Hey friends! Keep those comments rolling in! I just had a pretty long night last night editing this video, so I'm gonna crawl back into bed now. :P I absolutely promise to get back to your comments, especially if you comment sometime today or tomorrow! ^_^

When a child is old enough to go to preschool, they are old enough to learn an instrument. In my opinion, the younger they start, the better they might just be.

People should be more awere of this, because - at least here in Brazil - music is not seen as profession and music teachers should have a 'profession'. And what most people don't realise is that as music teachers we also have to pay for our schools, masterclasses, festivals and still buy methods, sheet music, books on interpretation, etc on top of all that investment on instruments. People should give us more value.

Not gonna lie, I️ ended up getting a Haynes piccolo for $125. Call me a wizard, but I️ ended up getting one of the ORIGINAL Haynes piccolos. Like not even signed Wm. S Haynes, but “George Haynes” He was the actual flutist of the Haynes brothers, if I️ remember correctly. Wouldn’t give up that picc for the world

My father bought me my very first flute, when I started highschool band.... In 1997... Maybe... And just recently I bought a new intermediate flute, silver head, open holed with b footjoint. I saved up money for a year from my business and bought it while it was discounted 50%. I don't think I could have bought it otherwise. I'm an adult with a family to support, so buying an expensive, although awesome, flute would be a dream, and I'm not even a music graduate, I hope one day to be able to buy a $20,000 flute. I need to get better though, because in reality, your flute will only be as good as your ability. I have a lot to learn before committing to a better flute.

Omg Joanna your scaring me! I didn't know flute stuff could be that expensive omggggg

The Nuvo Toot and JFlute are really, really helpful for the younger students. All of my students even the older ones "fight" to get to play on the Toot.

Before I started playing the flute I did exactly the same thing that you did Play my recorder what it onto the side just like a Flute and I The same Yamaha flute as you

Supportive parents are amazing. Likewise, they must be so proud!

Great video. You've been able to put all your passion to flute in it. I just love your approach, revealing all your feelings and emotions.

Great video!!! I have discovered your channel recently when I started band, and I have enjoyed watching you. Can't wait to see your next one!

I played an Armstrong open hole flute through high school because it was a school instrument and everyone else was afraid of the holes so that meant I didn't have to share it. When I went to university I got an Armstrong 80B with gold lip plate. The inside of the head joint also looks like gold but it's hard to tell if it is or if it's a reflection. I think it was about $600US in 1990. I remember through the 80s there was hardly any choice for students. American (Artley, Gemeinhardt, Armstrong...) or Yamaha. I wish I had an offset G. I have small hands too and there weren't the gizmos you have. My flute needs an overhaul but I'm having flute envy....LOL. However I make very little money!!

I love music. I love to play musical instruments. And I bought two used flutes to learn on. One is a Yamaha 225 S and the other a Hartley. I don't know anything about flutes but I see it as a start.

I love it when you mention Alto Flute!

I wasn't even allowed to start lessons until I was 6, and then you had to start with a recorder, and then an alto, until you could choose another instrument. And then I had to learn violin because we had a violin in the house, and I could never like it. Then, finally. at last, I got a flute!

Thanks for sharing!!!! Love love love your story!!!

Thanks for making this video. I never thought any of this advice would be useful to me because I had my step up flute and was comfortable to use it for the rest of my life. However it was recently stolen 😢. I’ve been going through all your old flute reviews and this one is super helpful. You’re the best ❤

Oh wow just watched this video 😊 hope you have had a great time saving!

This is an epic and incredibly interesting video. Thanks!

Hello from another UBC grad, also played on a Mateki. I just upgraded to a Miyazawa. Great video.

I'm planning on possibly upgrading my clarinet from plastic to wood at some point. Also, we clarinet players also try to play our clarinet sideways to play it like a flute!

wow I watched the full video. thank you for making this videos.....

