Chromatics on three kinds of flutes (long)

Irish Flute
1

This is just some of my thoughts about the chromatic (“outside the scale”) notes and how they are handled on different types of flutes which I play, the keyed simple system “Irish” flute, the Baroque flute which it descended from, and the modern Boehm-system flute, which is different from both in some ways.

Also, we’re talking first two octaves, here. The third octave on each of these flutes is obtained by overblowing and venting partials to move up to a higher harmonic, so the third octave is less straightforward when you are talking about patterns of fingering.

On the Baroque flute, you get the chromatics exclusively by cross-fingering, or closing holes below the first open hole that the note speaks through.

So for A in the first or second octave, xxo|ooo, you add fingers for A-flat or G-sharp like this: xxo|xxx in the first octave, and xxo|xox[Eb] in the second octave.

For B-flat you start with either octave’s B xoo|ooo , and you add in the first octave xox|xxo for B-flat or xox|xxx[Eb] for A-sharp, and in the second octave you add xox|ooo[Eb] for either.

So in a way, you’d think playing in flat keys would be easier, because to get the chromatics you think about the root note and then flatten it by adding fingers. However, because the chromatics involve so many fingers, and a different amount of added fingers for each note and in each octave, just scalewise movement in a flat key can be a real challenge: three flats is hard, four flats absolutely painful to work out.

So in real life, Baroque flute is easiest in sharp keys, though that may be counter-intuitive: the keys of A and G are easy, and E is harder but still four sharps is much easier for me than four flats on the Baroque flute.

Ok, then we move forward in time to the keyed simple-system flute, which is actually quite a different beast. Now to get the chromatics, you add a finger (on a key) to sharpen a note.

So for G-sharp or A-flat, you finger G xxx|ooo and add the G-sharp key xxx[G#]|ooo in either octave. A-sharp or B-flat, take A xxo|ooo and add the B-flat key x[Bb]xo|ooo, again in either octave.

So the keyed simple system flute is a breath of fresh air by comparison to the Baroque flute: the fingerings are the same in both octaves, and chromatics involve adding only one finger to sharpen a diatonic note.

Of course, one note on the Baroque flute worked like this: E-flat or D-sharp can’t be cross-fingered on a flute, so there had to be a key for it, which would raise D to E-flat when the touch was depressed. This was retained on both the keyed simple-system flute and on the Boehm flute.

So on the keyed flute, it sounds like sharp keys would be very easy and they are: playing out to five sharps is not difficult. Also flat keys are made easier as well by comparison to the Baroque flute, and playing out to four flats is made much easier. (At five flats or sharps, on any flute I really have to concentrate just because of the amount of notes you have to keep track of.)

The disadvantage is each key is more homogenous than on the Baroque flute, where each key had its own flavor and feel. Historically, that makes sense, because as we move forward in time we are moving toward the equal temper which is the “standard” (at least for pianos and silver flutes) today.

The Boehm-system flute is a different beast, and its fingering with the exceptions of A-flat / G-sharp and E-flat / D-sharp actually moves back towards the fingering of the Baroque flute, in that you add a finger to flatten the note above the chromatic you want, although on the Boehm flute because of its mechanism there’s no predicting which finger you’ll have to add. For F-sharp, for instance, start with G xxx|ooo and add either R2 or R3; for B-flat add R1 or the thumb key. The mechanism itself dictates what finger you add.

So for B-flat, you start with B x[T]ooo|ooo, and add either the thumb B-flat x[Bb]oo|ooo or R1 x[T]oo|xoo .

G-sharp and D-sharp are “exceptions” and are handled like their counterparts on the old flutes: for G-sharp, start with G xxx|ooo and add the G-sharp key: xxx[G#]|ooo. For D-sharp, start with D x[T]xx|xxx and add the D-sharp key: x[T]xx|xxx[D#].

Like the keyed simple system flute, the Boehm flute is actually pretty easy to play in any key. Chromatics involve single-finger changes from their root note, and the fact that the flute is equally tempered means that there’s no particular hoops to have to jump through to get any certain key in tune with itself. Of course, the downside is, like a piano, every key is deliberately and intentionally a bit out of tune, which is the downside.

Just thought I’d share these rambling thoughts.

–James

2

I have to comment on the observation that keys with sharps are easier to play than those with flats. The natural scale of the simple system (and the baroque? Correct me here someone if I am wrong) is D-Major. That means that lifting the fingers one after another (the simplest imaginable sequence…) produces a scale with two sharps. Every other key is difficult or easy in relation to how far away from this key you have to play. e.g. E is comparable to C in that both have two notes that have to be handled differently. Four flats means 6 (!) notes that are not part of the “natural” scale whereas 4 sharps only has two… No surprise that Aflat major is harder than E-Major.

