Flutes/Whistles for kids

My 5 y.o. daughter now wants to learn the flute based on her having seen some live Irish music last week. Any suggestions on something to start with that wouldn't qualify as a Cracker Jack toy?

Give her a drum set. To keep at Grandma's house.

All the kids around here start on a $10 recorder in 2nd grade - I threaten to step on my daughters every once in a while.

Datsun310Guy wrote: All the kids around here start on a $10 recorder in 2nd grade - I threaten to step on my daughters every once in a while.

These things are the devil incarnate. I suggest stepping away from them as quickly as possible.

I'm going to go ahead and recommend the Bose noise cancelling headphones. They're great!

If she liked the sound of Irish music, consider a tin whistle/pennywhistle. You can get a good starter for less than around $15, get one inthe key of D, since that's what most Irish music is played in. I know she's very young, but this is low investment, and it has other advantages. Unlike recorders, the fingering of pennywhistles is virtually the same as transverse flutes and saxophones, so if she gets decent, it's an easy transfer to the others (although the others have additional ksys for sharps and flats. Pennywhistles are like harmonicas, you need several to play in diifferent keys). The other edvantage of pennywhistles is that they are what's called a fipple flute, you blow in one end. You don't have to learn how to "kiss" the mouthpiece like on a transverse, which is a challenge. I'm a sax player, can play pennywhistles and native American flutes just fine, but my Irish transverse drives me crazy trying to get the mouth position right. Pennywhistle is a great way to start. Five years old is probably a bit early, she'll need lots of encoluragement to have the patience to learn fingerings and learn to read music.

In reply to Jim Pettengill:

Thanks for the terrific information, Jim! Any idea of a source for a penny whistle?

Jim Pettengill rules. That's really all I can add to this discussion.

Aw,shucks.

Seriously, most major music stores sell them, should be easy to find. You can pay a lot more than $15 for a top quality whistle, but perfectly good ones will be in that ballpark. They will probably be made of brass with a plastic mouthpiece. One common brand is Generation. They are plenty good for starters, and a lot of very good players use them, too. Get two, and you and your daughter can learn together. A good music store should have cheap method books, too.