I’ve just upgraded to a 22k gold plated, handmade in Japan, Pearl Cantabile with Vivace headjoint. The difference between this flute and my previous instruments is remarkable 👍 Like you, it’s been a question of saving but also of selling and trading in other instruments. For piccolo I was able to get the grenaditte Pearl and then bought the wooden headjoint for it a couple of months later. I love it ! I keep an eye on a local flute centre’s website for sales and unbeatable deals when I’m on the market for a new instrument.

The Toadette plushie is what is currently motivating me to buy a flute 😇😍

Thanks for being so transparent and genuine! I love your channel already (and I JUST discovered you today). Haha! The flute that I have right now is what I played on through college, and what my parents bought me in 8th grade as an intermediate step up flute. Lol Its an open-hole Armstrong, in-line G with a sterling silver thin wall headjoint. My parents bought it used and it came with a basic silver plated Armstrong piccolo. My mom got the set of them used on eBay for $550 back in...2003? Lol I'd love to upgrade, but it's just never been a possibility for me financially. I will say though, for our first Christmas together my husband bought me my dream headjoint - a solid silver Goosman headjoint. Lol I just got it fitted to my intermediate Armstrong flute. Definitely a lopsided combination, but it's the best I can do right now. Lol Just a SAHM who plays for church once a month.

Love your plans the video was so interesting.

Could ypu please do a video about circular breathing??? 🙌🙌😭😮

I TOTALLY PLAYED MY RECORDER SIDEWAYS WHEN I WAS A KID TOO!! I thought I was the only one who did that!! Also, keep you facial expressions coming, your operatic break demonstrating tone depth makes me chuckle haha.

I had toy instruments as a kid. I started Piano when I was almost 11 but I was introduced to the flute when I was around 10 and that was because my dad played. My introduction to the flute was actually because of Nestor Torres ( my dad had an album of his and because I’m Cuban I listened to a lot of Charanga music as a kid). I started with a Selmer Bundy when I was almost 12 but after four and a half years, it started falling apart ( by that point, I had already outgrown my instrument). So, the end of my sophomore year of high school( right before I did solo and ensemble), I played on a silver-plated Emerson. Then, the summer before my senior year, I played on my Gemeinhardt 3OSB( That was the Flute I played for most of my undergrad, I got into New World with that flute, I performed with Dallas Brass , WindSync, and Christopher O’Riley. I also played for Bart Feller with my Gemeinhardt). So for almost two years( Almost a year and nine months), I’ve been playing on my Altus 1107. I’ll be honest, I expected to get a Powell or a Haynes but once I tried my Altus, I fell in love. 😃❤️🎶🎼

I'm a woodwind doubler and actually have several backups. I'm also a repair tech and that makes getting backups on the cheap easier. I totally agree with the need for backups and I want to remind everyone that your backups should be something you enjoy playing.

Beautifull sounds.

Such beautiful flute playing on the Mateki.

Been a long time since my last comment. Completely get your finances at this! Like I said in a past post, i do not have the finances to upgrade either flute or piccolo (both are Grmeinhardt). I also wanted to thank you for doing a review of my 3shb! Except my model is now life your Yamaha, it's vintage! I still think it's so cool that you got in with the Ensign! And it's funny they asked if you play/have an alto, because my stake conductor knows I play five instruments and asked, do you play/have a oboe. He was even going as far to see if our local music store carried oboes for rent, with the intent for me to play in our orchestra. I'm all, thanks! I know I'm talented... but I wouldn't even know where to begin as the concert was like in 2 weeks!

I don’t even play any woodwinds (I play trumpet and euphonium) and I’m OBSESSED with your channel 😂

That's a good plan for upgrading flutes thanks Joanna helps me a lot to upgrade my flute and it helped me upgrade my piccolo from Paititi to Jupiter Wooden piccolo

I’ve been learning flute and before I started learning I figured out how to play my clarinet like a flute by both tilting it to the side and by taking the reed/ligature off and putting the mouthpiece on backwards 😂😂😂

I just bought a Yamaha 222 via ZIP pay. Love it! Very easy way to pay for an instrument.

