Excellent for the beginning flute-player
931379
I am teaching myself how to play the flute (after a few weeks of lessons many years ago) and I couldn't have done it without this guide. It has big diagrams of each of the notes, showing which keys to press. It folds out into 3 sections so you can lay it next to your music book and check which fingerings you need to play the correct note. I found some of the beginning flute books to be lacking in this department. Either the diagrams of what keys to press are quite small, or they are scattered throughout the books so you'd have to keep searching for them. This is a great learning tool!
3835452
Challenging flute solos! I bought this one for a friend and I'm glad it now comes with a CD to get an idea of the sound you need to get. I first purchased this book after studying chinese flute in Shanghai, otherwise I wouldn't have known what all the little grace notes and such were trying to achieve.
4476020
The Trevor Wye flute books have been used in my collegiate oboe studio for years, particularly the volumes covering tonal development and technique. I have also used it myself in my own professional preparation as an oboist. We just ignore the flute specific details and use Wye's systematic approach, adapted here and there to better suit the oboe range. I believe it is best used, or at least introduced, with the guidance of a private teacher. It is not a beginner method for either instrument, but it is the best book on further refinement of playing for a dedicated intermediate or advanced woodwind player that I have seen, presenting clear and direct procedures to guide serious practice. This omnibus edition is a very good value for the money.
2639947
After playing flute for a few years, my daughter agreed to switch to trombone.  She's had trouble staying motivated to practice, but having these familiar melodies to play on her new instrument has given her the motivation to play and makes it easy for me to hear if she's playing the correct notes.  Well worth the modest price.
1265351
I recently purchased this item for study of vihuela music and some repertoire. It is a nice collection of some very beautiful music.

The introduction is packed with information, quite scholarly, and helps to give some background on the instrument, its music, and methods of transcription. It is very well annotated as well, so you'll have some original source material to refer to if you wish.

The music itself presents some challenges in terms of measure and rhythm, which is also explained in the introduction- it is simply different from modern music.

What I did not like was the use of a detuned 3rd course nearly throughout the book- this makes the music an order of magnitude more difficult to play from the standpoint of a guitarist. Instead of G on the third course it is F#.  After playing through some of it in this tuning, I decided to abandon it and go back to standard guitar tuning, and have been making my own notes for fingerings, changing a position here and there. While the alternate tuning is excellent for authenticity, my personal take is that it feels awkward about 90% of the time where in standard tuning it feels awkward only about 10% of the time, maybe less. As a side note, the final pages of the book are devoted to tablature facsimiles from the original works- it is all pretty clear, though for tuning reasons mentioned above I'm not sure how much I will use them. Great to have though.

Again, editorial choices are all explained in the introductory chapters, so you can choose your own way in working through this. Ironically, were it not for these fingering difficulties, I might not be getting so deeply involved with the music and working out my own method with it, so actually that is pretty great!

I'd consider myself a low intermediate player, having made it all the way through Fredric Noad's first book a decade ago, and recently coming back to the guitar after a long hiatus. This is not a book for a beginner, but I think an intermediate player with some determination, a pencil, and some patience, will get quite a lot out of working with this book. These days with YouTube, Spotify, and such as performance references to help you with these texts, there was never a better time to get into early music!
2590633
I was interested in this "Fife" and at the price I could not resist.  Here are the quick pros and cons:

Pros:
Beautiful, "pure" sound.  Not too breathy.  Good esp for the price.
Great for transitioning from a recorder/pennywhistle to a transverse woodwind instrument (eg flute, fife, irish flute, piccolo, etc)
The plastic feels sturdy
Tight two-head construction allows for it to be somewhat tuneable

Cons:
This is not a true Fife.  It is actually a transverse recorder.  A "true" fife is a Bb "simple" system flute with only 6 holes and no thumb hole.  A bit like a small irish flute.
However, it is not a typical transverse recorder either due to unusual fingering.
In fact, if it was a true transverse recorder, I would have given this 5/5.  The main cons really have to do with the rather awful choice of where to put the holes.
In adult hands, the fingering is rather tight and can cause cramping due to the thumb hole being in an unusual spot.
The fingering to reach notes is very different from the recorder and different enough from a real fife to make this essentially an entirely different instrument to learn.  As I can't think of any other instrument with this fingering (particularly for the 2nd octave/register), I guess I would not recommend this as a first woodwind instrument (unless you plan to only play the Yamaha "Fife"

Overall:
Well, at the price, it is really hard to fault it too much.  The sound more than makes up for the uncomfortable playing experience and as such I am happy with it and I would buy it again.  However, Unless you like collecting instruments, which are a little unusual (as I do), you might want to give this a miss.  However, at this price, you might also want to give it a go anyway!

Suggested Alternatives:
For a first woodwind instrument, either a soprano recorder (in C) or a tin whistle (in D).  The recorder is by far the most commonly used in schools and probably the most useful to teach basic principles of music making and particularly woodwind music making.  Most student recorders are very good.  Yamaha make cheap ones that sound nice and so does Shepherd (but harder to find in some places).  I recommend avoiding the wooden ones for beginners as they are more expensive and most new players will damage their recorder some way!  The tin whistle is by far the cheapest with good fingering and good teaching tool for many music principles.  It also has a wonderful sound.  I would recommend either a Clarke Sweetone or a Walton Little Black; both have very nice sound and are very forgiving on the learner.  I think the Sweetone has a superior sound than the Walton, but that's just my opinion.  The Generaton range are readily available but sound is not as nice and can have problems with poor tuning.  Clarke make a very cheap whistle called the "Meg" but the quality is a bit variable (I have two: one is only just OK and the other is excellent).

