Piccolo transition? Good idea?

Question:I've played Middle School French Horn for 3 years now. I'm going into High School next year, and I was thinking of switching to flute, piccolo, or oboe. Would this be a good idea, and would it be a difficult transition?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I've played Middle School French Horn for 3 years now. I'm going into High School next year, and I was thinking of switching to flute, piccolo, or oboe. Would this be a good idea, and would it be a difficult transition?

It's going to be a hideously difficult transition (compared to more natural transitions, like F-horn to trumpet or alto horn).

That said, there's no reason you can't do it. My old flute teacher was primarily a trumpet player.

Note that flute and piccolo are essentially the same instrument--there are no piccolo players who don't also do flute. Oboe is an odd duck of an instrument since it uses the "conservatory" system of key mechanics rather than the more logical boehm system (oboe players, I've concluded, are stupid for this reason).

You are at an advantage because (I assume) you can already read music well and you have a sense of musicality because you already play an instrument. I suppose going from one wind instrument to another is easier than going from a stringed instrument to a wind one because you will have breath control etc. You will pick it up easier than if you were learning to play either flute/piccolo or oboe as your first instrument.

i don't see why not.
in highschool, many studanets play multiple instruments.
i know one person in our band that plays mellophone in marching band, and then flute in concert band, si yeah.
go for it.
i'd do oboe.
:)

It would be an extremely difficult transition. French horn is brass, so it requires a completely different kind of an embouchure than the flute. Generally, when people learn new instruments, it is best to stay in the same family. Usually people because brass players or woodwind players.

I have a friend who plays the flute, and she tried to learn the trumpet, and it completely messed up her flute embouchure. She still hasn't completely gotten it back.

If you are trying to flat out switch and not play french horn anymore, well, it still isn't going to be easy. Yes, you will be able to read music, but the instruments are very drastically different. With brass, you have to know liptones really well, but with woodwinds, you need to know fingerings and be able to synchronize your fingers properly.

It would be a very difficult transition, but not impossible.