I’m considering getting a Sweetheart 4-key model, with the intent of playing not only ITM but other styles as well, including styles (such as Middle Eastern or Gypsy music) that ordinarily require a lot of half-holing, to the extent that they are nearly impossible to play on a keyless instrument. Does anyone have any experience with playing chromatic or accidental-laden music with a 4-key flute?
I don’t have much experience, but for what it’s worth, if you’re playing a lot of chromatic stuff, I imagine you’ll really miss the long F key.
Hi there Anomylous -
Chromatic music on a 6-key, yes.
I agree with the previous post that you’ll miss having the long F.
There are workarounds but some transitions will be very awkward or impossible at speed without it.
Then there’s the long C.
You might figure this is superfluous until you get used to having it.
It gives you options and makes an easy job of getting C# in tune for sustained notes.
I use it a lot.
My 2 cents are, if you’re paying a premium just to get four keys, I’d save up and go for six. Then you’re very well set for anything doable on a wooden flute.
On the other hand, if this might be a “transitional” flute for you and you’re likely to buy a different one later, maybe just four makes some economic sense for now. But resale value would be less too. On the other hand, you’ve got five fingers. I hope.
The long F is handy, but didn’t Nicholson’s flute skip it? I had a 4 key Sweetheart flute and it was a very nice instrument. With practice, you can really play anything on one.
I have an 8 keyed flute, and I think I use the Cnat key on one tune only…I much prefer 0XX OOO or half holing the note rather than using the key, but that’s just my preference.
Eric
I have four keys - long Fnat, G#, Bb and long Cnat. As soon as I can I’ll be getting an Eb and a short F fitted. I agree with the other above that if you are going for a keyed flute then you may find you’ll want a minimum of six. Four keys will cover most of Irish music without cross fingering but as soon as you play other than Irish music you’ll probably wish you had six or more keys.
Thanks all for the input! I may end up going with the 4-key model anyway, for both cost and aesthetic reasons, but at least now I have a better idea what I’m getting myself into 
At worst, I’ll have to improve half-holing skills for some notes/transitions, I guess.
Yes. Though my four keys (Eb, short F, RH G# and RH Bb) are supplemented by a C nat thumb hole. And I don’t miss the long F because 1. I’ve no finger to play it and 2. you’d be surprised what you can do with a short F when you’ve no choice!
You really shouldn’t have to do much in the way of half holing…half holing Cnat just works better on ANY instrument on certain tunes…I personally prefer the cross fingered OXX OOO for 99.9% of all playing despite having a flute with a keyed C. It’s just my preference.
Unlike Bogman, who I am guessing has a Murray with that odd 4 key set-up (no Eb…that’s one note you just can’t half hole worth a darn, if at all, on flute), the Sweetheart 4 key allows you to be fully chromatic.
So now we hav Nicholson and Peter in the short F only club! 
I say go for it and have fun. If it’s the one on Doc’s site, it won’t lose much, if any, value if you later decide to sell it and get a 6 or 8 keyed flute.
Eric
Yep, then again Nicholson was “special”. He apparently turned the lower center section 45 degrees forward of the upper center too, finding that advantageous, and it’s hard to see how you might fit a long F that would work with that! But I do wonder what music he played and at what tempos. I manage the short F transition to/from D pretty well but there are some passages where that doesn’t work for me at 120 - depends on what follows and precedes. If you don’t have much of a call for those tunes at fast tempos, you’re fine with short I think. Often the long F is just easier.
I use oxx ooo and oxx xox for first register C, but there’s a tonal and slight pitch difference between them. More pronounced on some flutes than others, but the second always comes out tonally stronger for me. At speed, just doesn’t matter - whichever makes the better transition. But the keyed C for a sustained note, especially in waltzes or airs, just sounds stronger and clearer than any cross-fingered note. Then there’s the C# issue. If the note is sustained, often it’s easier to use the C key than to lip-wrassle it into submission. For me anyhoo.
Did you mean oxx ooo and oxo xxx? Because that seems to fit what you say, whereas oxx xox doesn’t…
The oxx xox fingering does seem to work pretty well on most instruments, whether that was the intended fingering or not.
And yes, I am looking at the one posted on the site; the four keys on it are Eb, G#, Bb, and short F.