For a first transverse instrument, most recorder or tin whistle players don't need a "transitioning" instrument unless they are quite young.  If a flute is too big or too expensive, one could try a dixon irish flute (keyless), which can be found for about half the price of the cheapest silver flutes.  Alternatively one could start with a proper fife, but some people would argue that these are a little harder to play than a regular flute.
2327888
This is incredible flute playing! Although the flute cannot manage all the same techniques as a violin, Ms Seres more than manages to bring a wonderful virtuosity to theses pieces while preserving their character as music. Where a technique is not directly transferable, like double stops, she invents a convincing alternative and for some of the slides she uses a "flutter slide" that fits the music nicely.
The only caveat I have is that there are times when Ms. Seres needs to breathe and so makes what I would prefer to hear as one long phase, into two shorter ones.  It's not a major impediment to enjoying this disc - an experience quite different from hearing it played by a demon violinist, but enjoyable in its own right.
4833833
Started building Native American Flutes 2 months ago, and after spunging what I could from internet decided to order this book, and am glad I did. Very helpful. Still have a few problems to work out on my own but thats the fun part also. Well written book and easy to understand.

Play your one string Well !
Otter
3902847
Let me start by saying I am not a Lord of The Rings fan, however, my son is. I purchased this book for my 7th grader that just received a flute for Christmas. He is currently playing the French Horn but decided to expand his musical talent on his own with the flute. The CD is stunning to listen to and is a much needed tool for any beginner. From my son's perspective, the sheet music is a bit challenging but then again, he is a beginner. He also finds the music in the book "awesome and exciting". Much to our surprise, there was a nifty flute fingering chart which is another excellent tool for beginners. My son does comment that this book may not be as easy as he anticipated but is truly enjoying it.
4093993
definitely 5star based on the cost to quality ratio. It exceeded my expectations. We rented a very well built Chinese flute for about $12 a month from a local music store for a year. Decided to purchase since my daughter will need a flute at least for another year or two. I was hesitant to order this flute, but I'm glad I did. Daughter loves it too. Btw, comparing this flute to a $300 + one would be wrong. I'm sure people can list a few disadvantages, but the fact is, I find it totally acceptable for a beginner. You also have a warranty in case you need it.
3603976
My background is based in the 1970's with playing the trumpet and baritone horn. Yes, I am 62 and learning to play the clarinet. Quite frankly, this should be fun. If it isn't fun then why do it?

It would be difficult to find another source with as much useable information about learning to play the clarinet for beginners. All is not perfect, though. As has been stated by others, the fingering guides are not the easiest to use. The Melbay chart by Eric Nelson is inexpensive and solves that problem. Another aid is to order the is the book one Tradition Of Excellence by  Bruce Pearson and Ryan Mallin. These three sources are great when lear

This is a worthwhile purchase and I would buy it again and along with the MelBay chart and the Traditions Of Excellence make a great beginning.
3082419
This was my first flute and it served me well for 8 years before I upgraded to a higher-end flute for college requirements, otherwise I would never have wanted to part with it.  I took it in to replace the pads only a few times in those 8 years.  It held up very well over the years and withstood hours and hours of practice and cleaning (I was always polishing it before concerts and other performances).

I consider it to be an excellent beginner flute based on reliability, ease of use, and tone quality.  I highly recommend it for up-and-coming flautists!
3922182
I spent a lot of time to find a good book for my flute lesson. This book let me know how I can play my flute. You don't need to waste time to find a book. Just buy it and start now. Thank you seller.
4039727
These songs are easy to play, perfect for that flute player who (like me) studied in school and whose flute is collecting dust and wants to have a fun holiday activity.  Nicely arranged for the solo flute.  All the basic tunes are covered, which will assure you that any requests you get will be found in this collection!
4442710
Clearly and logically arranged.  As an individual who played flute very well 40 years ago and decided to relearn, I have really appreciated a non-boring reintroduction to the usually boring art of playing scales.  Numerous exercises in common major and minor keys, as well as chromatic scales covering most of the range of the instrument have made playing warm up scales much more enjoyable.  Arpeggio and velocity studies are also a nice addition.  All in all this would be a nice book for an advancing beginner or an intermediate flutist wanting some fairly interesting exercises covering the majority of the range of the instrument.  Also valuable for becoming familiar with major and minor keys.
41323
Must have for any serious student of the saxophone- approach can be extrapolated for clarinet and flute too
3461115
I'm not exactly a Pearl flute fan and prefer the dark sound of the Azumi Z-cut and the thick walled Miyazawa's (that are out of my budget) when comparing flutes side by side.  I also like the sound of the gold flutes and other flutes that are ridiculously out of my budget.

But this flute was reasonably priced and included what I wanted (and more... not sure if that gold lip plating does much other than increase the price!).  I really enjoy playing it (since I have nothing else to compare it to).  It sounds beautiful and is easy to play.  I have no complaints.  I purchased this on Cyber Monday, otherwise, I probably would not have!  (Thank you for the promotion.)

The big bonus:  The flute came tested and in perfect condition as far as I can tell.  I recommend this flute to others that are looking for a good value on a new open hole flute!  I play in a church setting, so most of my audiences cannot tell a difference between a $400 flute and a $3k flute! I also get an upgraded flute to practice more advanced techniques on and continue to grow on the instrument.

You will need something else to clean the flute with.  I had a hard time shoving the cloth provided with the rod provided into the flute.  Amazon has a few brush looking items that work and the silicon hole plugs sold on Amazon helped a lot in my transition from a closed hole to an open hole flute.