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My little cousin is looking into getting a piccolo during the holiday season. What brands might one recommend for a high school student?

I am kinda-sorta questing it whenever I get enough gold.... So glad they FINALLY put it up, oh yeah and ( randomly jumps into conversation) Yeah, I heart my flute, I have had it for 9 years ( started playing before fourth grade, high school senior now) and I'm not stoppin'! 3nodding 4laugh

Okay, can anyone help me with this? My flute is....five and a half years old I think, it's a beginner's flute, and it's falling apart. At the moment, one of my keys won't close all the way. And it's not a key I push on anyway, so I'm having to push down really hard on the key next to it that's hooked up to it so the broken one moves-we're all flute players I think you know what I mean.
My dad can't figure out a way for him to fix it and doesn't think it's worth money, my band director recommended a checkup and maybe just getting a new flute since no one knows what's up with my tuning anyway. They had me play on a different flute and I was fine so it's not me this time.
Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!

I'll keep trying to convince my parents then. Thanks! biggrin

I know a colored flute sounds cool and all and looks cool, but the tone and quality of it is not good.
They have to be take to the shop much often and don't have a very good tone usually.

so go with a normal looking flute or piccolo......

That's my advice anyways XD

I dont know if anyone still posts in here but i play the flute as well as the Piccolo! emotion_c8 ive been playing the flute for 3 years and the piccolo for only about 8 months. im currently joining Marching Band and i cant wait! emotion_yatta

My band teacher recommends Yamaha, because even the student ones are pretty good quality. They do not make an all-silver/ silver-plated one anymore- just grenadilla wood, which is not good to have during marching season if it is raining, and if they just do concerts, then do a wood headpiece, as the silver headpiece makes the pic more shrill, so it can be heard over the band, but during concert season, people tend to want all of the instruments to blend in sound... I'm looking at getting a piccolo too- but this summer, before school starts (I have a late summer birthday- almost mid-September)
Do not do a colored piccolo off of eBay- they fall apart a lot. Or so I've heard. Pearl are pretty good, so is an Emerson Piccolo, Jupiter is a student brand, so if this cousin wants to keep playing professionally after high school, get them a more expensive one (Jupiter runs about $500, while Yamaha runs about $1,200, and lots of piccolos are much more expensive). Do not do a Gemeinhardt- that is a completely beginning student brand, and on flutes the mouthpiece is what a professional flutist calls "stiff"- and it is the same on their piccolos. This makes it easier for new flutists to play, but it makes it harder for them to advance much, as the mouthpiece is for beginners. They make other headpieces for flutes, but I have yet to see one for a piccolo...
This is not a Yamaha piccolo, but it illustrates what to look for:


After I get my piccolo, I will probably (if I remember) post back about how good the Yamaha piccolo is...Just out of curiosity, how long has this cousin been playing piccolo? Because that could also change things a little... As could their plans for with the piccolo... You could also ask their band teacher what to look for in a piccolo... And bear in mind that the piccolo is one of the most temperamental instruments in a band- so have someone actually play the piccolo for you before you buy it- have them do a chromatic scale, as then you know the range on that piccolo. Even two piccolos that are the exact same could sound different.
Sorry, I did not notice when you posted that message... Did your cousin get a piccolo, and what brand? And how do they like it?