I bought a nice cheap metal flute with the side blowing mouth piece like they play in bands. It’s a band flute? I think that is what it was advertised on ebay. Anyways I had to buy a book later to figure out how to play it, but the back end of the flute note keys do not change the note at all. Is there a way to tune a flute? Is there a pitch pipe for it available, and is this why they don’t work at all? On my left hand, the first fingering chart works fine, but the ones on the right do not make a difference and seem useless. Am I missing something or is it that it needs to be tuned.
Also, The book says a flute can hit 40 notes? 8 octaves, 8 notes in each octave, so 5 octaves? Or is it 7 notes in each octave because the 8th note is in the next octave? Well, flute music is very beautiful and I would love to learn to play. If there is anyone who might be kind enough to give a hint to my questions, please do and thank you now for your input.
Based on this description, I’d say it’s impossible to tell what kind of instrument this is. Which makes the other questions moot. Not that they really make sense anyway: “Back end of the flute note keys” etc.
How about a photo of the instrument? Or a pointer to a web photo of something similar? Or at least tell us any lettering or markings on the instrument. Something to ID it.
If it’s a Melody Flute like [u]this one[/u], we can help you here. If it’s a Boehm silver flute, we can send you over to Door #2 for assistance.
IF you have a band flute (silverish metal - lots of keys) and the keys aren’t all working, your best bet is to take it to a local music store that sells & repairs band instruments and have it assessed. If there are high school bands in the area, you might ask the band teacher/director for suggestions.
Note: for the right hand notes the first three fingers of the left hand must be down
The little finger is usually up. (If the hole is covered when the touch is not pressed yer good… If pressing the touch closed the hole then it’s whats called an open G#, what ain’t likely but is possible)
point being closing holes below an open one don’t do much
Yeah, I have no idea what that means. Could you reword that?
If it is indeed a Boehm chromatic flute, then there are 12
chromatic notes in each octave. “Chromatic” means the
the sharps and flats (the black notes on the piano) are
included:
C C# D D# E F F# G G# A A# B
So, 40 notes probably means 3 octaves plus a few notes
in a 4th octave. Which sounds about right for a Boehm
flute.
If you could post a picture, or find a picture of your flute on the Internet and post a link to it, that would answer many of our questions. There are a lot of different kinds of flute, but I also think from your description that you have a Boehm flute. It’s the kind played in highschool bands everywhere.
A trip to your music store is a good idea. If it is a used flute from E-Bay then it might need a repair. In older, used flutes, the ‘pads’ under the keys (that make a seal between the key and the hole it covers) can crack with age. They have to be replaced sometimes so the keys work correctly. There are also a couple of small springs that can come loose and need to be put in place.
When your flute is in its case, you’ll see that it is in three or maybe four pieces. Putting the pieces together correctly is important. The keys for your left hand are on one piece of the flute, and the keys for your right hand are on another piece. If the joint where the two pieces go together is leaking air, that can keep the right hand (the low notes) from sounding. On some flutes, there is a ‘linkage’ device where a part on the left-hand piece moves a lever on the right-hand piece. If your flute has that, make sure the two pieces are working correctly. You may have to twist the two parts of the flute until the parts of the linkage touch each other correctly. There can be a similar linkage for the very end piece of the flute (the ‘foot’) that needs to work correctly.
Another possibility is that you have the wrong fingering chart for your kind of flute, or that you are reading the chart incorrectly. There are more keys than you have fingers, and you must make sure that your right hand fingers are on the correct keys. Make sure that the picture on your fingering chart matches exactly to your flute. Every key and lever should be shown on your chart. But there are older flutes that have slightly different keys or levers.
If your flute is the kind that has a small hole in the middle of some of the keys, you must make sure that your fingers are sealing those holes. Your music store can supply you with special little stoppers that fill in the holes to make it easier for a beginner to play. After a while you remove the stoppers and learn to use these extra small holes.
If you can, taking a couple of lessons from a local teacher is a good idea. Just getting everything working correctly is a big first step.
Dear Scarletdaisies: Welcome & Good Luck. A few years ago, I was probably not far from where you are at. I now play an assortment of whistles, flutes, and other wind instruments. My words of wisdom through the whole experience have been: If snot nosed grade school kids can figure this out, so can I. I didn’t have a teacher either, just books, the internet, and these kind folks. What kind of folks they are, you’ll see.
I just grabbed the first one that Google had that was near enough in size and allowed me to link to it.
Having just run down the main page that the picture is from…I see that it is Nano’s favorite!
That picture makes “the back end of the flute” make so much more sense now. If there is a “front” to a flute, those keys on the foot are obviously on the “back” of the flute. And you folks took actual lessons. Geesh.
Space was at a premium
I had a lot of free time (by January)
I had the money (due to lack of anywhere to spend it)
The cross fingering on the recorder was annoying me
the music store threw in a fingering chart
a tenor sax reed & 20 minutes on their best tenor
This is the flute I bought from ebay, or one just like it. All three pieces are pushed as far as they can go together. Where the fingering chart says to put your right hand does not change the note, not if they are pressed together, one at a time, and not if the sidekeys are pressed either.
Thank you all for the motivational advice and I would love to learn on my own, but there are school band leaders that I might look up to ask. I just thought it would be a simple answer with maybe reference to a book on how to fix it. Thank you so far. How about how to know if I bought a left handed flute by accident? It still doesn’t make the notes play, but the mouthpiece is easier to use. What side is the wide end of the mouthpiece supposed to be on, front or back?
Scarlet: Yes, that is a silver orchestral / band flute. Also called a Boehm flute, because that is the fingering system. The one in the photo is a right handed flute.
So this thread should be in the Flute forum. But instead of directing you there, I’m going to recommend that you first seek out a local* music store or flute teacher and ask for a 10 minute demo of the very basics - how a flute works, what the different parts are called, how to assemble it, where to put your fingers, how to read a fingering chart.
Where are you located? Please fill out your Location profile.
Then you can come back here to the Flute forum and ask questions. Keep in mind that the emphasis here is on the Irish style timber flute, not silver flute. But there are members familiar with both who can help you.
Shirley 