I'm at a gig a few weeks ago. Flute player to my right as we get ready for our set. I ask him, "If I wanted to play the flute, is it very hard?" Dumb question, I know. "Yes, it's hard," he says. He's a former middle school band director. He gives me a few pointers about how to tell if a used flute is any good, and says there's a lot of good information on YouTube.
A week later, I buy a used Gemeinhardt SP-2 student-level flute on Facebook Marketplace, from a mom of a high school kid who doesn't play it. I take it home and watch a bunch of videos about how to get started. These videos are made by kind music educators and aimed at middle schoolers.
On the first day I try several times and cannot make a sound from the flute. On day two I can make a sound that is unsteady - the initiation of the note has a chirp to it. I consult YouTube and some LLMs for advice. I'm on about day 4 or 5 at this point and I can play a low C pretty consistently. That's middle C on the piano for reference. It sounds amazing.
My goal in the next few weeks is to play scales - C, F and Bb to a slow tempo on the metronome. From there I'll continue around the circle of fifths and look for some very basic melodies. I've downloaded a bunch of visual charts showing where to place one's fingers for each note, and mapped them to the C Major scale.
In my favor is the fact that I read treble and bass clef at a rudimentary level and will have no problem reading the notation once I match it to my fingers. On the other hand, I've never played a wind instrument and have never attempted to control my facial muscles in a precise way, and coordinate that with my hands and my brain.
I tell Mrs. DCGuy of my intention to learn the flute. She gives me a better than 50 percent chance of success within two years. She has been very supportive of my music over the years and makes what we both think is a realistic assessment. We both acknowledge that there are gradations of success. I'd say my initial goals are to play a flute solo on one of my gigs, or play the flute part of a classic rock song I've played a million times. This would probably be at a laid-back winery gig. One of my bands would be very receptive to this, I think.
I'm not afraid to fail at this, but I'm going to give it a rather persistent attempt.
I'll update this thread periodically. In the meantime, I'd welcome any advice or feedback. I'm especially interested in pieces of music/etudes for an adult beginner.
A week later, I buy a used Gemeinhardt SP-2 student-level flute on Facebook Marketplace, from a mom of a high school kid who doesn't play it. I take it home and watch a bunch of videos about how to get started. These videos are made by kind music educators and aimed at middle schoolers.
On the first day I try several times and cannot make a sound from the flute. On day two I can make a sound that is unsteady - the initiation of the note has a chirp to it. I consult YouTube and some LLMs for advice. I'm on about day 4 or 5 at this point and I can play a low C pretty consistently. That's middle C on the piano for reference. It sounds amazing.
My goal in the next few weeks is to play scales - C, F and Bb to a slow tempo on the metronome. From there I'll continue around the circle of fifths and look for some very basic melodies. I've downloaded a bunch of visual charts showing where to place one's fingers for each note, and mapped them to the C Major scale.
In my favor is the fact that I read treble and bass clef at a rudimentary level and will have no problem reading the notation once I match it to my fingers. On the other hand, I've never played a wind instrument and have never attempted to control my facial muscles in a precise way, and coordinate that with my hands and my brain.
I tell Mrs. DCGuy of my intention to learn the flute. She gives me a better than 50 percent chance of success within two years. She has been very supportive of my music over the years and makes what we both think is a realistic assessment. We both acknowledge that there are gradations of success. I'd say my initial goals are to play a flute solo on one of my gigs, or play the flute part of a classic rock song I've played a million times. This would probably be at a laid-back winery gig. One of my bands would be very receptive to this, I think.
I'm not afraid to fail at this, but I'm going to give it a rather persistent attempt.
I'll update this thread periodically. In the meantime, I'd welcome any advice or feedback. I'm especially interested in pieces of music/etudes for an adult beginner.
Good luck.
