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Grip on a keyed flute


Grip on a keyed flute

Sorry if this has been discussed before…

For those of you playing right-handed keyed flutes, & have a Bflat key by your left thumb, where do you rest your thumb? To the left of the key on the body of the flute, on the mount for the easy slide over, or somewhere else? I’m transitioning to a 6-keyed flute, & that key is right where I’m used to resting my left thumb. Any tips on tutorials on how to develop good grip out of the gate? Also applies somewhat to the D# key on the foot joint & the pinky support - I normally rotate around out of the way, but oops - I have tunes I like now with the D#. Thoughts appreciated, thanks in advance!

Re: Grip on a keyed flute

There is probably no one method fits all answer to this one, the grips involved being as individualistic as the players out there. As luck would have it, Terry Mc Gee has done some interesting research into this and has opened a new thread on Chiff & Fipple Flute Forum discussing this very topic with references/links to his own site for further information.

http://forums.chiffandfipple.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=103962&sid=555b7bd736fa7388948172e7415d67a5

Re: Grip on a keyed flute

On the grip traditional to those “English Simple System 8-key Flutes”, remember that the upper-hand thumb did not support the flute, but was free to actuate its key. This has been carried over to the grip used on the Boehm flute, where the thumb now has two keys to operate.

The traditional grip is having the weight of the flute resting on the inner part of the knuckle of the upper-hand index finger, and on the lower-hand thumb (which has no keys to operate).

These lower points are balanced or offset by two points of contact coming from above, the lower lip, and the lower-hand little finger. Note that orchestral players have the lower-hand little finger pressing on the Eb key whenever the other lower-hand fingers are raised; thus there is always at least one lower-hand digit pressing downward.

I played a c1860 London-made 8-key flute for around 20 years, and I used the traditional orchestral grip. Rather than keeping the Eb key depressed, I rested my lower-hand little finger on the wooden block near the key.

Re: Grip on a keyed flute

Here’s the man, Matt Molloy.

His upper-hand grip is what I could call the “traditional grip” because it’s been used for centuries, on the Baroque flute, on the early Classical flutes, on the high Victorian 8-key flutes now used in Irish music, and remains standard on orchestral flutes.

You can see how the flute is resting on the curving inside of the upper-hand index finger, and on the lower-hand thumb.

Matt keeps his lower-hand little finger on the flute, many Irish fluteplayers do this. I myself have that finger off the flute for D, E, and F#, but put the finger on for G, A, B, and C#. Obviously it doesn’t have any tonal significance whether that finger is on or off the flute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hNGzFdtG20

Re: Grip on a keyed flute

Wonderful stuff - will take closer look at these when I can get home. Thanks so much!!! Glad to know this is a Thing. 🙂

Re: Grip on a keyed flute

Now there’s a totally different upper-hand grip which as far as I know is a uniquely Irish thing. It’s using the upper-hand grip you would use on a Low Whistle, but on the flute.

Since the upper-hand index finger’s base isn’t in contact with the flute, all the support has to come from the thumb. It wouldn’t be feasible for a person needing the upper-hand thumb to be free for playing a key.

Here it is, at 9:17, a great view of Matt Molloy with his traditional classic flute grip and another fluteplayer with a Low Whistle grip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RPRVI0pWFg

Re: Grip on a keyed flute

To clarify Richard’s point about the Boehm flute, the double key for B and Bb serves an ingenious purpose. When playing in C or any key with sharps, you keep your thumb on one key. For any flatted key, you use the alternate thumb key. This allows you to keep the thumb in place, rather than only using the thumb key when you are actually playing Bb, as on a 19th Century flute. For accidental Bb notes, you use the normal thumb key and either roll up to the Bb key or play B natural with the addition of the Fnat key to get Bb.

Keyed simple-system flutes have to be held so that you can get on and off the Bb key for any tune that has a Bb - you cannot leave the thumb on the key when not playing Bb as you can on a Boehm. It is thus essential to hold the flute so that there is forward pressure on the right hand and backward pressure on the left hand to pin the flute in place, leaving the left thumb free to not support the flute. The flute must be lightly pressed against the area just below the embouchure. The right hand thumb can be pressed forward to counter the embouchure pressure and thus support the flute. Some players, and I am one, find this awkward because the thumb is placed at the back of the flute, rather than supporting it from the bottom as one would on a Boehm. So, instead of using the thumb, I use the small finger, which most players either leave floating above the flute or plant on the top of the foot joint. The problem with that position is that you have to twist the foot joint away from you so that you don’t have keys right where you want to put your pinky (if you don’t have 8 keys, this is not an issue). Look at videos and you’ll see that almost all 8-key players twist the foot joint forward. With the foot joint in the proper position, I place my small finger directly on the cup of the D# key, which is on the back of the flute (depending on the player or the flute, the exact position may vary). I can easily move it to play D# (the right thumb provides support at the bottom of the flute), but the rest of the time, it serves as the forward pressure to counter the backward pressure of the head joint against the area below my embouchure, which frees the left thumb to play Bb.