Flute

When choosing a flute for your child, one of the biggest options that you would have to make is either to go for the Plateau or closed hole type or the French model or open hole type of keys. For beginners, the wiser option would be to go for plateau style keys since these are easier to play. Experts on the other hand would prefer open hole types of keys since this gives them total control of the tone produced by the flute.

To make choosing between these two options easier, you should consult your child's instructor. While closed hole types would be the more common suggestion of most instructors, some instructors might require their students to start off with open hole flutes since this type would train the students to do the correct hand positioning from the way open hole flutes are built.

The Difference Between the G Key-offset and In-Line.

Another option that you would have to choose is either you would go for a G key-offset or an inline offset.

For your child, it might be better if he or she would start with the G key-offset since this offsetting makes it much easier to finger and is ideal for small hands. This offsetting is controlled by the ring finger of the left hand. Just recently, this type of offsetting have been found to be nearly exclusive only on closed hole model flutes.

Choosing Between Different Types of Materials

The material for your child's flute could either be nickel silver, silver, or a combination of both. Each of these different materials have their own unique characteristics and produce tones of different qualities.

Nickel silver, because of its durability and its resistance to denting, has become more preferred than silver for beginners. This also produces a melodic and pleasurable tone. Because of this, beginner flutes would usually be composed mostly of nickel silver.

Silver on the other hand is known to produce a better tone than that of nickel silver however, it is not as durable. Most professional flute players use flutes that are entirely made out of silver because of the clear and crisp tone that it produces. Some would even go for golden flutes however; the price of these types cannot be afforded by most flutists.

To have the best, people would have different segments of their flutes made up of different materials. For example: the head joint, body, and foot joint can be made out of nickel silver while everything else would be made out of silver. This mixture can give your child benefits from both types of materials.

Choosing Between Different Plating Materials

When it comes to choosing plating materials for your child's flute, you can choose between silver or nickel plating. Most commonly, silver plating is more preferred for children. Aside from it's luminous appearance which makes it more appealing than nickel, silver plating almost never produces allergic reactions. The only visible fallbacks for this option are that it requires regular polishing to maintain its lustre and that this option is typically more expensive that nickel plating.

Nickel plating on the other hand would be a great cheaper option for those who are price sensitive. While it might not be as beautiful as silver plating, the fact is that your child can still be able to play the flute well with this type of plating.

Having All Options Together

With a lot of options to consider when choosing a flute for your child, you might want to stick with the typical student flute which includes having a nickel silver headjoint, body, and footjoint, C footjoint, offset plateau keys, and silver plating. Unless your child or your child's instructor recommends other options, it would be best to stick with this.

Once your child has mastered this setup, his or her flute can have different alterations like for example; the head joint of the flute can be changed to silver for a more sophisticated tune or the flute can have open-hole keys to give your child total control of the tones that the flute will produce.

If your child would really pursue playing the flute, your child will ultimately end up with a flute that is handmade for very little handling tolerance and maximum playing capacity.