In Line or Offset G
Which one is best for you?
Video Transcription:
Well hello, I’m Rebecca Fuller here at Learn Flute Online where I’m the expert instructor and owner. Today we’re going to learn even more about how to choose a flute. Now I have this whole video series page, you can see the button for it here on this page to get back to it if you came from somewhere else first to get here.
You can find all sorts of information, I’ve included there to help you learn how to choose a flute for yourself so that you can come and learn how to play here at Learn Flute Online. We have the best membership area and I have hundreds of video lessons all set in perfect sequential order for you to learn from.
Let’s get started. Today in this video, in this exact question I’m going to be answering is “What is the difference between inline G and offset G?”. I get asked this question all the time from people searching for a flute.
Especially if you’ve gone into store or your looking online and you’re looking at the features and options that come with a flute. You may be a little confused on what some of these things mean and one of them is offset or inline. Now I have two different flute bodies here and I’m going to show you a picture of these so that you can understand that they are different.
They look the same right? Do you they look.. Am i holding them okay? Actually these are the same brand of flute, exactly the brand and these are actually advanced line flutes, so you can know that advanced lines, student models, intermediates, professional lines, they all have these different options available for you to choose from.
If you don’t know what they mean, it’s kind of hard to choose right? Well, here’s a picture, a close up picture, I’ve taken of these two flutes right now and I want you to just look at the keys.
This flute right here in the front has all of the keys lined up in a long, nice, straight row. Can you see that? Great, now if you’ll look at this other flute, you’ll notice that the row starts straight and then two of the keys are tipped or we would call them offset. So, now that you can see those, let me explain to you a little bit more.
The key, the first key on the body that is tipped is attached to another one. So when you push one down, the other one goes as well. This is actually the G key. So, this flute right here is an offset G because those keys are tipped and they are set farther down on the curve of the barrel.
Now this flute right here, and you can look at it in the picture again, they are all in a nice straight row and also when I push the G key, the other one goes down with it. It’s the same, but my finger that is pushing on that G key has to reach farther to get it. These are inline, and my ring finger on my left hand has to reach farther to get to it.
Now, the whole purpose of this is, let me put these flutes down and I’ll show you. Do you notice our hands have five fingers and they are different sizes. The pinky is the shortest. Of course we aren’t going to talk about the thumb right now. The next shortest is the ring finger right now. This is the finger we use for our G key. Now, if all of the keys are inline, in a nice straight line on the flute, and we reach up there, we’ve got this finger up there on the key, this finger is shorter but somehow those inline flutes you’re expected to reach up there in the same straight line as you’re tall man finger.
Doesn’t make sense really, does it? It doesn’t, and that’s why there’s also an option for offset G. It’s easier if this finger of yours is shorter, like mine. I think probably the general population has this finger shorter than this one.
Now, of course you can learn how to play on an inline G flute. In fact, that is my flute. I play, I have, I’ve played on an inline G flute for about twenty, maybe twenty-two years of my life and I adjusted just fine. I had no problems with it.
When I went to switch to another new flute I decided to get offset G this time as an option and I’ll tell you it is more comfortable for my hand. It definitely is, so I’m converted back to an offset G. If you talked to any professional flutist you may get one opinion or the other on which one is best. You have to know that it’s just what’s best for them. Maybe after twenty-two years they’ll change their minds also?
Now I would say that years ago, in the early… I would say 90’s and into the 80’s… it was more common for the intermediate and advanced, professional line flutes to have inline G flutes. But, times are changing and people are noticing that the physiology (is that the right word) of a human hand shows us that probably to make all of our muscles lay perfectly and not get damaged from improper use we should play with that offset G because it fits our hand, our finger sizes, better.
Well, there you have it, that’s kind of exactly all about the inline and offset G and I hope that taught you a few things. Go ahead and ask me your questions and again, I’ll see you soon in another video or here in the membership area where we’ll learn even more about how to play the flute really well. We’ll see you soon.
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