Lazy Fingering

[jim stone]

For a long time I've played the flute with what is sometimes called 'Lazy Fingering.'
This consists in leaving fingers down that, while they 'should' not be down, don't much
change the tone. For example, leaving R3 down on the D hole doesn't make much difference
to the tone when I'm playing notes with the left hand, and it steadies the flute and it can make some
passages easier to play. More recently I've been watching Youtube videos of Harry Bradley,
who doesn't appear to do any of this. And I figured maybe doing it properly, as he apparently does, is better. It's what classical flooters do, after all, and maybe the simplicity
will make me faster, ultimately. Maybe the slight changes in tone add up
and tunes sound slightly better without LF. And my grip is good enough without LF, and will improve without it, so these may be bad habits, etc. I wonder what folks think of Lazy Fingering?

[Handstand]

I think the problem with this specific fingering is that it significantly flattens the F sharp in the lower octave. This can often tend to be flat in simple system flutes, anyway.

You could check it out with a tuner. If it makes no difference, you could cheat away.

[Peter Duggan]

it significantly flattens the F sharp in the lower octave.

Aye, and it flattens the E even more!

But Jim's talking about left-hand notes...

[Handstand]

The difference to left hand pitches doesn't seem to be that significant.
But if you are using r3 as a support, and you take it off to switch to r1, I suppose you might unbalance the flute at this point. What happens if you do a roll on G?
You'd need to check in a mirror. If the flute jumps around, it might not be good in terms of embouchure.

[Sillydill]

Hey Jim,

If it sounds good, do it!

Over the years, I've come up with a lot of odd fingerings. Usually they are tune specific and often flute specific. I use them to help ease difficult passages, stabilize the flute or in some cases I suppose I am being just lazy.

[jim stone]

Thanks everybody! Basically I'm using R3 (and in some passages other fingers) to stabilize the flute. I don't need to do that, it's just a habit. Also I agree with the comments that this sort of thing can somewhat flatten the pitch of higher notes.

[pancelticpiper]

There's "lazy" which is pejorative, and there's "efficient".

Don't think that orchestral Boehm fluteplayers don't do things that that too. It's always been part of "classical" fluteplaying, and clarinet playing too, and probably all woodwinds. With the Boehm flute it's mainly in the 3rd octave though, "false fingerings" that make certain passages easier to play.

Since I came to the flute from pipes, I was used to the concept of partially-open fingering systems, and when I saw some of "the old guys" play flute and whistle using a partially open system I copied them.

An open system puts down as few fingers as possible to create a certain note. What I was seeing was a partially open system that lifted as few fingers as possible to create a certain note.

It dawned on me years later that what I had picked up wasn't random laziness but logical and efficient.

It was based around two grips, what I'll call the "D grip" and the "G grip".

The "D grip" xxo xoo allows D Major arpeggios and passages to be played by lifting only U3 and a unit consisting of L2 and L3; thus by moving only two units much music can be played for example a D Major arpeggio

D xxx xxx
F# xxx xoo
A xxo xoo
d xxx xxx

Note that on many (most?) antique flutes, and many whistles, A is sharp unless played that way.

A passage like the beginning of The Mountain Road and a vast number of other passages in reels and jigs can be played much more efficiently leaving L1 down.

The "G grip" xoo oox allows G Major arpeggios and passages to be played by moving, once again, only two units, the unit U2 and U3 and the unit L1 and L2, for example here's a G Major arpeggio

G xxx oox
B xoo oox
d xxx xxx
g xxx oox

A passage like the beginning of Sally Garden involves much less finger movement this way.

There are other grips too, like leaving L1 and sometimes L2 down in some E minor tunes, like this "rocking phrase"

xoo xxo B
xxx xxo e
xoo xxo B
xxx xoo f#
xoo xoo B
xxx xxo e
xoo xxo B

[Tunborough]

Some whistles won't give a stable second-octave C# without R3 down: OOOOOX. Does this ever happen with flutes?

[jemtheflute]

On the last post Q, most flutes and whistles the 2nd 8ve C# is ("should be") fingered oxx xoo. The all off fingering is usually out of tune or "wolfy" or both.

[nohoval_turrets]

I generally leave R3 down for notes above F#. I did this when I played whistle as a child, and when I took up the flute. I don't know if I copied it from somewhere or came up with it myself, but I've never considered it lazy, or a fault. I can as easily use R4, but I do find that this causes some conflict with its proper use on the Eb key in contexts where that's used. I've always found it to have negligible impact on tone, tuning and volume. So I've stuck with it.

[JCortese]

Mmmm, I'm just a newbie, but I tend to lift my bottom ring finger when it's not needed. My pinky seems to stabilize the flute fine just by itself, and there is a slight change in intonation that annoys me when I leave the ring finger down where it isn't needed.

That's not to say that I don't use lazy/convenient/efficient fingering from time to time -- ooo xxx for C# moving upward is one of my favorite since it makes transitioning to D and notes higher a lot easier; I'll usually do ooo ooo on the way down to B, though. Basically, it's sort of a puzzle where I want to get to the next note with the best intonation and the fewest fingers that need to be moved as possible.

[emmdee]

I showed my brother (a non-musician) a clip of Matt Molloy - playing The Bucks of Oranmore from the show with James Galway IIRC - and my brother said "how come he can play like that? Looks like he's only moving two fingers!"

m.d.

[busterbill]

Sometimes details in fingering can be flute specific. I have a couple of flutes I use and can cheat on one and not on the other. If you know you are going to stick with a specific flute and have checked things out with a tuner, go with what feels best and also works for getting the notes. If you switch flutes you may want to get your body used to standard stuff. Though retraining your muscle memory isn't impossible.