megapop wrote: BTW, as you say you're new to the sideblown flute I wonder how you can judge the quality of that Bb fife... I mean, it takes quite a long time until you're able to produce a decent tone in the first place, and if you're only learning with crap instruments from a dubious company you may be misguided in what you consider "playable". So I'd say it's very important that you *know* you have a playable instrument you're training your embouchure on.
Actually, I bought a bamboo flute in a music store, which is a midsized flute in the key of G, which plays even better than the fife, even though its a $8 piece of bamboo!
My ears work ok though , the fife is as playable as I expected, and I can over and under blow it to get the octaves, so I would rate it as fair.
You are right though, how do I know I have the right embouchure unless I have reliable flute.