Tools & Supplies for Flute Maintenance

Series Summary

A member of the woodwind family, the flute is a reedless instrument that plays music when air is blown over the opening or an edge. Early flutes were made of bone and date back 30,000 to 50,000 years in certain parts of the world. There are different types of flutes including piccolo, treble flute, concert flute, soprano flute, bass flute, hyperbass flute and contra-flutes. The concert flute is the most common flute and is played using the fingers to push down “keys” that let air escape from certain holes. Each combination of keys makes a certain note. These flutes all vary in octave, range and pitch. There are bamboo flutes and double flutes that are made using organic materials and played by covering holes with your fingers. In this series of free video flute lessons, you will learn how to keep your flute in top condition. Our expert will explain how to clean the head joint and the bore, as well as how to fix bent keys and the corks in the head joint and under the keys. You will also learn how to oil the keys and clean your flute without taking it apart.

Video Transcript

"Now I'm going to show you some tools and some supplies needed to take care of your flute. First of all we'll start off with some denature, a little bit of denature alcohol, some window cleaner, you need some soap, any kind that you like, pair of flat nose pliers, something that does not have teeth on it; a very small ended screw driver, you usually can get those at any home improvement store; a spring hook, which also you could use a dentist tool that have, at the end that has a little hook on it, that'll work, might be more readily available, this would have to be ordered from a professional supplier. Need a little bit of key oil, some baby powder; of course you need some Q-tips, you can use the short Q-tips, double sided one, whichever you have; a little pair of round nose pliers, some pipe cleaners. We have some blue thread locker, this is the removable stuff, I really recommend that the best, and just an old paint brush if you have one, that helps a lot, of course you can get that anywhere, and some contact cement. Now this you do have to get at any home improvement store; dollar bill. This is a pad saver, and you can get these at most any music store, or on-line or whatever; a soft cloth. This is a pull through shammy you can use- get these at any music store, a lacquer polishing cloth, or a silver polishing cloth, depending on what type of finish your flute has. And those are some supplies and tools needed to fix your flute."