Hi all
I just received today a 6-keyed flute and already love the sound of it, but it’s the first keyed flute I’ve laid hands on and I have always played with a piper’s grip. Any thoughts or pointers on the transition of my left hand (the G# key being in the way is my main concern right now). Lots and loads of people have done this- learned to play the keyed flute after learning on the keyless- so I know I can too. I would appreciate any thoughts on the matter.
Thanks,
Eric
Although this post has been viewed over 1200 times at the moment of me posting this (and zero people have responded), I thought it’d be prudent for me to share this as a resource for the next person that comes along and is seeking some of the same information. There are several historical documents that detail how to hold a flute like ours “properly” and there are many, many videos simply showing people playing the flute where if you are patient, you will see different camera angles that give you some clues of the same.
McGhee has some great articles here:
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Nicholson_on_Tone.htm
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Rocksto_on_holding_the_flute.html
Eric,
Somehow I missed the initial posting! Either that, or being a long-term standard hold person (since day 1), I passed over it for someone else to answer. I hope you’re getting along well with your keyed flute and found the best hold for you.
Also Eric
Hi!
Thanks for your reply- I’m sure no one passed over it for any other reason than either it did not apply to them or they forgot or something else. At the end of the day, 1 year in on the keyed flute, it’s such a natural thing now.
Bottom line for folks transitioning is this: Keep working at it and don’t worry! Unless you have some health issues in your hands, wrists, or arms, you most likely will transition just fine in a matter of a few weeks.
Eric T
Play scales in lots of different keys, using the keys. Helpful practice. Also I use piper’s grip and it works fine with keys, FWIW.
I’m one of the many who didn’t comment because I’ve never used “pipers grip” on the flute. (I do use it on the pipes and on Low Whistles.)
Still, using traditional ordinary flute grip, there was a bit of transition, and that entirely because I wanted to play those three footjoint keys.
Every time I’ve handed my flute to an Irish Trad fluter the first thing they’ve done is turn the footjoint around so that the keys and blocks are on the opposite side from the fingers. The moral of the story evidently is that there’s no transition problem if you, in effect, convert your keyed flute into a keyless one.
But having the key touches where I could reach them meant that I had to adjust where I placed my little finger. You can’t have it accidentally depress the Eb key, at least when you’re playing D.
I ended up resting the little finger on one corner of the square wood block that holds the three key touches.
Using piper’s grip could also set up a quest for a flute with a right hand Bb touch. Some makers have a double touch for either hand.
I find playing a Bb in the traditional position a problem. Seems some people get it working, but not me. The RH-Bb removes the need for the left thumb to press that Bb key, just have the flute made so Bb touch is easily differentiated from the Cnat key.
L
It was finding some favorite tunes that needed the Bb key that finally made me start using a three-point hold with the right hand thumb pressed sideways against the lower body of the flute to stabilize the flute against my lower left hand finger and my mouth. That freed up my left hand thumb for the Bb key, and now it’s easy. It also freed up my right hand pinky for action on the Eb and C# keys.
Took me a while to figure that out. It’s the “Rockstro Hold” but Terry makes the point that it was developed earlier so we shouldn’t call it that. 
It required the sacrifice or my righthand thumb nail, which I had kept fairly long to play fingerstyle guitar, but the thumb nail slipped too much on the flute body. I now keep that thumbnail trimmed very short, so the pad on the end of the thumb can rest against the flute and not slip.
The other part of this hold involves rotating the headjoint inward a bit so the thumb can reach the right angle. The outer side of the embouchure hole on my flute aligns with the lower edge of the tone holes.
Just a note that one can play Bb in piper’s by cross-fingering the note. With a little practice it works fine and easily. I need to keep my left wrist straight, which is why I shifted to piper’s. I find piper’s really ergonomic on flute.
Just one more comment about the Bb key. If you learn a flute hold that makes it easy to hit the Bb key with your left-hand thumb, it makes it easy to transition to other flutes you might buy with that standard arrangement instead of a RH key or cross fingering.
After figuring out a good three-point hold that let my left thumb work the Bb key, I later bought a six-keyed Lehart low Bb flute. It’s huge and heavier than my keyed D flute. But all the keys are in the normal arrangement and it’s easy to hit the equivalent of the Bb key on tunes that need it. Like “Captain O’Kane” played in G minor on that flute, where the Bb key gives you the F# in the tune. A low Bb flute is a lot of fun to play, as something a little out of the ordinary for this music.
Unusual key arrangements sound like a neat idea until you start acquiring more flutes and need to keep things consistent under your fingers.
Even though I use the traditional “classical” flute grip, due to the fact that I have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards the Cnat key led me to order a flute with a right-hand Bb “side key” in the place where the Cnat key would ordinarily be.
For me a Bb side key is just more facile than the Bb thumb key. I’m not a fan of thumb keys in general (except on uilleann pipes).
I think you are better off with normal thumb picks. I prefer my nails trimmed when playing.