Flute Fingerings

Steve Aal, from Newcastle upon Tyne, England has set out this fingering chart for me.  Please use it with your Kything flute (or any other keyless D Flute!)
Steve’s keyless flute fingeringsHere is the contents of the little scrap of paper I carry around in my flute case. Despite its translation into this soulless electronic form without the illegibility, crossings-out and beer and coffee stains of the original, it may still help you produce good music. They are fingerings I have got from books, internet pages, picked up from other players, observed from various performers, been taught by various teachers etc.

Some specific thanks must go to: Belinda (Bill) Jones, the late Philip Bate, Brian Finnegan, Martin Dunn, Patrick Olwell, Michael Cronnolly and Mark Hoza for their teaching, advice, encouragement and for making the flutes that I checked all this out on. The good bits are due to them, the mistakes are mine!

HEALTH WARNING: These fingerings do not all work on all instruments and may give rise to assorted squeaks and shrieks .. try them out, nevertheless!

There are alternative fingerings in this list. In some cases the same fingering will give a different note on a different instrument .. or even both notes, depending on how hard and which way you blow! This is particularly true of notes at the top of the second octave and above.  Experiment leads to enlightenment (or whatever the aural equivalent is!).

If you need to know what note you’re playing, check out Tatsuaki Kuroda’s Shakuhachi and Flute Tuner and Spectrum analyser.  A truly wondrous artefact!  It will help you decide which of the various alternatives to settle for.

Please use this page to learn more about your flute or whistle and what it is capable of.  Enjoy what you learn and the sounds you make .. and let me know how you get on. (SteveAal@sysact.demon.co.uk)
A note on half-holing: There are several ways I have tried and seen this done. What works best for you will certainly be different than what works for someone else. You may find different approaches needed for different fingers or in certain tunes etc. The main ways of doing it are:

  • Keeping your finger in contact with the hole and tilting your finger upwards until you have lifted the note by a semitone.
  • Moving your finger so that one of the knuckles is above the hole and then bending that joint, forming a little open-ended ‘roof’ above the hole.
  • Pushing a fingernail into the hole so that the fleshy part of the finger pad plugs the partbetween the rim of the hole and the fingernail, leaving the remainder of the hole (from the top of the fingernail to the far rim of the hole) open. This one seems to be a widely accepted way of opening the back hole on a recorder. For this reason many beginning players do it. Although it seems to be a very accurate way of making the note, it does take longer to do, since you’ve got to curl your finger up and then push the end into the hole. This may not be too bad for someone using their finger pads anyway, but  can be quite a contortion if you play flat-fingered (as I do with my Right Hand) .  . So. .
  • A technique I’ve seen Brian Finnegan use, particularly when playing the Indian flute, is to slide a finger up the flute to uncover the top half of the hole. This probably works best when you use a flat-fingered style (or piper grip as it’s also known)
Bottom Octave Second Octave Third Octave(needs v. focused airstream!)
Legend (Click here)
^c ooo_ooo - ^c' ooo_ooo Can be flat on some instruments. - - -
^c ooo_??? - ^c' ooo_xxx Seems to be clearer than ooo_ooo on some flutes. - - -
- - - ^c' oxx_xoo Sharper than ooo_ooo on some flutes. - - -
=c oxx_ooo The most common fingering. =c' oxo_xxo - - - -
=c oxo_xxx Usually a much stronger tone than the more common A+G =c' oxo_xxx - - - -
=c øoo_ooo Often used for speed - - - - - -
=c oxx_xox Can be slightly flat, but can be useful in, say moving quickly to Fnat. - - - - - -
=c oxx_xoo As above - - - - - -
=c oxx_xxo Slightly flatter than the A+G on their own =c' oxx_xxo My preferred fingering for this note - - -
=B xoo_ooo - =b xoo_ooo - - - -
- - - =b xoo_??x - - - -
- - - =b xoo_xxx - - - -
_B xøo_ooo - _b xøo_ooo - - - -
_B xox_ooo - _b xox_ooo - - - -
- - - _b xxo_oxx Also works - - -
- - - _b xxo_xxx Flatter than the other fingerings (and the same as Gsharp in the octave below!) - - -
=A xxo_ooo - =a xxo_ooo - =a' oxx_xxo Same fingering as c'nat below!
- - - =a xxo_oox - - - -
- - - =a xxo_oox - - - -
^G xxo_xxx If there's lots of these, I just give up and use an A flute! ^g xxo_xox - - - -
^G xxø_ooo - ^g xxø_ooo - - - -
^G xxø_oox - ^g xxø_oox - - - -
=G xxx_ooo - =g xxx_ooo - =g' xox_ooo -
^F xxx_xoo - ^f xxx_xoo - ^f' xox_xoo -
=F xxx_xøo Usually OK on a large E hole =f xxx_xøo - - - -
=F xxx_xox Weak in both this and the octave above. =f xxx_xox Usually pretty weak - - -
=E xxx_xxo - =e xxx_xxo - =e' xxo_oxx -
- - - ^d xxx_xxø I find this difficult to do but produces a reasonable sound. - - -
^D xxx_xxø I find this really difficult and usually weak ^d oxx_xxø I've never succeeded in making this work - - -
-
-
 - - - - =d' oxx_oox Seems to improve the pitch
- - - =d xxx_xxx Useful in bits where you want to go between d and B quickly =d' oxx_ooo A bit flat, I find
=D xxx_xxx Never seen an alternative fingering for this one ;^) =d oxx_xxx The most commonly used fingering. You can use the B hole to help D-d-D Octave jumps go accurately =d' oxx_xxx -
What the little symbols mean:o means Open Hole
x means Covered Hole
ø means Half Hole
? means Doesn't (seem to) matter.

The embouchure hole (on a flute) is assumed to be to the left (ie Right-handed playing).

If you are playing a whistle, the mouthpiece is to the left.  You may lie down on your Left side to play and look at the chart sideways, if that helps.

I have put in the ABC notation for every note to avoid confusion:CDEFGAB is the octave of middle C

cdefgab means the octave above it

c'd'e' etc means the next one

=F means F natural

_B means B flat (Bb)

^F means F sharp (F#). . . etc.
Copyleft Notice
You may copy and distribute this table without restriction provided that it is kept intact, with this notice and distributed without charge.  If you notice any errors or have comments then please e-mail:  SteveAal@sysact.demon.co.uk

Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, August 19th, 2000

Top