As for upgrading later, it’s possible but unlikely. After all, if the going gets too rough on the Sweetheart, I can always pull out my silver flute (though at the cost of that beautiful wood-flute sound). Man, just the possibility of having two keyed flutes is making me feel incredibly spoiled.
Nope. oxx xox is a common whistle fingering.
Easy transition to the D above vs oxx ooo.
On some whistles this produces a distinctly stronger, well-tuned C (e.g. Generations…for me anyway).
On others there isn’t any real difference (e.g. a high D Overton I have).
On flute, oxo xxx is just fine in the second register.
In the bottom register that fingering produces a note that is around 20-25 cents sharp on every modern flute I’ve tried.
That’s just too sharp to be very useful.
I found this true even on flutes where the maker recommends that fingering.
(Not so on vintage ones…but my experience there is quite limited.)
The oxx xox on flute does something to the harmonics. I can hear it but not quite explain.
There’s something that puts a bit of edge on it. Sounds solid, more like the C key note.
The risk is flattening it too much. But that depends!
On my McGee it comes out dead on (per chromatic tuner, meaning very slightly flat sounding in some keys).
So I have the option of oxx ooo where I want it sharper, or lipping up.
On the Olwell, he’s apparently tuned the oxx ooo to be around 10 cents sharp of the tuner.
So that’s just right for playing most Irish tunes. Locks in with the fiddle.
But oxx xox comes in a tad flat.
Also on the Olwell there seems slightly less benefit in terms of that harmonic thing.
Flutes are just weird. Or maybe it’s me.
the sweetheart 4 key is a great flute, very light, great tone, i love the embouchure cut, and the keys are comfortable and work great.
i love having my 8 keys but for the price of a keyless i think its a great value.
i also like that it does not have a slide and i don’t need to worry too much about keeping it out.
Doesn’t have a slide… huh, might be an issue. Does the joint permit tuning or will I just be stuck lipping everything up or down depending on the temperature and humidity that day?
My main flutes are a six key Burns, and an eight key Blackman, and I mainly play ITM, but occasionally I play other music as well. I recently had a “little French flute” 4 key restored. Yesterday I decided to play some Bach that I normally play on the Blackman, on the “little French flute”. Boy, did I miss the long F and C key. Yes you can play accidental-laden music with a 4-key flute, but its very nice having those two keys!
I have two modern flutes without tuning slides and it’s not a problem, although esthetically I prefer having them.
Tjones
I am selling a four-key Michael Grinter flute, blackwood, in D. The flute is practically brand new. This is one of Grinter’s improved models.The keys are: Eb, Short F, G#, Long C. All you need, really. It has a sweet tone and is capable of producing great volume. The tuning is excellent and the workmanship is top quality. It is only a few months old. It was bought by a top player here in Ireland who never played it very much and who needed the money.
The cost from Grinter (including post and insurance but without the VAT of 23%) is about what I am asking for the flute - without the two year wait. Comes in a lovely handmade wooden case.
€2,900 includes shipping and some insurance inside the EU. Shipping to the rest of the world will a bit more. Insurance is your choice. Via Anpost, registered with some insurance and with tracking costs about €25 to anywhere and could take a week or so. Via DHL it take about three days and costs about €130. With full value insurance it will cost about €150.
Sorry for the grainy iTouch pictures.
Somebody should buy it before I decide to keep it for myself.
Isn’t that a lefty? Or have the pictures been flipped? Besides, the lack of the Bb seems to be a bit of an issue for chromaticism.
It is a right-handed flute. The picture came out upside down for some reason.
Having turned the picture right side up it looks as if the flute is a leftie - but it isn’t.
Bb is the easiest note to half-hole. Some people prefer to half-hole the Bb rather than reach for the Bb key with the thumb.
We’ve been through this before, but Eb is really the only note you can’t get by fork-fingering or half-holing.
Second the point on the needlessness of a Bb key. Nice to have but Bb is, as mentioned, the easiest
note to half-hole.
I guess one’s mileage varies… personally find the G# easier than a fudged Bb. Most useless key to me is the C; disappointed, then, that the Grinter has a C in its 4 key setup, and not a Bb . For a potential 5th key, I’d much prefer a long F to compliment the short F, but everyone’s tastes and preferences are different.