There are several considerations when starting on an instrument. The first is usually whether to rent or buy. In the case of the flute I 100% recommend renting a beginner flute. Advanced flutes are extremely expensive and made out of very delicate metals that are easily dented and damaged.

When renting a flute sometimes you have a choice of brands and other options though often, you will not. If you have a choice, the Yamaha beginner instruments are by far the best and very consistent in quality. Jupiter, Azumi, and Trevor James are good as well.

Flutes are available as open hole or closed hole, meaning the keys are either solid or have a hole in the center that the finger must cover for the note to play. For beginners I strongly encourage closed hole, and that is almost always what is available for beginner models when renting. Most flutes come with off-set Gs, and once again this is an excellent feature.

Sometimes there will be a slightly more expensive option of the B-foot for the flute, but for middle school repertoire it is never necessary and the standard C-foot works fine.

If in the future you are looking for an intermediate level flute make sure to have a teacher play the flute first to make sure it responds well before buying. Some things to look for are; solid silver head joint, silver or good riser, open hole, french cut tone holes, low 'B' foot, gizmo key, and a split 'E' mechanism. A good intermediate flute will cost between $1000-$2500. A Professional Flute starts at ~$5,000.

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