The fingering chart doesn’t seem to correspond to my folk flute. The only way I can get 1/2 steps is by 1/2 holes. Am I doing something wrong?
Deb 
Umm . . . no?
With all the holes covered, you have a D, or whatever it is.
With all but the bottom covered, you have an E.
If you want a D-1/2, you have to half-hole the bottom hole.
What does the fingering chart say?
Oh, wait! Is the fingering chart cross-fingered? That’s kind of a rough estimate, I think. It varies somewhat–flutes are all different in terms of what they want. Experiment.
Half-holing is a good thing, though. If you enjoy it, it should work for you.
On my 6-hole NAF, I can use either a half hole, or a sort of recorder-style fingering (lifting a finger above and below a finger) to get 1/2 steps–does this make sense? On the folk flute, this does nothing. I’m probably mixing apples and oranges. Maybe this was just a really dumb question.
I can get a really good tone on the d-scale notes, but the sharps and flats will really take some work!
Deb
. . . Lamb realizes that she just avoids playing notes like that and scampers back to the Pub . . . hoping someone will come along soon to answer this very good question . . .
Maybe you and I are in the same boat, I’m only a few months into this stuff. I go back and forth between two instruments and some of the fingering don’t transfer Try some different fingering charts. For example, try a fife fingering chart. You can find one at beafifer.com.
The six open-hole Irish flute is a diatonic instrument that plays the do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do scale. You can play the other half tones in the 12-tone chromatic scale by half-holing or cross-fingering the notes. However, some of these notes may be difficult to play, depending on the flute. Here is another finger chart that I have created.
http://home.earthlink.net/~life2all/dougswebspace/id12.html
CB Folk flute
1st 2nd 3rd
D XXX XXX OXX XXX OXX OOO
E XXX XXO
F# XXX XOO
G XXX OOO
A XXO OOO
Bb XOX XXX XOX OXO
B XOO OOO
C OXO XXX
C# OOO OOO
If I didn’t mention it it’s the same.
The rest are half holes
YMMV
I find Terry McGee’s chart useful, but it pretty much is the same as the above charts.
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/keyless.html
Doug Tipple's Web space
Irish Flute Fingering Chart
> Eb6... ...Forget it
:laughing:
My ill-informed opinion below…
Baroque flutes can be crossed fingered more easily and treated more like a recorder (compared to the irish flute). They have one key to help with Eb. Unlike a recorder, much of the pitch is determined by the players embouchure and by rolling the flute in or out this helps to bring the cross fingered notes in tune. This flexibility comes at the cost of volume due to the smaller finger holes.
On my keyless flutes, I can cross-finger or half hole everything except the E-flat. I play mostly small-holed flutes, so getting the E-flat is quite difficult. I just get out my keyed flute if I really need to play an E-flat.
Get keys! (One always needs an excuse to get another flute.) 
Jeanie
Ah…11 at night…foal watch (see web site)… 
Edited the post.
Note: I have a CB Folk and a tuner.
Eb is a no go.
I had a small-holed Burns for some time. You’re damn good if you can get an Eflat from it. With some skill, the Fnat can be half holed. The other accidentals can be cross-fingered:
G#: XXO XXX XXO XOX
Bflat: XOX XXO XXO XXX
Cnat: OXX OOO OXO OOO
Alternate for first octave Bflat would be XOX XXX or XOX XOO
Alternate for second octave Cnat would be OXO XXX or OXO XXO
The cross fingering isn’t working at all for me. Combined with different blowing, I can achieve about 1/4 step flat. Aarrrrgggghhh!!! 1/2 holing is difficult, but (almost) possible.
Deb
Ya might want to give an other day or two…
F & G# are sorta doable. C isn’t bad. Eb isn’t worrh the effort.
Another alternative or two: Get more flutes. Get some keys.
I’ve got some fully keyed flutes, but still find the more flutes option more fun and easier to play. I have flutes in the keys of A, Bb, C, D, Eb and F. Overkill I admit, but fun to aquire and fun to play.
Clark
I’m no expert, but perhaps this may help.
You may have a particularly well-developed ear from playing a Boehm flute, along with the expectation that you’ll get the same precise tones.
When you cross-finger, you may be expecting the exact tonal frequency you got off the Boehm. “What is the fingering for B?” You may expect to get a precise B if you lift these fingers and put down those fingers.
This wooden flute of yours isn’t so mechanical. It’s not a metal tube of unvarying diameter with drilled holes.
That’s part of the beauty of it, you see. It’s not mechanical. It’s an organic, living thing. You don’t just plop down fingering to get the tones. Rather, you interact with the instrument as that living, organic thing.
The whole flute is hollowed and carved by hand. Each flute is voiced by hand. Every flute is different.
The fingering charts are approximations. They give you a clue as to where you’ll be mostly close. They’re a starting point.
Start with the cross-fingering on the chart, experiment with it, and then do the rest with your breath. Adjust your thinking to allow for more depth and flavor.
Don’t worry about finding the correct cross-fingering for all possible notes. Just listen to a tune you like, learn it from listening, and play. When you do, the need to adjust fingering will make itself evident and I’ll bet you’ll figure it out on the fly.
Thanks. My ear is pretty exacting (10 years of tuning all the worship team guitars, banjo, mandolin), so I need to be more forgiving of the pitch. I do love the keyless flute. And it has been YEARS since I played my old Artley. After I posted, I tried different mouthpiece positions, and blowing slightly differently, and found that I could vary the tone quite a bit. It’s a learning process, and I have a tendency to be a bit (??!!!) impatient with myself.
Deb
P.S. The more flute option is tempting, but I might have to clear out a guitar or 2 first 
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Deb, Lamby is right. The intonation on the simple system flute is not as good as the boehm. By shifting the lips a bit (or rolling in/out) the pitch can be corrected enough to make the fingerings work.
The C nat and Bb on the CB Folk is closer than many if not most.
Terry McGee has a ton of information on his site
and a couple more sites
http://www.woodenflute.com/
http://www.firescribble.net/flute/index.html
The intonation thing is interesting. When I got my traverso I learned a bunch of O’Carolan pieces in Bflat and Eflat. The F# on my traverso is right on pitch, so the Fnat is somewhat sharp. So one day I decide to try some of the tunes on an 8-key. I kept thinking I was screwing up the playing of them, not being used to all them keys, but it turned out that it was the F, which was in tune. My ear had just adjusted to a sharp F in those tunes. This, of course, after thinking the F sounded horrible when I first got the flute.
(Assuming I know which flute you’re talking about) That one note is the sole thing that keeps that particular maker from selling a butt load more flutes - they are way overdue to modernize that aspect of the tuning, but I don’t see it happening any time soon. Pity.
Loren
IMO, if you’ve got great pitch, use it. Let it be your guide, telling you how flexible your embouchure needs to be, and what fingerings are going to work for you on your flute. Sounds like you’re doing this already. Just remember that chromatics are sometimes a luxury on (basically) diatonic instruments; there’s still about 23 billion good tunes to learn in D.
One element of flexibility (not forgiveness) is being able to play in-tune in both equal-temperment and just-intonation. For e-t, playing with pianos works. For j-i, playing with drone instruments and j-i tuned button-boxes is a real help. It’s surprising how much difference there is.
On the other hand, forgiving others for bad pitch is a virtue that keeps us from strangling each other.