Yup. My students LOVE the toot. It helps with shorter arms.

Oh my gosh I love the Mateki

Joanna, you can ask Brannen (since they’re probably closer than you than Lafin in Germany) to put a Lafin lip plate on your current Brannen headjoint, you still get to keep the 10K rose gold but now have the headjoint go your dreams.

*Me, a beginner:* Seeing this video when my investment in a used Yamaha 225-S was considered pricey 😅

How were you able to take care of your flutes so well？

"I don't know why they let me!" That's so relatable. I was running around playing flutes at KMEA that I wouldn't even be comfortable holding now.

This is so great a video.

I started playing 1 year and a half ago and asked my mom and dad for a piccolo even though they are divorced and my mom got me an 1,000 dollar grenadella gemienhardt piccolo and it can go down to a low D and than my dad for Christmas and my step mom got me a cheap 40 dollar amazon flute, and the pinky key makes me have cramps in my pinky bug I still appreciate it🤣

I just bought a Vintage Gemeinhardt M3S solid silver open hole flute off of ebay for 480.00. I am in my early 50s with a sudden desire to learn to play the flute! I use to play the Clarinet in grade school, and Highschool.

I've been very fortunate that my parents have helped me get both my alto and baritone saxes, while my tenor used to be my brothers so for the most part I'm in good shape to get through music school. I've been out of work for a while and am planning on using my next scholarship refund (I'm a college freshman) on a soprano so I'll have a quartet of horns and can play on any gig that happens to be thrown my way. Eventually I would want to upgrade my tenor, but realistically I haven't played a lot of tenor so I can leave it where it is. WAY far down the road I'd be interested in looking into either a gold plated or sterling silver alto and soprano, but for now and the amount of money I have I know what I have now works and I'm not gonna need to change it. It's for the most part working to get mouthpieces for whatever situation I'd need and maybe a separate neck for my alto, possibly a sterling silver neck for solo work.

Was just talking with my mom on buying a brand name intermediate flute! I'm thinking of gemeinhardt and this video is helping!

I have a nagahara mini in mopane wood. It is really sweet sounding. You might consider buying used instruments and then having them overhauled. I purchased several Haynes piccolos this way. Also, I have a gold Powell and a silver Brannen with a gold head joint that I purchased used and then overhauled. Of course I live near Flute World where I can try the instruments on trial before purchase. All in all for a person on a budget a quality used instrument can deliver the sound you want at a much lower price.

I loveeeeed your impersionation of the "Opera Diva". So cute and funny! And Flutes are expensive! Wow I never thought of how expensive flutes can be!

I have learned an existential a.kind of information from all your videos as I am a pianist with perfect pitch. I am self taught flourish. Jean Paul is good flute.

I totally relate here. My main flute was worth about 4 thousand (UK pounds) and am definitely ready to upgrade, but obviously funding 😭😭

Sounds like your parents were pretty cool about the whole thing, that's awesome. Parents that are supportive of their kids' interests are great. My parents were pretty broke and some 20 years ago when I needed a flute for school they bought me a used YFL 225S (I assume must be the older model of yours). That's what I'm still playing now that I recently got interested again. But it's quite interesting to get an idea when I might want to get something higher quality... The clunkiness is definitely there... lol

I feel like you're describing my Miyazawa experience.

The flute/piccolo upgrades depend on one's professional goals and realistic expectations. If I was a professional player with a gorgeous tone (my technique is actually ok, so I am just mentioning the tone :) I might be able to justify a 20K flute. I am not a professional, and will never get to that kind of level, although I do work on it every day. So my silver Muramatsu serves me great. I also have a wooden Yamaha piccolo (I do play 3rd/picc in our local Symphony and double on picc in a couple of concert bands). The only upgrade I made to that was a wave head joint. It works, although it does have its problems. I learned to adjust for them. It's really not about the instrument. That being said, I had a chance to try my friend's picc a couple of days ago (left mine at home thinking I will not need it) and absolutely fell in love with it. It was so incredibly easy to play and the tone colors were something else! And I do play piccolo a lot. There's no way I can EVER get that kind of sound out of mine, no matter what I do. I know it's an expensive picc, an I will most likely never be able to afford it (or justify trying to). But I do at least want to know what it is. BTW, it was purchased this summer from Flute Center of NY. :) Anyway, my position on instruments is, you get a decent one and learn to play it well. It's not about the instrument as much as it is about the player.