Can any one tell me why a flute in D became standard while the notation system ended up centred on C? I have a theory that it is due to the requirement of getting the holes in places where the human fingers of two hands can reach them… Which also coincidentally led me to wondering if that was the reason the main western scale divides into 7 tones to the octave plus the next octave starting on overblowing the previous one? 7 tones being what one can just play on a tube with holes and six fingers…

Chris

3

You have to remember a D flute is in the key of C.

Confusing? You betcha. :slight_smile:

–James

4

Only in terms of notation/transposition, James. Its construction - the way it divides the air column in the tube and the harmonic series are based on D (in a concert flute). It is only described as “in C” because we happen (ever since the Renaissance) to learn the fingering-note name-sounding pitch-notation correlations at actual sounding pitch, not transposed.

I agree with Chris that, in terms of mental and physical gymnastics, if the home, straight fingered diatonic key of the flute is D, then to play in G requires playing one flattened note in the scale, C requires 2, etc. So, mentally, to a pre Boehm flute player, F is “3 flats” in fingering, whereas A is only one added sharp. I know a professional classical attitude says that no key should be considered “harder” than any other and that full fluency in all keys should be achieved (by hard work!). But the reality is that most players, even on Boehm with its split tonal personality (“am I in C, in D or just chromatic?”) find the keys closer to the home key more accessible than those further away, and if home key is D, you have to think in terms of variation from that, not from C. Its about the actual instrument, not about the conventions of notation!

5

Jem, I take the point, but there’s a catch:

D is not a particularly easy key on Baroque flute if you strive to play in tune.

F-sharp is way flat and has to be lipped strongly upwards.

Second-octave C-sharp is unusably flat and you have to use oxx|xox[Eb] to be in tune.

–James

6

It’s really a mental thing, isn’t it?

When I was a kid and actually had a level of proficiency on the boehm flute, I could transpose music to any key and it all seemed equally easy to finger, which I felt was a miracle compared to the piano.

What was hard was reading music with 4 flats, not the playing of it on the flute.

But I do agree that a system of keys is much easier to work with than a system of cross-fingering.

7

..and a Bb fife is in concert Ab played as if it were in the key of D.

8

Sure, James - I’ve only recently had much of a play on a Baroque flute (an Aulos Stanesby Junior - I find the very small embouchure a major problem and struggle as yet to get much sound out of it - not well enough focussed!), but that limited experience plus my reading certainly accord with what you say about intonation difficulties in D. But I don’t think that is a major issue in the main question we are discussing (I know, you started the thread, so it’s about whatever you want it to be - but I think you’re shifting the focus here), which (thus far) is really about fingering schemes and patterns and their execution on different designs of flute - actually lipping those fingerings into tune isn’t all that relevant. It is still easier (for the fingers) to do a fast passage on a Baroque flute in D or B minor than it is in F or Bb, for example. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the greater facility of the fingering would/should give you more mental free capacity to attend to the intonation deficiencies!

Picking up on your mention of 2nd 8ve C# - sorry, but I don’t see your point there. As a mainline 8-key player, I’m used to playing oxx xoo(Eb) for that note anyway - and it makes for easy neighbouring transitions. Both C#s (ignoring foot keys and altissimo) are flat on an 8-key - you have to vent the lower one with the long C key, and whilst that works on some flutes for the upper one, on many it doesn’t. The lower one you can get away with not venting in passing notes, and the upper one is easily and best done with the cross-fingering. If you take a Boehm perspective of both C#s being all-fingers-off, I suppose there is a small mental gear-shift involved. Just goes to show that much of this stuff is relative and how one finds it depends on where one is coming from experientially. I’m pretty sure that most (modern instrument) clarinet and oboe players if they switched to flute would find the fingering systems ridiculously straightforward by comparison to what they are used to.

9

Jem, good post, and good points.

And, in all fairness, I’m not sure there are any “easy” keys to play in on a Baroque flute when it comes to intonation! :laughing:

I do enjoy playing the thing though. There’s something about its sound and feel which I just really enjoy.

It’s not a useful flute for Irish music, of course. But for its own music its quite nice.

–James

10

Two observations about F# on the Baroque flute 1) in the key of D, the F# is supposed to be flat of its Equal Temperament position. Equal Temp wasn’t used in that period. 2) my Baroque flute teacher preferred a different fingering for F# which is something like xxx oxx (in other words G flattened by the addition of fingers) for the sharp ET F#.
The Baroque flute I played in college had quite nice intonation but I had to spend some time exploring fingerings to find which were in tune. Once I came up with a fingering chart for it I was OK. Seems that each Baroque flute requires slightly different fingerings. And, you have the various approached to tuning to deal with.