Why Was The Musician's Addition Student Flute Created?

With so many other flutes being made, why was the Musician's Addition flute created? Between big brand-name flutes and flutes offered on Amazon, did we really need a new flute on the market? Surprisingly, the answer is yes.

The Problems In The Flute World

I'm Reesa, the flute teacher at Musician's Addition and there was a major problem I kept encountering as a flute teacher. Many of my students were coming in with either broken instruments that needed to be repaired or non-functioning flutes from Amazon. The common denominator between these problems... budget. The broken instruments were from yard sales, passed down, or from thrift stores. Amazon flutes are cheap. These students are on a tight budget.

I didn't realize how expensive things have gotten, but as I tried to get these students to either get their flutes fixed or to get them to either purchase or even rent a better flute, the answer was continuously, "I can't afford it, I'm even pushing my budget just to do these lessons."

I got online myself to see how bad it really was. We're all told to stick to the name-brand instruments, as they are safe and reliable. We're also told to shop at a reputable shop. I was working alongside with The Flute Center of New York (they're great people, who really do care about getting you a great flute), their cheapest flute (at the time I looked) was $600. That's a lot of money for someone who's barely making it, even if they finance the flute, which can still really strain someone. So... maybe a brand new flute isn't the answer for these students.

So next, I check into flute repairs. Now, I know this can be costly. I once was my own student - my mom bought a flute at a yard sale and later learned it was absolutely trashed. We sent it off to the repair shop (not knowing how much it would cost) and by the time we got the end price, my parents couldn't afford it. So what does it look like for a student to get their flute repaired today? Well, it depends on the extent of it. If it just needs something simple, like a COA (clean, oil, adjust), it averages about $250 (depends on the repair shop). If you need a re-pad job, that can easily look like $1,000. I took a flute repair class with the Flutisty (they are great and take great care of the flutes they repair) and I can see why it's so expensive. Flutes are delicate, and whether your flute needs a COA or a re-pad job, it's a time-consuming job to make sure that the flute comes back in perfect working order. And if you're thinking you could repair it yourself, it's not as easy as it looks. I tried for years on my own before taking the class, with successfully repairing no flutes on my own.

So lastly, you can rent a flute. The price doesn't look so bad, averaging about $40/month, but that $40/month adds up fast. My mom, she was very financially smart, but we just didn't make a lot, knows that you keep paying $40/month forever. To rent for 1 year, you pay $480. If you need another year, you pay $960. In the end, you have to turn that flute back in and you just paid that money for an item you didn't get to keep. A lot still to consider.

So what I saw, a lot of students getting discouraged and feeling that they simply cannot afford flute. How disheartening is that? And I remember myself and my family being in that same spot. My mom would not rent a flute, couldn't afford a new flute, and couldn't afford the repairs on the flute we had. Now I'm seeing the same thing with my students. So what am I to do?

Musician's Addition Goal

Musician's Addition's goal (and my goal too), is to make music education more accessible and the first challenge we run into is the cost of instruments. I'm wondering, how comes there are no instruments in the middle? Something new, affordable, yet not garbage? Is there anyone thinking about these students? I'm a big advocate of staying within your budget. Music should be fun and relaxing, and if you are stretching or paying past your budget, well, stress is being added on, isn't it?

I've kind of stayed low and quiet in my roll here because of some folks in the flute community. I do a lot of the things they tell me not to do, but at the same time, those are the things preventing a lot of people from learning. I was told to don't bother with this, stick to the big brand names. If a student can't afford a flute, if they really want to learn, they'll find a way to afford it. If it's a child who wants to learn but their parents can't afford it, how much control do they REALLY have?

How Musician's Addition Got Their Flute

I've been following this flute maker online for a couple of years. His flutes always look amazing and beautiful. I decided I'd reach out and see if maybe we can work together. He was open to it and was willing to create or make anything we needed. He has his own factory and specializes in flutes, but he makes other woodwinds as well. I decided to order 1 test flute first and to be honest, I went it with the expectation that it would be just like the Amazon flutes. To my surprise, this flute played beautifully and it felt amazing. I was blown away by the responsiveness of the flute and how light the keys were. I honestly liked this flute a lot better than my big-name brand flute I had been playing. This flute is the flute I felt like we were missing.

To keep costs down, it is made with a blend of metals, so it's a little softer metal than some of the other flutes. I did keep that in mind. But if you take care of your flute, it should still last. And even so, if this flute could just get students started, maybe, hopefully, they can put some money aside for a better flute later.

Before giving it the green light, we decided to send the flute on for some repair techs to take a look at it. We wanted to know what the quality is like and if this flute came into their shop, would they even bother repairing it. I know that flute specialty shops like the FCNY or the Flustistry would not even look at it, and it honestly wouldn't make sense to send this flute there for repairs anyway. I sent it to some general band instrument repair shops. The consensus was they were just as surprised as I was. They could tell it was made in a factory and a few small details were missed - you wouldn't know from a player standpoint. The repair tech would just have to make their own notes when repairing this flute - like the pads are not marked for the direction they are placed. Minor. These shops stated they would repair this flute if it landed in their shop.

So with that, we decided we'd give it a try. I've still been playing on my tester flute, it's been 3 years and so far, still no issues. Without dinging it around, I've tried treating this flute like a middle schooler would (like not swabbing it out every time I play). So far, I'd say this flute is a great flute to get started on.

Are the Musician's Addition Flutes Worth It?

Though it is more expensive than the Amazon flutes (our cost is more than what you'd pay for an Amazon flute), the Musician's Addition flutes are put together better and are made with better quality parts. The Musician's Addition flute is made to be that budget-friendly flute that can last you for awhile. Like I stated earlier, I've still been playing my tester flute with no problems.

Is it worth it? In my opinion, yes. The student flute (as of today) costs $275, that's cheaper than your 1 year of renting, cheaper than the repair, and cheaper than the big brand name flutes. & we do offer 'pay as you go' in case you don't have the full amount on hand today.

Our goal is to make music education more accessible, which includes providing budget-friendly, yet reliable and durable, instruments. We don't care about the sale, but we do care about you having the opportunity to learn and to play.

Musician's Addition Student Flute in White Copper

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Expanding Beyond Flutes

We know this problem isn't just flute, but with other instruments too, so as of today, we have just the student flute and the kid's flute, but we plan on expanding to all orchestral instruments. We're just a small mom & pop shop, so we need to move in steps too, so we also don't financially strain ourselves.

Other Ways Musician's Addition is Making Music Education More Accessible

Musician's Addition offers several programs to help accommodate different budgets, schedules, and learning styles.

YouTube: For those with little to no budget, you can learn along to our YouTube channel. We teach using the most common method books.

Free Resources: We offer other free resources to help, such as free monthly games and our online community.

Courses: For those who have a little more of a budget, but have a tight schedule, we have our own courses made. Some are interactive, include games, backing tracks, and more.

Private Online Lessons: For those with a bigger budget and a schedule for lessons, we do offer private online lessons. Get personalised lessons and get real-time feedback.