~~first dizi~~

[Arisa]

Hello, my first post here! ^^
I've been reading this forum for quite a while now, and finally I decided to buy myself a dizi! 
I hope you guys can help me out, because I'm in and out of making the final decision of which one (key) should I get. 
I'm a fifteen years old girl, and my hands are like... really tiny. I can stretch my fingers pretty far tho, to the point that my palm looks like a starfish (my joints are mutated or something, that's what my doctor has told me...) The point is, I would love to have a bass dizi, but I'm kinda afraid that it would be too hard for me to learn (by myself). 
I used to play the viola and the guitar while in primary school, is that gonna help me in any way? 
I was thinking about a bb dizi, as it seems to be the least challenging among the xindi. What do you think? Should I go for it, or just buy a C?
I adore low, mellow sounds and slow, sad music... 

I have a C key dizi fingering chart downloaded, but I can't find one for a low bb. It would be very helpful if somebody could tell me where to find one. 

I can read notes and stuff pretty well (2 years of music school), but I wonder, is it better to use the numbered musical notation when playing a dizi? 

My last question is, I'm a little scared of starting to play the flute and I know I will be making a lot of mistakes... If somebody who can play would be so kind to show me the basics on Skype, I would be over the moon. I can offer Japanese or Polish language lessons in exchange. ^^

These are the flutes I've been wanting: 
easonmusicstore.com/webshaper/store/viewProd.asp?pkProductItem=150
easonmusicstore.com/webshaper/store/viewProd.asp?pkProductItem=143

Thank you in advance and sorry for asking too many questions!

[davidmdahl]

Welcome to the forum, Arisa. I share your love of the dizi, and low pitches, but cannot in good conscience recommend a xindi for your first. If you are not familiar with playing a transverse (horizontal, side-blown) flute, there will be enough to get used to as it is. If you attempt to play a flute that is much too big for your hand before you have developed some good habits on a more comfortable size, you risk developing bad habits, and even injury. I highly recommend a qudi range dizi in C or D. Once that is comfortable, you can go lower, bit by bit. I think that Eason is a good source for ordering a dizi, and the maker in your links is good.

Any musical experience should help you to some extent. I like using the Chinese numeric notation (jianpu), since really suits the dizi, and its music, and is pretty easy to learn. You might consider the course listed at www.2measures.com/ . This course uses a C dizi. The exercises and tunes are in both staff and jianpu notation, so you can learn using either or both.

If you don't have access to a dizi teacher, maybe a teacher of the Western flute, or other folk flute, could at least get you started. The mechanics of playing a dizi are very much like playing Western flute. A good teacher will save you a lot of time and trouble.

Best wishes,

David

[Flolei]

I totally agree with David. C is ideal for beginning and still "deep" enough to make you happy. The model you've chosen is great. Bb is beautiful too, but finger stretch is challenging (Bb has only 6 holes, lower instruments have 7) and there is very few pieces for it. The most famous piece is also one of the most difficult.

[Arisa]

Thank you so much for the answers!
Now I'm sure that the "C" key will be a better choice. I'll be ordering next week. Can't wait!
About jianpu, I learnt it and it's so much easier than the European notation. I'll have to get used to it though. Until I get my flute, I guess I'll spend some time whistling for practice. ^^
If I can have another question, what are some good websites with jianpu songs for the dizi? I found some with classical pieces just by typing "jianpu" in Chinese, but I'd love to play some modern ones too. I tried searching by myself, but simplified characters kill me. I just can't read through it and get lost TwT

[Blue]

Then is it easier for you to read traditional characters?
You can go to http:/images.google.com and type "簡譜" to see what's out there.


Here's something to start with (but actually, I would go one octave down to make your life easier)

[Blue]

Also, if you simply want to dive into the songs rather than the fundamentals, you could consider purchasing the following books (they are more than happy to ship abroad from Taiwan):

Dizi Auxiliary Training for Level 2
Dizi Auxiliary Training for Level 3

This is considered a classic textbook which also contains a huge collection of popular songs/pieces:
笛子基礎教程 詹永名著.笛子初學必備

This is a very popular dongxiao textbook in Taiwan with plenty of folk songs:
實用洞簫教本

[Arisa]

Yeah, they are more similar to those used in Japanese.
Ah, I know this song! ^^ Not as modern as I would like it to be, but I'll try.
I didn't think about searching google images! Thank you! ^^

// thanks for the links, I'll check it out (though buying it now will probably be impossible, as I had to sell some things to even start thinking about buying a flute ^^")

[Blue]

Finally, you can also do a search using "烏克麗麗簡譜" on images.google.com to find some modern songs meant for the Ukulele but expressed in jianpu notation.  Ukulele songs are sometimes (but not always) expressed in jianpu.

[Arisa]

Ukulele? And it sounds nice on the flute? Interesting! Thank you once again ^^

[Arisa]

I finally collected the needed money, and today (or tomorrow) I'm ordering my dizi. I'm 100% percent sure about the key (C), and up until now I was determined to buy the flute I gave a link to in one of my first posts. But I searched some more, just to feel more secure about my choice... And now I can't decide which of those three outstandingly beautiful little guys I want to buy:

www.easonmusicstore.com/webshaper/store/viewProd.asp?pkProductItem=143 <--- well known store, I know that the sound is legit because of the video, nice looking, I know the maker's name.

www.chinese-instrument.com/collections/dizi/products/bamboo-dizi-15 <--- it's so pretty (at least in the picture) that I just had to make it my wallpaper, a little higher price so it could mean better quality (but I'm not sure bout that), heavily lacquered so it might not be so prone to cracking as the other ones... BUT, I haven't heard much about the store and the maker's name is not mentioned (or am I blind?).

www.chinese-instrument.com/collections/dizi/products/bamboo-dizi-10 <--- it has that interesting, dark vintage'ish look, the bamboo it's made from is said to be over 5 years old (which I heard to be a plus)... BUT, once again the store name is new to me and I don't know who is the maker. also, the flute doesn't seem to be lacquered at all (does it mean it can crack more easily, or is it not really revelant?), and it's cheaper.

The first one is made of white , the second one - bitter, and the third one - purple bamboo. What does it mean? What are the differences? The only bamboo I know is the green one growing in my grandpa's garden. TwT

I would be very happy if someone could give me a few pieces of advice. Once again, I'm sorry for asking so many questions, but I need this purchase to be absolutely perfect! ^^

[Flolei]

I really, really recommend the first one and Eason music. It's a good value (see my personal message).

[Arisa]

Yeah, the one from Eason is on the first place among these three possible options. I heard a lot about the store, and everybody says it's reliable and they sell quality products... I'm sure that if I buy the link one dizi, I'll be very happy with it ^^
Still, I like the looks of the link two dizi veeery much. I know that the decorations shouldn't play a significant role in the process of choosing an instrument, but it's hard ;w;

[Blue]

Most flutes are made of bitter bamboo. It's wood is the least dense. Usually the skin of the bitter bamboo is totally peeled off so the flute has to be lacquered on the outside. Even then, there's always the risk that it might crack.

Purple bamboo uses real dark colored bamboo, and the wood is more dense. The skin is never peeled off, so it really feels like a piece of bamboo!

Queen's Tears Bamboo is even more denser than purple bamboo. It has spots brownish spots.

When non-purple bamboo gets dried and cured, the green color turns yellow.

Carrot Music has a page with pictures showing the different types of bamboo:

www.carrotmusic.org/e-bay_html/dizi-compare.html

Different people prefer different bamboo wood densities. It simply depends how "hard" you like your flute to sound like.

You'll be fine just purchasing a bitter bamboo flute as your first dizi flute.