Which F Keys?

[accordionstu]

Before I even owned a six key piccolo or flute, I only ever played flutes which had a short F key and managed very well playing marches, jigs and reels. I now own a few 6 key flutes and it feels alien to use my left hand to play the f key. I get by just fine with the short F and unless it causes you issues, just carry on without the short F.

[Steve Bliven]

Before I even owned a six key piccolo or flute, I only ever played flutes which had a short F key and managed very well playing marches, jigs and reels. I now own a few 6 key flutes and it feels alien to use my left hand to play the f key. I get by just fine with the short F and unless it causes you issues, just carry on without the short F.

Did you mean to say "long" F?

Best wishes.

Steve

[pancelticpiper]

The long F is almost always the one I use... It's the long C that I can more than do without. My cross-fingered C natural sounds so clean and good that I see no point to it...

I'm with you there.

Many years ago I ordered a bespoke flute and I had it made with only the Long F, Eb, G#, and Bb. It was fully chromatic but only had 4 keys, which I regarded as ideal.

Then I acquired a c1860 8-key flute which I played for around 20 years and I ended up using every key, even the footjoint C# and C keys. I used the C natural side-key for C in the 2nd octave. I used whichever F key seemed easier at the moment.

[jemtheflute]

Both.
https://youtu.be/x-YtURdkyck

[accordionstu]

Did you mean to say "long" F?

Yes, thanks for pointing that out, i think it was late last night when i posted.

[sjpete]

I went through the same decision process last year, and I was unable to try a lot of flutes. I opted for only the short F due to price/value (if 95%+ tunes can be played without any keys, at which point do duplicate keys become superfluous?), a concern of being able to deftly hit the long F and not the G# (maybe an impractical concern due to my lack of experience with 6-key flutes), and an overall desire to keep down the number of things that can break or wear out on the flute (springs, pads, etc.). Coming from a Boehm, I was trying to find the right balance between simplicity and flexibility.

Having played with the short F, I can't say with confidence that I made the right decision. At times, I have thoughts along the line of "why did I spend all this money on keys, and I still need to rely on melodic short cuts to skip the note." So, if you are trying to close that gap of the 95% to 100%, maybe it's better not to go halfway. At the same time, I am able to do much more with the short F than with no F key, and it is satisfying to work on some of the tricky fingerwork involved.

In other words, I can't say, but since I have been through this recently I figured I'd share my reflections.

[JCortese]

I used the C natural side-key for C in the 2nd octave.

Ah yes -- thanks for pointing that out. It is very useful in the second octave.

I used whichever F key seemed easier at the moment.

I think I've begun circling around this as well -- and it's not that the short F hasn't been good to have. It's just been very useful in far fewer situations than the long one has.

[brassnebony]

The next F key I am interested in trying is one operated with the thumb of the right hand.
Ive seen this one two uilleann chanters to date, one by David Quinn and one by Joe Kennedy.
I am more of piper but don't see any issue using this on the flute.
Its basically the same as the small F key but operated with the lever on the back instead of the front.

[jemtheflute]

The next F key I am interested in trying is one operated with the thumb of the right hand.
Ive seen this one two uilleann chanters to date, one by David Quinn and one by Joe Kennedy.
I am more of piper but don't see any issue using this on the flute.
Its basically the same as the small F key but operated with the lever on the back instead of the front.

Not a problem to make, but a major problem with regard to flute support! The whole complex of supporting a flute revolves around the R thumb and it really isn't available to actuate keys, which is why historically very few keys for it have ever been designed for and fitted on flutes, and those few there have been have never caught on. It's a totally different matter on UPs because of the different angle of hold and support system.

[Peter Duggan]

Yes, even when developing my arrangement to work with my missing LH finger which ended up as four RH keys and a left thumb hole, we never seriously considered using the right thumb.