is normal and it will get better. The first few months when I started on flute, I had to stop frequently during practice because I was getting dizzy and lightheaded. It takes time to train the small muscles in your lips to form a good tight embouchure so you're not wasting air. Some of the airs...

Maybe it's due to my geezer age and occasionally stuffed sinuses, but if I tried to draw the same amount of air into my lungs through my nose that I can do through my mouth, you'd hear a loud snort that would be very distracting! That said, there is one method of nasal breathing used for wind instru...

It's a fascinating idea that some of us would blow a flute flat due to body temperature, but if that was true, then wouldn't it be a point of interest for those playing metal Boehm flutes? I did a quick Google search and didn't find anything about it. We only vary a degree or two for body temps, so ...

Just one more comment about the Bb key. If you learn a flute hold that makes it easy to hit the Bb key with your left-hand thumb, it makes it easy to transition to other flutes you might buy with that standard arrangement instead of a RH key or cross fingering. After figuring out a good three-point ...

Using piper's grip could also set up a quest for a flute with a right hand Bb touch. Some makers have a double touch for either hand. I find playing a Bb in the traditional position a problem. Seems some people get it working, but not me. The RH-Bb removes the need for the left thumb to press that ...

I think quite many players at some point can play both instruments? I would seem quite logical since the fingering is much the same. I went directly to learning flute without being a whistle player first, but along the way I picked up a couple of whistles, a D and a C just for fun. Yes the fingerin...

Yet another comparison, here's Conal O'Grada in the high fingers camp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuCP8QkKiqI

I'm self-taught, so take this with a grain of salt. I keep my fingers fairly close to the tone holes when playing normal un-accented notes, but they can fly pretty high when they're part of an articulation like a roll, or a fast double or triple "tap" below a target note. There is some for...

I use the three point hold Terry describes above and it works for me. To set the amount of body rotation to the headjoint when I first pick up the flute, I sight down the full length of the flute from tbe bottom end, looking down the row of toneholes. I rotate the headjoint until the outer side of t...

I have a Lehart six-key low Bb flute in blackwood. What inspired me to get it, is that I've heard a low Bb flute used on albums by famous flute players like Matt Molloy, Frankie Kennedy, Kevin Crawford, Sylvain Barou and others. They'll play one or two tunes on the album with a low Bb flute, usually...

The way I currently play, that's how I hold the flute. And I don't really see any downsides to it. The bottom joint of my pinky simply never comes off the flute, so there's always sideways pressure on it, and my right thumb is always free to do whatever it wants (although I always keep it on the bo...

It's ok to shift around which fingers are doing the work of supporting the instrument as you play, isn't it? Sort of like how many whistle players use their bottom ring finger to support the instrument, unless they're playing a D, E, or F, in which case they support the instrument with other finger...