Fingering Chart & How to Use

Click the link to the right to access the preferred fingering chart. Then, with the chart open, click the video below for an explanation on how to use the chart.

Flute Fingering Chart - Credit to Sherman Middle School, Sherman ISD

https://www.bandermeer.com/s/Flute_Fingering_Chart.pdf

Wait, which B-flat?

There are other alternate fingerings for the flute across all registers but the one that is used very early on and should be understood is the B-flat alternate fingerings.

Traditional “1 and 1” Bb:

This is the typical first learned fingering for this note and applies the use of the “single thumb” key.

Beginner: If you are new to the flute, stick with the traditional fingering for B-flat (shown above) until you feel comfortable with it (about 4-6 months of playing depending on your individual level).

Intermediate and up: For students that are not new to the flute, learning the other B-flat fingerings and when to apply them is essential to improving your technique.

By far the most useful alternate B-flat fingering early on is what we can refer to as the “double thumb” or “B-flat thumb” key (in this course, we will use the term “double thumb”). The use of this fingering is extremely useful for smoothing out technical skill in most of the flat keys (F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db). The benefit is that you can leave this thumb key pressed for any note except for any B natural, any note without the thumb, and the third octave F#/Gb. Cool!

Thumb Bb:

To learn how to integrate this fingering, apply it in major scales. A great place to start is with the F and Bb major scale! Remember to leave the thumb down throughout, except for the fingerings that have no thumb down at all.

A# Lever Key:

Yes that’s right - the note A# is the same as Bb! It’s just referred to as the A# lever key on the flute. The use of this key is less common but can be useful when playing chromatic scales or when you have a lot of adjacent A# to B natural passages. This can be used but you can also simply use the traditional “1 and 1” B-flat.

The Rule of Thumb

Let’s talk about the “The Rule of Thumb”. Essentially, this rule allows you to differentiate between which thumb key you should press depending on the musical context (either double or single thumb).

The use of the “Double Thumb” will be extremely useful in scales/keys that contain Bb (F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db).

The use of the “Single Thumb” will be extremely useful in scales/keys that don’t contain B-flat (C, G, D, A, E, B, F#), or when you are playing a chromatic scale.

Single Thumb