I bought this for my daughter for beginning band. I was hesitant because I know you typically get what you pay for, but my daughter often doesn't stick with activities long and I didn't want to invest in an expensive instrument she would quit playing in 6 months . The school rental costs $30/month and gets returned at the end of the year. I figured even if this flute broke after 3 months, I was ahead. I was actually surprised at how nice it was and at the sound quality. So was my daughter's band teacher. She also expected this flute to be disposable. However, she is in her third year playing and it's in as good a shape as it was in beginning band. I would recommend this for a beginner.

This flute certainly isn't top of the line, but it's ok for a beginning student to use. I actually bought this flute for a beginning casual adult student, and it's probably all she'll ever need. It feels a little lightweight compared to a Gemeinhardt student model, and I'm not sure how durable it is. My student, being an adult, takes very good care of it, so I'll probably never find out if it dents easily. It's only been a couple of months, but so far the springs and pads are holding up fine. I'll update in the future if that changes. The intonation is pretty good, and the tone is pretty comparable to other lower-end student model flutes (Bundy, Artley, etc). I'm not sure I would recommend it for a beginning band student, since I don't think it would hold up very well with a less careful student the quality isn't good enough to take them much past an early intermediate level.

This will be the second one I'm returning. The first one just stopped making the proper sound and I couldn't figure out why. The second one the keys started to tarnish after the first week! We avidly wipe it clean with the cleaning cloth every time so theres no reason for the tarnish.

This flute was purchased as a backup flute for my daughter while her other flute was in the shop for 3 weeks + to get repaired. This flute was less than the cost of the repair and with 2 day prime shipping it was in her hands in time for her next event. We told the repair guy about our purchase of this flute and he became upset. He basically said cheap internet flutes are irreparable. He said how much better her old $900 flute was that we were fixing once or twice a year. But this new flute worked perfectly. It sounded great. Really good. It sounds as good as her other more expensive flute. It basically is a disposable flute, but it sounds and plays awesome, is less expensive than a typical repair, and we get it back faster. I can buy one a year and be money ahead. Sometimes it is hard to break the mindset of buying a "Legacy" flute that can be given to the next generation, when you just need something to get you through high school.

Perfect and beautiful! I bought this for my daughter because I was tired of renting a flute for her. I was nervous the matte black would show fingerprints and smudges all the time, but it is really pretty. And she absolutely loves it. She loves the color and she loves the bag it came in. She loves being able to sling it over her shoulder and not worry about dropping it or accidentally leaving it behind if she sits for a bit. We spent a great deal of time tracking down her other flute because of this and with this one we have yet to encounter a disappearance. Which is super convenient. She is just really over joyed with it, practices much more often.