Flute fingering chart: why low and high notes use the same fingers

Here's something that surprises most new flute players: many notes in the upper octave use exactly the same fingering as the note an octave below. Your fingers don't change; your air does. This guide shows the beginning fingerings and how to move between the octaves.

Want to drill them? Practice these fingerings in Woodwind Trainer →

How to read a flute fingering chart

• Left hand first, then right hand. The left hand is closest to the mouthpiece.
• Filled keys are pressed. Empty keys are up.
• T is the left thumb key on the back of the flute.
• The E♭ key is pressed by your right pinky. It's down for almost every note, which also helps you hold the flute steady.

The first notes in the band book

Most flute players start with B, A, and G, in the middle of the staff. Start with your left thumb and index finger for B, then add one finger for each step down. Your right pinky stays on the E♭ key the whole time.

Some band books start with D, C, and B♭ instead. C uses only your left index finger and the E♭ key. B♭ adds your thumb and right index finger. This D is the upper D, which lifts your left index finger. See notes that change in the upper octave below.

Same fingering, two octaves

You already know G. Play it again with faster air and you get the G an octave up, with exactly the same fingers.

The flute is an open tube, so blowing faster makes it jump to its next natural note, an octave higher. (That's different from the clarinet, which jumps a twelfth. See the clarinet register key. The saxophone jumps an octave like the flute; see the saxophone octave key.) From E up to C♯, the fingerings in the second octave are the same as in the first.

Changing octaves with air

Moving up an octave isn't about blowing harder or louder. It's about air speed and direction:

• Make the opening in your lips smaller. A smaller opening speeds up the air without adding more of it.
• Bring your lips slightly forward. This aims the air a little higher across the embouchure hole.
• Keep the air supported. Steady air from your body, not pressure from your lips, keeps high notes from cracking.
• Don't roll the flute. Turning the flute in or out changes the tone and pitch. Use your lips to aim instead.

To go back down, relax and open the lips a little and slow the air, aiming slightly lower. If a low note keeps jumping up, your air is too fast or aimed too high.

Notes that change in the upper octave

Two notes don't follow the pattern. For D and E♭ in the upper octave, lift your left index finger. Low D also lifts the E♭ key.

Lifting that finger opens a small hole that helps the high D and E♭ speak and stay in tune. The third octave (above high E) has its own fingerings, and you'll learn those later.

Practice these fingerings

• Finger B, A, and G, then D, C, and B♭, silently while saying the names.
• Play G, then high G with the same fingers. Change only the air.
• Practice slurring low D to high D, remembering to lift your left index finger.

Then quiz yourself in Woodwind Trainer, where each note comes with its flute fingering.