Why in God’s name is the Bb key always this little stumpy thing that’s a mile away from either thumb? I can’t imagine keeping my left thumb near it - seems like you really crimp the left index finger as a result - it’s much natural for me to have my left thumb up by the headjoint. Better leverage and so forth. Do real flute players keep the thumb near the key, or move down there real lightning quick?
I’ve seen pics of flutes with the two keys for Bb, the one opening the short key and operated by the right thumb, I guess. Too bad I don’t have one!
I do keep my thumb close by the Bb key, and the touch on mine (a Cotter) is long enough that I can just kind of roll my thumb to the right to hit it. But I’ve seen some flutes with much shorter touches that would be harder to reach. A friend of mine has one of Tom Aebi’s flutes on which the Bb touch is quite short; it’s not within easy reach for either of us. Tom may have fixed that on his more recent models, I don’t know.
I also like those flutes with two touches for Bb – some of the old Rudall and Rose flutes had those, and it’s a great feature. A few modern flute makers are offering them as well.
Maybe it depends on the size of your hands…
I put my thumb just next to the Bflat key, so that when I need to use it, I just take it off the flute and plunk it on the Bflat key… it gives me much less trouble than using some of the other keys, like Eflat.
Check out “Rockstro grip”. Google for it, there’s gotta be a few sites. The idea is to hold the flute in such a way that the left thumb is not used for support, so it’s free to operate the key. Still yes, painful key, but in my experience, less painful than the G# in Pratten models.
g
The Bb key on the copley is pretty handy.
I can rest my thumb close by the block
in which it’s mounted and the key is
close by. I suppose if one’s left hand postion
is good, the thumb isn’t doing much in
the way of supporting the flute,
so there may be some latitude in
placement, which one can
get used to even if it feels
odd initially. Best
The Bb key was the hardest one for me. I have my thumb right next to it, but lifting it and placing it on the key at speed is a deferent thing. Now it comes naturally to me, I think that the trick was taking tunes that have Bb, and learning then slowly, having the fingers remember the moves, till you can play it at speed.
My R&R (4932) has a double action on the Bb key.
I think this is the key. You really have to develop a way to hold the flute so your left thumb is free to move.
Just another bad habit I will have to change. 
I flat dont use the Bb key because if I have my thumb down there where it is supposed to be I cant move my index finger. I knew my grip was wrong when I started learning this thing but heck I didn`t have keys then. Oh well, one step forward, 2 steps back as was recently said 
Tom
The E flat key is the one that drives me bats.
I generally twist it under the flute so as to
have clear place to rest my pinky; of
course that means I can’t use it.
Any suggestions?
Amen to that. I rarely lift my thumb, usually just roll it (rotate it) to the right a bit, which hits the end of the touch and opens the key handily. But I’ve had to learn to start lifting it recently, as I’m working on a very tricky reel, probably one of Paddy Fahey’s, that I have on a session tape of Paddy Carty with Conor Tully and a few other musicians. It has some Bb-Cnat-D triplets, and I find that to get a clean Bb in those triplets I have to lift my thumb and put it squarely on the touch. It also has some A-Bb-Cnat triplets, but I can get the Bb there by just rolling my thumb as usual. I reckon it’ll take me a year of working on this tune before I can really play it…I have to use both F keys as well as the Bb key, and there are lots of tricky bits. I suppose it might be easier if I transposed it, or if I had a Radcliff system flute like Carty did, but it’s a good challenge!
A lot of flute players do that, and then they turn it back up for the occasional tune where they need an Eb/D#.
I leave mine up, but I have long fingers and my pinky can rest on the block. If the spring on your Eb/D# key isn’t too sensitive, you should be able to rest your finger on the key itself, toward the bottom of the touch, without opening it.
Some flute players like to vent the Eb/D# key on most or all notes above D, so resting your pinky on the key isn’t a problem in that case. I feel like that’s a bit of an over-refinement for Irish music, but it is closer to the way the old flutes were designed to be played.
like any other instrument, hand position can change according the notes in the tune. for example, if one knows there’s a Bb in the tune then the thumb can be repositioned before the start of the that tune so as to facilitate the action on the Bb key. same is true for Eb. before the tune begins, reposition the foot joint so the key becomes accessible, test it out first, and then when the tune is played you can hit the Eb. hand/finger positioned don’t have to be fixed for every tune. adapt to the tune for accessibility to the notes. you can always return to the more comfortable hand positions when there is no need to adjust to hit the odd note.
Ah, but isin’t it better to be prepared at all times to use a key on a whim? Say you’re playing Danny Boy and you want to change all the Bs to Bbs.
<The E flat key is the one that drives me bats.
<I generally twist it under the flute so as to
<have clear place to rest my pinky
when your playing an 8 key flute, the Eflat gets pushed even further down, I always have it in a position that it can be played, but maybe that’s where I developed the habit of resting my ring finger rather then the pinky, it’s very uncomfortable to have the Eb pressed all the time.
there are tunes that I have to play a Bb or Eb or a D before I start the 100 MPH race (the D is for my embouchure but the other ones are for my fingers to remember where the key is in relationship the my grip) 
Hehe. Switching keys in the middle of a tune is nice, but if I where you I wouldn’t nessesary switch from two sharps (or is it one?) to one flat. You’d have to use the F-nat key and the C-nat key alot as well.
yeah it sure seems better to be prepared at a whim. personally, my pinky is on the Eb all the time and i don’t find Bb too cumbersome, although once in a while my grip is off too much to get good access to it. Low C and LongFnat are tricky ones for me though. i can’t be too whimsical with those. maybe one day i can but for now i have to prepare myself to use them before hand.
B to Bb on slow tunes i would probably crossfinger and slur it anyway. but danny boy? c’mon really, just shoot me.
I gave the “Rockstro Grip” a try. Yuk! That’s just not right. Feels like there’s a block of concrete on the left index. I’m sticking with keeping the left thumb up towards the barrel, and the left index finger airborne except for the pad. Maybe I’ll have a longer Bb key made. With this little guy I actually have less trouble hitting it with the right thumb…
Why didn’t they just point the key in the other direction and work it with the right thumb? Let me guess…(cue up Fiddler on the Roof soundtrack)…TRADITION!
Rockstro grip can be a beast in the beginning. I converted to Rockstro a few months ago. Had been trying to use it before but always took up my old pipers grip sooner or later cause I couldn’t move my top hand fingers sufficiently. But after a whiles practise I feel like I have all the freedom in the world with Rockstro grip. Still have a little trouble with fast rolls on B and A but they are getting better as well. Now if I try the pipers grip, it feels really awkward. The Rockstro feels like it’s less tiering as well and I don’t get any stress on my hands, it’s more comfortable and looks prettier. Give it an honest shot.
I play using flat finger piper style for both hands, which puts my left thumb up high on the flute pointing at my head. I might as well seal the B-flat key up with wax because I’m never going to reach it…
M
There’s a photo of the type of dual-action Bb key Brad mentioned earlier on Seth Gallagher’s flute page; he offers it as an option. Maybe Kevin can get something similar retrofitted just for those occasions he wants to play a key-modulated Danny Boy for the crowd . . .
You can see the key here if you scroll down a bit.
Having borrowed a friend’s fine Pratten-style flute for a couple weeks, I think it turns out I’m more a Pratten guy than a Rudall guy, so I may be selling my R&R-style flute in favor of a Pratten: Seth’s on my short-list of makers I’ve been talking with.