Flutists have far more fingering options than most of us were taught. Used well, alternate fingerings solve tuning problems and unlock technique that otherwise feels impossible. Here's part one of our look at special fingerings.
Fingerings for tuning
During my sophomore year at the Jacobs School of Music, my flute professor James Pellerite took a sabbatical to write a fingering book. I remember thinking that a whole year was a lot of time to spend on a flute fingering book. But I was quite naïve. Now I have a full drawer of books on flute fingerings — and his is still the best.
Some of the best-known tuning fingerings for the third octave include:
- No pinky on high E, to lower the pitch.
- Forked fingering for high F and high A. This is just adding the right-hand ring finger, so your fingers resemble a fork.
- High G-sharp, adding the right-hand middle and ring fingers.
The high F-sharp fingering has been controversial for a long time.
Watch: my take on the high F-sharp fingering
Fingerings for technique
For technique, it all starts with how the flute is balanced.
When flutists have a three-point balance of the flute, they have far easier fingering-change options than flutists who depend on the right-hand pinky for balance. There are only a few notes that require the right-hand pinky to be down:
- Low and middle range E-flat and E
- Third octave A
By not using the pinky key, many difficult cross fingerings can be eliminated.
Try this
How fast can you move between middle octave B and D with the pinky down on the B? Now try it without the pinky. Without the pinky, the finger movement can be at trill speed. And while moving the fingers quickly, you can add the F-sharp key to the B — lovely for playing passages with B minor arpeggios.
There is much more to say on this, so we'll continue the topic in part two. Those who have mastered the exercises in Planning to Play in Tune will already have many options for alternate fingerings.
Let us know what you think, or share your favorite fingerings that aren't in common use.
Free resources on Blocki Flute
- Pneumo Pro practice sheet
- Pictures of embouchures
- Teaching videos