Reminds me of the Sound of Music ... "My favourite things" ...

I play a Yamaha YFL 212 with a silver lip plate, not a very expensive one (well, relatively), but I really like the sound of it!

Omg what a coincidence! I'm going and trying out professional models on Monday!!!!

You will NEVER be satisfied until you get so disgusted with prices of these 'WONDERFUL FLUTES' that makes you into Jasmine Choi, that you finally realize that there really is not much difference between flutes at the professional grade level. Gold, Silver, tin it's all in the quality of the musician that's playing it. So while some 'key actions' are smoother, don't be so hung up on what the flute is made of. No sense in making the stores that sell those 'miracles' richer than they already are. But when the time comes that you are in demand, then buy whatever ya want to buy. It's not the flute, it's the TALENT that hard work provides that will determine success. (sometimes it's WHO ya know)

So funny. John is such a lucky guy.

I have learned flute for 3 years( i;m 12), and I'm using a Le vent's flute (seems not very popular) it was still my flute and it is amazing, not very good tone though( but t has all the key that we would possibly use), but recently i have brought a piccolo!

You started at 8 and a few years later you were already playing things like the Chaminade Concertino!! YOU PLAYED CHAMINADE CONCERTINO AT SOMEWHERE AROUND 12! 12!!!! OH MY GOSH

Have you tried any modern wooden flutes? Like the Yamaha YFL874W?

I had been using the Yamaha 221 student model flute for 16 years. Wanted to upgrade it after passing grade 8 but could not afford one. After working for a few years and save up some money, I bought a Muramatsu DSRH sliver flute which cost 840,000yen (as I flew to Tokyo to try and order one), the sounds are way better but needs a lot of time to adapt to the new flute

I've been thinking of upgrading my clarinet, and I probably will when I get to high school, since I really want to have a good instrument but I don't really need it at the stage I'm at, 7th grade. But already I've started using better reeds and I actually got a mouthpiece used by players in the Boston Symphony. But I mean my student horn is actually one of the pretty decent ones. It works well for what I need it to. Should work for my auditions coming up : )

Am new to the flute. I purchased a used Gemeinhardt 3SB from the local music shop.

So here's an idea, when you get the Lafin head, fit your current Brannen to the Mateki?

omg I PLAY THE FLUTE TOO!!

wow what a long "flute story"! i love this kind of videos my story is this: i'm 17 and i've been playing the flute since i was 8. i took flute lessons 8 years and then had an exam to prove my level, but i don't attend a conservatory or anything because i'm not interested in making music part of my career. During my 8 years of music school i played on a yamaha 225 something (like yours) and for me it was more than enough. i never talked with my teacher about buying a flute because as long as i played in the orchestra of the music school, they would let me play their flute for free. During my 5th year in music school and orchestra i fell in love with the piccolo that a friend of mine used to play, so i asked my director if i could play it too, but the orchestra had only one instrument and so i decided to buy one. After talking to my parents (let's remember that i was only a young kid and didn't know many flute brands) they got me one as a present and so i had my yamaha ypc-32 student model piccolo! (yes, before owning a flute ahaha). i kept studying and playing in my orchestra until i finished my 8th year and had an exam. it went really well and at that point i didn't have a flute teacher anymore. right the following year my orchestra played with another one from another village and i had the opportunity to play with some professional flutists that owned very good flutes. One of them played on a rose gold flute with open holes (two things that i had never seen)... seing it litterally blew my mind and i started informing myself on the internet about things to consider when buying a new flute. then i went to a very nice music shop in my city, where i tried out some flutes and found the one that fit me. After doing this i decided, once again, to talk to my parents about getting a flute and, as they saw how much i desired it and how much i wanted to upgrade it and be better in the orchestra, they bought me the flute of my dreams for christmas (last christmas to be precise, so it has been almost a year since i got my flute): a pearl elegante with silver headjoint, body and c foot, silver plated mechanism, hopen holes and split e mechanism. I know there are flutes that cost a lot more and that would maybe fit me more, but I absolutely love my pearl one and don't need a super expensive platinum flute to play in my orchestra (even though i would accept it if someone gave it to me LOL). i hope it wans't boring, but i felt like sharing my story bye Johanna!

