u/Spiritual-Spinach419

We built our home during the first few months of the pandemic and currently have a 2.75% interest rate and significant equity.

Our current neighborhood has become less and less diverse since we built. We are considering building in a new development in a more established part of the city that would allow our child to attend a school that is significantly more culturally and socio-economically diverse than our neighborhood school—something very important to us. We could opt them into the school, but we would need to apply for a waiver every year and it could be denied based on growth in enrollment.

A bonus of moving is that we would be building a house that fits our life better than our current home. When we built, we thought we would need the space we currently have, but we have found that 3500 sq ft is too much for us, and we would be downsizing to about 2700.

We know we can afford the increased payment, but one of the fears we have is that we will regret losing some of the financial flexibility we currently have.

For those who willingly left a low rate for a house that fits you better—whether it be size, location, etc—do you wish you had stayed and maintained more financial flexibility? Or was the move worth it?

I feel like the move would ultimately be worth it, but my spouse is more hesitant.

Edited to add: our child isn’t white. We want them to attend a school where they will have racial mirrors both in terms of peers and teachers/staff. Growth patterns in our city and the construction of new schools over the last six years changed the demographic make-up over our neighborhood schools. Other than diversity, schools in the city are all excellent academically.

We’re a family of three (me, my husband, and our 2 year old) considering building a new home in a subdivision closer to our ideal school attendance area. This would also mean being closer to work and family.

We have the option to design a custom floor plan and are looking for ways to:
- Downsize the finished square footage from our current home which is approximately 3500 to 2600-2800 square feet.
- Eliminate wasted space.
- Optimize the remaining space.

Wondering what tips, tricks, or insights others might have for optimizing space? We love our current house, but there is a lot of wasted space.

One of our challenges is that we have a large collection of books and a significant number of musical instruments (some quite large) that require space.

We’re planning to downsize our home in the next few years, and one likely consequence is losing our dedicated main-level music room. That’s currently where our spinet piano lives, and it’s my absolute favorite room in our house. The thought of leaving it makes me want to cry.

In our next house, we won’t have the square footage on the main level for a dedicated music room, so we’re trying to figure out what other piano owners have done.

Do you keep your piano in a common living area on the main level? Do you have yours in the basement? If in the basement, how did you handle getting the piano downstairs, and have you had any issues with temperature, humidity, etc.? We’re targeting a new build or nearly new build, so the basement will be modern and well insulated, but it still a worry.

The piano is probably the part of this move that is stressing me out the most. Getting rid of it is absolutely not an option, so I’d love to hear how others have incorporated their pianos into smaller homes.

Any advice, photos, or lessons learned would be greatly appreciated!

We are planning to build a home in one of the new developments, and are really liking what we see from Murray, Schneider, Buhr, and Prairie Home Builders.

All have floor plans that can be built in a way that works for us, and they’ve been great when we’ve met with them in person.

But we also know a couple people who used different builders (none of the ones listed above) and had bad experiences despite doing their due diligence when selecting a company to work with.

I’m wondering if there’s anything we should be aware of with the four builders we are currently considering—anything that would be a red flag either during construction or in how the house holds up over time.

I’m getting back into playing regularly after an extended break and looking for new (to me), engaging music to play solo.

In the past, I’ve gravitated toward Baroque composers (particularly Bach and Telemann), but I’d love to expand my playing horizons.

So the question:
What are your favorite flute solos? Are there arrangements of popular music for flute that you love? Are there classical/romantic/modern era essentials I should immediately look for?

Additional context:
Even with an extended break, my skill level is pretty high. Im not afraid of a challenge, but I do want to avoid things that are too simple/elementary level.

Edit: typos (lute to flute 😅)

I’m an adult beginner who started playing viola recently. My ultimate goal is to join my local community orchestra (hopefully within the next three or four years), and I’m curious what realistic progress looks like over the first few years.

For those of you who started as adults:

• What could you comfortably play after 1 year? 2 years? 3+ years?
• How much were you practicing?
• When did you feel ready to join a community orchestra?
• Were you actually comfortable when you joined, or did you grow into it after starting?

I have a strong musical background (piano since age 5 and flute since age 9, including multiple bands and orchestral groups), but strings are completely new to me. I’m trying to get a sense of what a realistic timeline looks like for adult learners, rather than people who played as children and later returned to the instrument.

Additional context:

• I practice 4–6 days per week for 30–45 minutes per session and take a 45-minute private lesson each week.
• I started playing at the beginning of May and can comfortably play D, G, and C major scales.
• I can also play through about half of Suzuki Book 1.

I’d love to hear about your experiences and what milestones you hit along the way.

I started learning to play the viola about three weeks ago. I have an instructor, and she taped the finger board for first position.

I can confidently hit the notes on the D string using her tape marks as a guide, but the A string notes feel like they constantly shift a millimeter or two in either direction. It feels super temperamental.

Is it me? Or is it the A string? Or maybe a little of both?

For additional context, I’ve been using a tuner to help me fine tune the pitch of each note and practicing very slowly to try and learn them correctly.

tl;dr: I would love to hear thoughts on the Azumi 3, Amadeus 680, and Yamaha 362.

———

I’m so excited. I’m upgrading my Yamaha Y221 after 25 years (!!) and doing a trial with the Flute Center over Memorial Day weekend. Yesterday, I confirmed the below flutes for the trial:

Azumi 3: used, manufactured in 2000, but certified pre-owned, and 100% sterling silver

Amadeus 680: new, no split E mechanism or c# trill, sterling silver head joint and silver plaited body

Yamaha 362: new, no split E mechanism or c# trill sterling silver head joint and silver plaited body

I’m dying to know how folks who play these models feel about them:
• What’s the good, the bad, and the ugly?
• What do you wish you knew before purchasing?
• Should I be leery of a flute manufactured in 2000? My piano is from the 1930s and works great, but do flutes have a similarly long life?

For additional context, I played at a relatively high level in high school and through part of college, and have played on and off in the years since. I’m finding my way back to more intentional playing, and joining the city band in the fall. Anything is going to be an upgrade from my current workhorse of a flute, and I want to make sure I don’t settle OR go too high end given my actual needs.

Edit: corrected manufacture date of Azumi 3 (originally listed as 2020, but Flute Center lists it as 2000. A google search though suggests the line didn’t go into production until 2012, so now I am just confused)

I’d like to purchase a step up/intermediate flute in the next year or so, and would love to hear recommendations!

Some context/additional information:
- budget is up to $3,500
- coming from a Yamaha Y221 that I’ve had since I started playing in fifth grade (like 25 years ago)
- my current flute has served me well even though it’s “just” a student flute—it saw me through honor bands and helped me earn a scholarship and play in selective college bands
- I play at church and would like to join our community band; I am in no way a professional

I played flute pretty seriously through early college, and I'm wanting to get back into it. I'd love to join a local group, but not sure where to start.

I know we have the Lincoln Community Concert Band and Civic Orchestra, but I'm having a hard time finding much information about what it takes to join. Is there a formal audition process?

I also wondered if there are other groups worth looking into, like chamber ensembles or flute choirs.