Yamaha YFL311 Flute

YAMAHA YFL 311

Buying a new flute is essentially a very personal adventure. But I would recommend anyone who is looking for an up-grade to consider and try out the Yamaha YFL 311. I have had mine for 4 months now and am delighted with the warm rich sound and relatively easy blowing headjoint (solid silver).

At first I had wondered whether the silver headjoint would make such a difference, but the very first try convinced me. All three octaves came with an evenness of sound that was surprising and almost effortless. Well, a lot of practise goes into making the flute play 'effortlessly', but I mean that the sound was different: stronger, clearer, deeper, without me changing my breathing or embouchure.

The mechanism was similar to my old student model Yamaha 21, only quieter. One can stroke the keys, so to say, and move on, trusting the sound will readily come.

The instrument comes with the typical Yamaha hard plastic, velvet lined case which holds the flute safely and well in place, and plastic cleaning rod. I have supplemented this with a case cover to insulate against temperature swings in the winter.

I have found that even with a high quality microfibre cleaning cloth, the flute shows tiny scratches. Perhaps this is unavoidable, if not, it is a minor weakness. Otherwise, I have nothing negative to report, no faults so far have revealed themselves.

Hey, last week my teacher said to my Beethoven Allegro, "You've made a huge step forward in your tone development!" I smiled and muttered something about a lot of practise, but I reckon much of the improvement was simply my Yamaha YFL 311!