Practice flute

[garyfitz123]

Im teaching a beginner flute class, and Im going to purchase a few practice flutes to loan to students whilst they come to grips with the flute. The two I have been looking at are the Tony dixon tunable polymer flute, and the hammy practice flute.
Which of these would you advise? Or do you know of other flutes in this range?

[Denny]

Hammy

Tipple but yer in Belfast....

[mutepointe]

Why not just get someone who has a drill press to make some from PVC pipe and when the students get the hang of things, they can buy their own?

[maracirac]

Tipple but yer in Belfast....

no, he is in galway.....
marin

[Steampacket]

If they are complete beginners then I'd suggest ordering some Olwell Prattens

Sorry - It's Friday

[Doug_Tipple]

If they are complete beginners then I'd suggest ordering some Olwell Prattens

Sorry - It's Friday

I concur, wholeheartedly. I wouldn't start with a cheap flute. You might as well start with a flute that will have good future resale value. And, oh yes, I've heard pretty good things about the Olwell flute, for what it's worth, especially if you've recently won the lottery, or something equally as lucrative.

[MarkP]

nice idea to have practice flutes to get people going in a class.

PS. the way I look at, I use my flute way more than I use my car (bus to work and mostly use the car for rehearsals, sessions, gigs, anyway, so it's kind of a guitar, flute or PA accessory!) and I've yet to find a flute that costs what the car costs - so I reckon I might still be quids in with an Olwell a year (not that I'm planning on that strategy).

[Rob Sharer]

If they are complete beginners then I'd suggest ordering some Olwell Prattens

Sorry - It's Friday

Cheeky Monkey!


R

[Cathy Wilde]

Kids or adults? Seems like the Hammy might be easier with kids. Plus, if the flutes don't suit, you know where Hammy lives ...

[jemtheflute]

Serious answer - both Dixon and Hammy are plain cylinders and have the attendant tuning problems in the second octave. I would advise against them, though the Hammy is indubitably the better of the two. There was a recent thread on the Dixons. Tipples with wedges fitted are far preferable, but any of these pose issues of tone-hole size and placement for any of your pupils with smaller hands/narrower fingers. Having a go at making your own with wedge and lip-plate (flute size versions of my Simple Piccolos) from conduit tube would be a decent idea if you have the time/volition.

Kevin Jones's eBay sales might be worth investigation - see this and other related threads: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72188. (I have no personal experience of these!)

[jiminos]

... 2 cents... in my experience with teaching guitars, the single greatest contributor to a student not following through with guitar playing was have a "less than very good" guitar as a first guitar. if the instrument was difficult to tune... or didin't hold tuning... or had bad intonation.... or was difficult to finger because of action height... or any other of a myriad of things that go wrong with less than very good guitars.... students get frustrated and give up. however, if their first instrument is a good one, they tend to remain excited not only about the instrument but about the music as well.... and the cost of a good instrument becomes an investment rather than a loss.... i cannot say with certitude that this applies to flute, as well, but it might.... 2 cents.

be well,

jim

[chris_coreline]

to offer an oppinion contrary to that above:

if a student really wants to learn an instrument, they will be happy on a drain-pipe with holes in. - Learning on a bad and difficult instrument provides a reall confidence and ability boost when one finally gets a decent instrument, playing 'through' a cheeper flute makes incremental upgrades all the more rewarding and is a great benchmark of personal progresion.

[crookedtune]

My personal opinion is that it applies less to flutes. You can make remarkably good music with a cylindrical aluminum, bamboo or PVC flute. I've made decent playing (not looking) ones in my garage in 15 minutes. Tipple PVC flutes, particularly with wedge and lip-plate, closely approximate the sound of a good wooden Irish flute, and they're a steal at Doug's prices.

I would add that if you're teaching children, size will matter. PVC flutes in 'F' or 'G' would be a good way to go. If you're teaching an adult who's likely to stick with it, go right for a good wood flute. He/she can always sell it if the muse eludes.

[Doug_Tipple]

Speaking of guitars, I goes without saying that the action of the guitar needs to be adjusted so that the strings are easy to depress. This is true for any stringed instrument. You would think that the music stores would do this, but sometimes they don't. It so happens that I spent part of yesterday afternoon doing just that with the 3/4 size guitar that my granddaughter got for Christmas. A common problem is that the nut is too high so that pushing a string to the first fret is really hard. That is a serious obstacle to learning or for playing, even if you are experienced. It is an easy fix with some needle files. It doesn't need to be a great guitar for the beginner, in my opinion, but it does need to be setup so that it is easy to play.

[mutepointe]

I really wish Gary would get back to us to answer all of our questions. Who are the students? Why are they taking the class? Do these folks (children or adults) want to take the class or are they required or being made to take this class? Also, how rich is Gary? There is such little cost to PVC flutes, comparatively speaking, that Gary could get someone to make PVC flutes and also reward the students with practice flutes once they have shown progress and interest. Could Gary afford for a student to lose a flute? Who is actually paying for these flutes? Is Gary buying them and then selling them at cost to the students? I always think everyone is of modest means and I'm often mistaken.