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Making the Notes
The flute that is most commonly played today is one that
has the Boehm system of keys and on which the G# key is
closed. This means that when you want to play G# you have
to press down on the G# key with the little finger of your left
hand. We mention this because there are also Boehm system
flutes with open G# keys and everyone should know about
the two kinds. The chances are ten to one today, however, that
you will get hold of a closed G# key flute, which is the kind we
describe here.
Fig. 89 shows the flute and the fingering for the notes of its
first or low octave, from middle C (on the piano) to C in the
third space of the staff, and also for the three next higher notes,
C#3 D and Eb.
There is no diagram for the next higher notes, from E to C
two lines above the staff, because these are fingered exactly
the same as the corresponding notes an octave lower, shown in
Fig. 89.
Fig. 90 shows the fingering for the notes of the flute's third
octave, from C# up to high C. The numbers in the columns
are arranged just as in Fig. 89.
The figures in the columns indicate the keys and levers that
are closed to form the notes at the tops of the columns. In
studying the diagrams, however, there are several things to
keep in mind.
One is that the G# key, number 5, is always closed unless
you open it with the little finger of the left hand. Therefore,
when you see the number 5 in a column, it does not mean
that you have to press down key number 5. The key is already
closed. Press down and open the key when no number 5 is
shown.
The Eb key, number 10, is another key that is always closed
unless you open it by pressing down with your right little
finger. The way the flute is arranged, your right little finger has
to be kept on this key, pressing it down, practically all the
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