I all.
I’m have a bit of trouble making clean transitions from C nat. to higher notes. For example, in The Butterfly - 2nd part, 3rd bar - I have a heck of a time going B, C nat, E - without sounding like a duck being killed. Any thoughts, or simple techniques that have helped you.
FYI: I do hold my 3rd finger rather high on the C nat - my dexterity just stinks with that one, and even though I’ve tried to work on it, nothing really helps.
Anyway - thanks in advance!
How are you fingering Cnat? I find that
C 0xxx00
to
E xxxxx0
works pretty well.
You might try tonguing the E, if you aren’t already, until you get the
embouchure change down. My problem is going from 2nd octave E
down to the Cnatural
Just play C# fast enough that no one notices…always works for me… 
…or play a “quicky” C with 0X0000
Not that I’m one to be giving advice. (Cart before the horse) 
But I have found half-holing the B can produce a very good C nat. in some circumstances. I also tend to slightly roll the flute while doing this.
Just a chance this might work for you.
All the Best!
Jordan
Ahhhh…learn sumpin’ all the time…works !
Thanks all - this is really helpful. I will mess around and see which works best for me. I have been holding Cnat. OXXXOX - which is just too tough when try to go rather quickly. I’ve not seen the OXOOOO “C” before, and it feels the most comfortable at the moment. But it will just take some time to get if figured out.
Thanks again - this was very helpful info!
Pax
Pax,
Most flute players play C-nat using the following fingering.
0xx000
Using this fingering, it’s pretty easy to go from B to Cnat to E. In addition, starting to use this fingering will allow you to do common ornaments like a backstich (If you want more info, check our Rob’s website)
try working on it that way and i think you will find that the transitions from cnat into the second octave will get much easier.
b
Duck being killed is good many people struggle for years for that effect!
I use the same C OXXXOX and don’t seem to have any real problems going to the E , maybe just practice and practice it. Mind you now I know it’s hard I’ll probably mess it up in future…
Just curious – did all y’all who use OXX XOX for the Cnat start out as whistlers? All of my flutes have good cross-fingered Cnats using OXX OOO (as do most of my whistles for that matter). The forked fingering is kind of flat and muddy sounding. It seems like more effort to me, although I didn’t grow up using that fingering on the whistle.
I don’t find OXXXOX particularly muddy, though if a note is really exposed I use the key, but it is more in tune on both my flutes, I use OXXOOO in quick passages where its convenient. One thing OXXXOX allows is tapping on the E which is useful, for example separating the repeated C’s in the second part of Humours of Ballyloughlin.
The OXXOOO suffers slightly from having to be blown gently to stop it going too sharp.
Yep, I started out on whistle (and still play it a lot), so old habits are hard to get rid of, but definately worth trying.
I do agree that OXXXOX doesn’t sound “muddied,” especially on the whistle. It is, at least for me, just really difficult to make the jump higher notes in the upper octave.
Thanks again everyone for all the great advice. This has been a helpful thread!