Flute Fingering Chart - Standard and Trill Fingerings by Note

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How flute fingerings work

The flute has no octave key. You change octaves by speeding up the air and shaping your lips, while the fingers mostly stay the same. That is the biggest difference between the flute and the reed instruments, and it is good news: learn one octave of fingerings and you have most of the second octave already. The exceptions are the lowest notes, which use the footjoint keys, and the bottom of the second octave, which has its own fingerings.

This chart covers the standard range from low C to second-octave B. Pick a note and the tool shows exactly which keys to press, including the footjoint keys, the Eb pinky key, and the C# trill key. A filled circle means the key is pressed; an open circle means it stays open. Practise with the chart beside you until the common fingerings feel automatic, then use it to check the notes you play less often.

The low register

Low C uses the thumb, all six main fingers, and the low C footjoint key. Low C# swaps the footjoint key to C#. Low D uses all six main fingers with the pinky off the Eb key, which is one of the few exceptions to the pinky rule. From D upward, the right-hand pinky stays on the Eb key for almost every note: Eb adds the Eb key to the full fingering, E lifts the right ring finger, F lifts the middle finger, and F# uses the right ring finger alone, a fingering that surprises every beginner.

Continue upward: G lifts the whole right hand, G# adds the left pinky G# key, A lifts the left ring finger, Bb uses the Bb thumb key with the left index finger, and B uses the plain thumb with the left index finger. The pattern is the same lift-from-the-bottom logic as other woodwinds, with the pinky rule as the extra detail to remember.

The pinky rule

Keep the right-hand pinky on the Eb key for virtually every standard fingering. The exceptions are notes below low D, notes above high A, and D itself. This matters more than beginners expect: the pinky key changes the pitch and tone of many notes, and lifting it makes them sound flat and dull. It also steadies the instrument, because the pinky anchors the right hand. If a note sounds wrong and the fingering looks right, check the pinky first.

The left-hand pinky has one job in this range: the G# key. Keep it close to the key so G# arrives without a scramble. Players who let the left pinky float away from the instrument always arrive late to G#, and the note speaks late too.

The second octave

From E5 upward, the fingerings repeat the low octave exactly. E5 uses the E4 fingering, F5 the F4 fingering, and so on up to B5. Only your air changes: faster, more focused, with a slightly smaller lip opening. This is why flute teachers say the second octave is free once the first octave is solid. Play a low E, then the same fingering with faster air, and hear the octave jump. That single exercise teaches the whole second octave.

The bottom of the second octave is different. Middle C uses the thumb alone plus the Eb pinky. Middle C# is the C fingering plus the C# trill key, a small lever beside the Bb key that fixes the tuning of this famously sharp note. Second-octave D and Eb lift the left-hand first finger from their low fingerings, and the D keeps the pinky off the Eb key, just like low D. Learn these four notes as a group, because they break the repeat pattern and cause the most mistakes.

Trill fingerings

Trills use the trill keys, two small levers worked by the right hand, plus the C# trill key. The common ones are C to D with the first trill key, C# to D with the same key, and C# to D# with the second trill key. B to C# uses the C# trill key from the B fingering. You do not need to memorise every trill fingering at once; learn the ones in the pieces you are playing, and add more as your repertoire grows.

Common mistakes

Lifting the right pinky off the Eb key on notes that need it.
Playing F# with the right index finger instead of the ring finger alone.
Using the low-octave D fingering, with the first finger down, for second-octave D.
Forgetting the C# trill key and playing a sharp, hollow middle C#.
Changing the embouchure drastically for the second octave instead of just speeding up the air.

How to practise with this chart

Play the low octave as long tones, then play the same fingerings an octave higher, then practise the four special second-octave notes as a group. Add scales in C, G, D and F major, which cover the common fingerings, and then scales in Bb and Eb major, which use the thumb Bb key and the G# key. When a note feels uncertain, look it up here, play it ten times slowly, and move on. Charts work best as a daily reference, not as something to memorise in one sitting.

Flute Fingering Chart – Standard and Trill Fingerings by Note