Good Finger Habits

wpe3.jpg (2458 bytes)

Home
Up

Habits are what you do without having to think. All the more reason to be sure that your habits are helping you and not hurting you.

It is especially important to use the absolutely correct fingering on the following notes:

Low and middle E - with the right hand pinky finger

Low and middle F# - with the right hand pinky and with the third finger (not the middle finger - that's a trill fingering only)

Middle D and Eb - with the first finger left hand up

High D - with first finger left hand up and pinky on the right down (no other right hand keys)

High Eb - everything down

High F# - you can use either middle or third finger right hand (middle finger lowers the pitch slightly)

High Ab - middle, third and pinky fingers with Eb key in the right hand (you can add middle and third fingers to lower pitch in the right hand)

High Bb - Thumb only in left hand, first finger and first trill key (middle finger) and Eb key in the right

High C - First, middle, third and pinky in the right, first finger (and gizmo if you have a B foot)

The reason it is so important to use the correct fingering is that it affects the color (sound quality) of the notes. Any trained flute player will recognize a middle D or Eb with the first finger down. The is a distinct undertone to the main sound.

When I first went to college, I discovered all my bad fingering habits had to be changed in order to become the kind of player I wanted to be. If you are not using the correct fingerings now, start right away. Habits get harder to break the longer you have had them.