Gina's Flutes Blog

Winter is supposed to be a slower time of year.  A good time for reflection and planning for the upcoming busy seasons.  You might be cleaning out a stack of papers, going through a junk drawer, planning your next music performance, or making summer vacation plans Gina's Flutes will be in Vail, CO again this summer for the Bravo! Vail Instrument Petting Zoo.  You might not know what an Instrument Petting Zoo is!  This summer's Free Family Concert in Vail, CO, begins at 11 a.m. at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater.  It is a beautiful outdoor theater with the mountains and...

Brandon Vigil, saxophone technician at Boomer's Music in Fort Collins, Colorado, gave us great advice for what to look for when buying a used saxophone.  Brandon is featured in our video, shown below. What to look for in a used saxophone: Brands: there are many quality brands, and many poor quality brands.  Brandon recommends Yamaha, Cannonball, Vito, Selmer, P.  Mauriat, as well as other brands.  Poor brands have limited durability, require more repairs, have inferior quality and action which makes it more difficult to play and harder to get a good sound.   Mechanics:  This includes key action and body...

This article is a guide for buying a used flute.  A companion video is linked at the bottom of the article.  Here are some important tips about buying a used student flute: Features of a student flute: Pitch:  Most student flutes are in the key of C and will have 2 keys on the foot joint. Intermediate and professional flutes may have a B-foot, which will have 3 keys on the foot joint. Key Style:  Most student flutes are closed-hole (also called plateau)-- all the keys are solid.  Closed holes allows the student to focus on the other aspects of learning to...

I sometimes get the question, "How did you end up selling instruments"? When I was a 4th grader ready to start band, my budget-minded parents took me to the local music shop and bought me the cheapest flute in the store. It was very old, ugly and leaking air.  Sheer determination helped me slog through the detriments of the beast, and I found I enjoyed playing!  Next came countless hours of babysitting and saving money for my first new flute.  It wasn't anything fancy by today's standards, but I earned it and used it all through high school and college. Do I still play?  Yes, I...