Sorry to barge in, it will become clear I am not a woodwind player; perhaps I should post this in Teachers.

What is the flute fingering for C# in the space an octave (+ a semitone) above middle C? I had a boy playing Schubert's Marche Militaire in preparation for a concert and I was playing the piano. C# was dreadfully out of tune, with no keys pressed. I rang my wife, who does play the flute, and she said to use the C# key with the little finger of the RH but another opinion I have had suggests this would be hard at Grade 2.

What do you all tell your pupils?

I was told "The cheaper the flute the more out of tune C# is".

If my woowind peri reads this it will cost me several bottles of wine and months of apologies; she is a super teacher and a great colleague but I think we need help with this one. (phew!)

hi as far as i know the fingering that your wife suggested is correct the other thing to check is if the head joint of the flute is pushed in or pulled out too much which will affect the pitch of notes i normally check a middle a against the piano when in a lesson

hope this helps

moinkey flute

C# is notoriously sharp on a lot of student flutes. If the rest of the instrument is in tune with the piano then the only option is to direct the air more into the flute for that note to make it flatter (lower the head or turn the flute in). This should really be dealt with by the teacher who will know if it is a problem with that particular instrument and can advise on the technique involved.

Just a note in addition: it's the age of the flute that is often the problem, not necessarily the cheapness. Older Yamahas and Buffets have a particularly sharp C#.

If the flute is set up correctly, with the headjoint draw set so that the overblown harmonic of low C# is as close as possible to the standard C# fingering (no fingers except RH pinkie), then the note will be better in tune.

A few years ago i did a piece where the tuning was a bit out on C Sharp, my teacher at the time said to put down the second and third fingers of the left hand along with the little finger. You might need to adjust it to suit the particular flute your student is playing. Basically by putting on the extra fingers, further up the flute, it should flatten the pitch, just try to make sure it doesn't go too flat.

Thanks for all the answers. It would be great to know if anyone has a pupil playing Marche Militaire and what fingering they are doing. No keys or +RH pinky.... What works best in the context of the notes before and after it?

Yes, I have. Several. The only fingering I would teach to a Grade 2 pupil is the standard one: no keys except RH pinkie. Although advanced players might add extra fingers, I would always expect a beginner to learn the standard fingering.

I agree with Andante on this - I mentioned 'cheaper' flutes as a few pupils have bought palatinos and some other make which escapes me at the moment - bought against my advice and with really sharp C#s.