Could you do a video on how to nail the low register notes

I really want to some day get the Nagahara Mini in the Mopane wood. Right now I have a Guo piccolo and love it. FCNY should start carrying Guos.

I am in 7th grade and I play the flute in my school band. I would love to be an experienced enough flutist to the point where I can change the fingering of the note on a song and know the notes well enough to be able to play the song effortlessly.

Yup- just got a Nuvo plastic flute. It’s not perfect but good for travel, has a decent tone, and you can wash it with dish soap 🤣😂. Started as a middle/high school band drummer. Have played classical guitar for 40+ years. Played in master classes and perform part time professionally. Have also studied voice for over two years. Studied with a local Symphony flautist in the mid 90’s to add a wind players perspective to my playing, but got too busy and quit. Returned to the flute recently- ironically, after I found out on FB that my flute teacher Laurie died four years ago, too young. She studied with Leone Buyse, played a Powell, she had that huge orchestral tone, she was very sweet, pretty. Laurie took me through the Wye long tone studies, Rubank, some Moyse. Flute playing was good for me since guitarists are not accustomed to flat key signatures. Re- learning’s been an interesting sensation- muscle memory’s coming back, and embrochure placement’s not as hard. Strict metronome work with scales and JAF’s concept of chunking/isolating measures really helps work through rough spots. It’s great to watch JAF and seeing an Asian (Chinese) like me be a regular part of the internet community!!!

At the moment I am teaching myself flute with my Jupiter student model. Maybe later, a Pearl(?) Intermediate Flute, with Silver head joint and B foot joint. 😊

I have a Sankyo Etude B and a Muramatsu EX. I'm using an old Powell 2100 headjoint on the EX, since the Muramatsu HJ, although pure on the lower ranges, becomes too resistant above Eb6. The Sankyo NRS-1 HJ is better by comparison, but the Powell beats both. These days I don't have much $$, but I'm thinking about using the Powell on the Sankyo, and upgrading the HJ on the EX. Do you think it's a viable alternative to get the EX HJ re-cut to improve it, saving $$ on another HJ, or is this not feasible ?

Joanna this was a great idea for a video but I was disappointed your brannen was in shop. I would have loved you to play the hobbit theme on it so we could compare it to your other flutes. The brannen you reviewed wasn't 14k so do you think you could do a video playing the hobbit theme once you get your flute back? Thanks.

I'm an oboist but I find your videos pretty interesting! Also, my little brother wants to play the flute.

You should look into Arista and Song headjoints, I've seen alot of people using Arista's lately and I know Jasmine Choi uses a Song headjoint. I really want a new flute with a sankyo or arista headjoint. The projection on both is absolutely insane.

I have my mums old flute (like 30 years old) and its just gone into repair cos the tuning was terrible and I had like parts missing 😂😂😂 In a way I hope it there’re like “sorry, we can’t fix it” as its super old and I really want a new one 😆😆

Can you teach us how to get beautiful tone like yours and different kinds??

For the flute aficionados out there (yes I watch this channel and don't play the flute and I don't know why), is there an R13 (clarinet) or Mark VI (saxophone) equivalent for the flute? In other words, a model that came out at some point in history that everyone had to have or every manufacturer had to copy?

