Flute Accessories: What Not to Keep in Your Flute Case

When you play the flute, you may have a lot of flute accessories. But before you stuff everything into your case or bag, consider if you should.

Some things can fit well in a flute case or a flute bag. However, other items might be too big. Even some smaller items might damage your flute if you keep them in the case.

Before we get into what not to keep in your case, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy to learn more.

iPad

If you use an iPad for sheet music or a metronome, be sure not to stuff it into your flute case or bag. Even if you have an iPad mini, it will be hard if not impossible to make it fit.

Instead, keep your iPad in a separate bag with print music and other items that you want to keep with you. That way, you can still have all of your sheet music that you need.

It may seem obvious not to stuff an iPad in a small flute bag. But you should also avoid sticking it partway in and not closing the bag completely. If you do that, the iPad or other flute accessories may fall out.

Phone

Your phone may be smaller than your iPad, but that doesn’t mean you should keep it in your flute case either. If you have a hard flute case, you don’t want to keep anything inside with the instrument.

When you have an outside zipper pocket, you may put your phone there. But you should keep more flute accessories with the instrument. That way, you’ll be able to clean the instrument after you play.

If you can’t put your phone in your pocket, bring an extra bag with you. Then, you will have some space to store your phone. You can still have it ready to access, but it won’t take up room unnecessarily.

Music Stand

Perhaps you have a bigger flute bag rather than a case. If so, avoid putting your music stand in the bag. For one, if your music stand fits, that means it’s probably very cheap and not that durable.

Of course, if the music stand is thicker and more durable, it won’t fit in even the largest of flute bags. If your stand came with its own bag, you can use that to carry the stand around.

However, putting in the same bag as your flute can weigh things down. That won’t be good for you or any of your accessories.

Cleaning Cloths

If you have a flute bag, you should definitely keep a cleaning cloth or two in there. However, you shouldn’t store those clothes right with your flute. Keep the flute accessories in another pocket of the bag.

That way, you’ll have the cleaning supplies you need when you’re playing the flute. If your bag doesn’t have multiple pockets, keep the cloths between the flute case and the rest of the bag.

Storing cleaning cloths inside with the flute can cause problems. The instrument can absorb moisture, which can ruin the pads. So don’t keep your wet cleaning cloths anywhere near your flute.

Flute Stand

A flute stand is another one of the flute accessories that you technically could fit inside your flute case or the flute itself. Stands like the Hercules Travelite Stand are small enough to fit in the footjoint of your flute.

However, you shouldn’t keep anything inside the instrument. The stand may not hold a lot of moisture, but keeping it in your flute isn’t ideal. You may forget the stand is there, so it falls on other parts of your flute when you grab the footjoint.

Luckily, the Hercules stand is small enough to fit in most flute bags. You can store it outside of your instrument and the case. That way, you’ll still have a flute stand on hand, but you can keep your flute safe.

Flute Music

You should also avoid storing print flute music in your flute case. Even if you’re in marching band, the music you get may be too big to fit. Sure, you could fold the music to make it small enough.

However, you’ll have to unfold it every time you want to play. Folding the music over and over may also cause it to fade a little bit. Consider if you’ve ever folded and unfolded something and what happened to that thing.

The same thing will probably happen to your flute music. It’s better to get a different folder and bag to store and protect your flute music. Then, you can read your music easily.

Flute Case vs. Flute Bag

I’ve mentioned both flute cases and flute bags when talking about how to store your flute accessories. It may seem like the terms are interchangeable, but there are some essential differences.

Here’s how flute cases and bags compare.

Size

First, flute cases tend to be pretty small. The only thing they need to hold is your flute and maybe a cleaning rod.

Now, some student flute cases are a bit bigger. That way, the case can take more abuse without damaging the flute inside.

Intermediate and professional flutes tend to come in French style cases, which just have room for the instrument. On the other hand, some flute bags are much larger and can even fit multiple instruments.

Space

Because of the size, flute cases don’t have a ton of extra space. As I mentioned, a case may have a spot for your cleaning rod.

However, you’ll need to store other flute accessories elsewhere. This is why a lot of flute players will look into flute bags.

Bags have space for your instrument, and they usually have a few pockets to help you organize flute-related things.

Organization

A flute case is easy to organize because you have room for your instrument and nothing more. But some flute bags have different pockets and other features that help you organize your things.

For example, the Fluterscooter bag has a big main pocket. You can keep your flute there as well as a piccolo or some flute stands. The outside pocket has room for smaller accessories, such as cleaning cloths.

Consider if you want to organize your flute accessories a specific way. Then, you can find the right flute case or bag for you.

Materials

Another major difference between a case and a bag is the material. Flute cases tend to use hard materials, such as plastic or wood.

Meanwhile, flute bags use softer materials. The Fluterscooter bags, for example, use patent or vegan leather. Some of them use canvas for the main material.

Either way, the bag is flexible, which makes it easy to store stuff inside. If you’re vegan or have a preference for some other reason, keep the materials in mind when choosing a flute bag.

Where Will You Store Your Flute Accessories?

When looking at your flute case, you have to consider what you should fit inside of it. You may be able to store some flute accessories there, but think about some other options.

Maybe you decide to get a flute bag to have more space. Or you might use a bag you currently have to store your other items.

Do you want to learn more about the flute? Check out some of my other blog posts!