Before purchasing an instrument, always consult with your music teacher or private instrument instructor!!!

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When moving from a beginner to an intermediate or even professional level flute, there are some "must-haves" when choosing a flute:

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1. B-foot is a necessity!

   • Most beginner flutes have a C-foot joint which limits the flute's range down to low C. With the B-foot joint, the flute's range is extended by one more step which also gives the flute more depth/core to the sound as well as resonance.​

2. Open tone hole, flutes are the way to go!​

   • When a flute has open tone holes, the keys that the fingers go on are hollowed out. This is challenging to adjust to when first playing an open hole flute, because the fingers need to be completely covering the holes. Open holes on the flute give the sound more projection, flexibility, and resonance/characteristic sound.​

3. You can choose Inline or Offset G Keys ​

   • This either puts the keys for the left hand in a straight line (inline) or rounded outward towards the pinky key (offset). When choosing a new flute, try both of them to see which one feels naturally more comfortable and easy to play. This adjustment benefits the "hold" of the flute.​

4. Solid Silver helps establish the core of the sound!​

   • More good quality flutes have either solid silver headjoints, solid silver bodies, or both. The solid silver helps to give the sound extra core, body, and resonance/characteristic sound.  If you have a solid silver headjoint, that is great. If you have a solid silver body too, even better!​

5. Split E Mechanism is an option.​

   • The Split E Mechanism helps a flutist with security, consistency, and stability with the High E pitch. It is suggested to try flutes with & without Split E Mechanisms to find what works best.​

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Be sure to play test!

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When looking to upgrade your flute, there are a few brands that are known for making good quality flutes:

• Yamaha (all instruments are good quality) 

  • YFL-422 (closed hole)

  • YFL-462 (open hole, offset G)

  • YFL-482 (open hole, inline G)​

• Pearl (varying prices, but affordable lower end pro models) 

  • Quantz 665 (open hole, offset G, split E)​

  • Quantz 765 (Solid silver, offset or inline G, split E)

  • Elegante 795 (all the bells and whistles)

• Powell (good entrance level pro flutes)

  • Sonare 601 (open hole, offset G, split E)​

  • Sonare 705 (open hole, offset G split E, more bells & whistles options) 

• Azumi (middle-level pricing intermediate flute)

  • AZ2 (offset G, with or without split E)​

  • AZ3 (sterling silver body, offset G, bells & whistles options)

• Burkart (expensive, but high quality)

  • Resona 300 (solid silver body/headjoint, offset G, bells & whistles)