Omg i do that too i do it in my room the recorder thing

I use to do the samething with my recorder before I started playing flute because I wanted to have one so bad. I wounder how many flutist before playing flute played there recorders sideways?

Hi i'm johanna i am 9 years old i love your videos

The downside to renting a flute is sometimes the flute is so substandard that it doesn't respond well enough and it can discourage the new player enough to quit where if the flute actually responded well enough they might have continued playing.

I absolutely love the flute although it’s not my main instrument. It’s my 14th year on piano and i decided to pick up a woodwind as my backup instrument then i picked a flute. I have used 3 flutes my first three months because i started on an old Yamaha 221 then i got a Gemeinhardt open hole student model which is ridiculous... just bought my first personal flute last few days which is a Yamaha 362H and feel that’s the minimum quality of a flute than I can accept

My first flute was a Geimenhart (idk how to spell it) that I rented from my school throughout 4/5 th grade. It was student model with open hole and plugs that I used. I moved in fifth grade and that’s when i got my first flute for my own. It was actually a step down from my other one same brand but it wasn’t open hole and was lighter and super ugly sound.... my little sister who is now just out of beginner band has it now so I have a new flute going into high school! It is a Trevor James flute that my dad bought for $180 of of eBay from London. Which was a complete steal! It is an in between intermediate and beginner flutes and had closed holes and no b flat foot joint but it gives me a good time and plays low middle and high notes well! My family doesn’t have a lot of money so I’m happy to own this expensive flute! (It is retailed for a very high price... so 180 wasn’t bad for this flute! In fact it’s AMAIZNG!)

My flute is a Yamaha YFL24N Japan

After I told my husband you can just buy the headjoint in gold, he asked how much that was and when I told him, he shouted, "And you don't even get the whole &$^%ing flute?!" so loud he woke up our daughter. Got to the end and figured I'd answer your question... Music is mad expensive. As a non-professional, I will probably never own a five figure instrument. As an advanced-ish beginner player, I bought an Amadeus 680 (your review videos are totally amazing and were so important to my flute selection). It's my experience that when you're trying to learn, it's very much a disadvantage to try to do so with sub-standard stuff. Plus, for me, I felt it important to look at it in the context of what I was buying. Yes, $2100 is a lot of money, in fact it's almost as much as my mortgage payment, but it's at the lower end for an intermediate flute. I'm not sure what my flute playing future will hold, but I'd love to get involved with local small orchestras/bands etc. My husband's friend plays the trumpet in a very small local band ensemble. I may look into something fully silver at that point. After watching your lefreque video, I could just buy the red brass one instead of investing in a gold riser/headjoint/whole flute.

(Only a little jealous) that you’re parents bought your flutes. I finally paid off my pro Yamaha (bought it for a steal; still don’t know how it ended up happening). However I’m desperately in need of a bassoon for college and college auditions (a different bassoon takes at least a year or two to get used to) Still figuring out how to pay off an intermediate bassoon, costing new, at least 20k. I don’t know how I’m going to afford it.

I also played the recorder sideways... Now I play the flute in 5th grade band

Love your hair

How do you know when you’ve outgrown the level of your instrument?

are gemeinhardt FLS1 good? Can you do a review on them I have one but I just want to know what you think of them

I did the recorder sideways thing, too.

I caught the same bug with special flutes; I played a wood flute when I was searching for my current flute; I still play a silver flute, but I’ve been wishing for wood tone in my instrument ever since;

Oh boy... I’m rewatching this and a 14k gold solid Brannen-KINGMA(?!) would be at LEAST $55,000... $39,000 at that time seems like a bargain now haha

I currently have a Yamaha advantage 200 ad flute that I have been playing for 3 years and an Armstrong 358 piccolo that I am renting from my school. Do you have any recommendations for which type of flute I should move up to or what I should do regarding my piccolo?

Always ❤️

If you were to get a nagahara mini what kind of wood would you get? Cause my main instrument is clarinet and it's made of African black wood. And I really like it... but just curious to know what you would consider