u/LifeOfCoder

For a reply to another post, I checked my Amazon and saw that I bought my first PVC C scale flute on 10 August 2023. I probably got it on 11 or 12 - so that makes complete 3 years of flute learning journey! But it is not a straight journey and I did quit many times, I think longest break was about 20 days in 2024.

What will I do differently, if I started today:

• I will practice alankars at different speeds - simple ones. I remember I keep coming to this, and everytime I start doing something complicated and then leave it. Instead I will master basic alankars (SRG, SRGM, or from lower p to high p etc) and will make sure I can do these comfortably at many speeds
• I will not go buy so many courses! Wasted a lot of money to learn the lesson that it takes time and a lot of hard work.
• I started learning vocals at some point but was not very regular - I would double down on this and basically spend more time on learning vocals while my fingers were still getting used to playing flute.
• I will not get distracted or discouraged by some people getting it so easily while me spending hours and not getting it.
• When I started I told myself I will be happy if I could play some simple tunes, but kept changing the goal post and got demotivated. Changing goal post is natural I guess but I will accept that with changing goal post I will have also give enough time.

When I started I had almost no knowledge and I am old as well. Despite being so irregular and not listening to popular (& good) advice (do long notes etc) I did well enough. I am sure anyone can learn this if you give enough time and hard work. All the best!

I started my Bansuri learning journey about 3 years back. After learning from some youtube videos I joined an online class - which was more of a sales funnel. I fell for the claims of the teacher who was selling his business plan: that one to one teachers are very costly, that group class is the best way and that anyone can learn to play flute in 60 days!!

Of these, last claim is pretty common now-a-days, you will see a person playing perfect flute on a video ad and telling you - you can also play flute like them in 30, 60 or 90 days - coming from any background. While it is not impossible, but it is likely not true for most. There are people with vocals/music background who actually can learn pretty fast. But it is not a claim any good teacher will make.

If I would start today, I will start by finding an online (or local) teacher that is fit for me. We sometimes think that the person who plays flute well will also be best teacher. This is not always true, and specially, even if a great flute player is also a good teacher he/she might not have the patience for a beginner!

Avoid teachers who give you guarantee of success! There is none. No one can guarantee your success only you can by practicing. And when you fail these guarantee giving teachers will blame you only (and that is correct).

Avoid mass group classes, sales funnels (silver, diamond), superstar teachers. As a beginner you need:

1. A person who can motivate you, follows up and sometimes maybe scold you as well when you are not practicing enough.
2. Can teach you techniques by showing. A local person who can actually correct your finger position (specially important when you learn Gamak and Komal swaras) can be great.
3. Teach you Ragas - this can actually be done better with a vocals teacher.

A small group class of similar stage people could also work great. A group of friends learning together can be amazing. You just need a person who is just ahead of you to guide you.

Remember, good teachers will tell you to change Guru once you reach their limit of knowledge.

You dont need song notations. Infact, if you are serious about flute learning you should not depend on notations.