As a piper, my instinct is to hold the flute in a “piper’s grip”. However, it seems that most flutists hold it with the pads of their fingers on the holes and their left wrist bent. When I attempt to play like this, my left wrist starts to hurt and I can’t move my fingers quickly. Is there any special technique I’m missing? Also, is there any advantage to playing in this fashion?
Thanks in advance
this is an often bashed topic…
neither wrist should be bent.
the standard grip is the 1st knuckle of the left hand, the right thumb & the lower lip
left elbow close to body
Terry McGee has a bit on it here
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Learning.html
James will be along to correct me in a minute!
Classical grip is initially awkward and uncomfortable but one gets used to it.
There are umpteen threads about it here if you search on ‘classical grip’
or just ‘grip.’
The left wrist is generally bent but not radically. Many of us try to minimize the bend.
No, there is probably no special technique you are missing, but you probably would
profit from reviewing the threads or reading Grey Larsen’s book or seeing
a teacher.
The advantages are that you can use keys more readily if you ever get them,
especially the standard Bb key. Some people (only some) get a sore thumb
supporting the flute on the left thumb. Also the pads of the fingers are more
sensitive and agile and better fit holes (IMO). Also classical grip is very solid.
However piper’s grip works very well too.
You might give classical grip a chance (it won’t be easy at first) and see
if it’s for you.
neither wrist should be bent.
Not so. Or perhaps in an ideal world neither wrist would be bent. It’s been gone over a thousand times-- there are many ways to hold the flute. The only should is that one should avoid tension. Tension will bind you up and make you strain. Find a way to hold the flute in a relaxed manner and you’ll be fine.
If you keep playing you’ll eventually find out out how to hold it so that your grip doesn’t cause tension. Rigidly adhering to any free advice given on this forum will itself cause you to become tense. Keep experimenting and ignore all the advice posted here about the right way.
Everyone’s body is different. In fact, an experienced player’s grip and posture will change over hours of playing. Micro-adjustments are made continually through the course of a session. Keep playing, keep experimenting, and everything will be fine. It’s easier said than done, but just learn to relax.
Use classic javelin grip, take a good run up and…
Then amputate both arms at the elbow and stitch up lips to deter from any such foolish temptation in future.
You’re already clearly insane, so such action won’t get you into any deeper trouble.
And don’t read ANYTHING on here, especially if I wrote it.
yep…why don’t you dig out the threads dear
I couldn’t find the one I wanted last night.
There are dozens of approaches used by classically-trained flute players as to how they hold the flute. However, the one that Jim is most likely referring to is the one which I advocate, because it allowed me to play without pain when I had active psoriatic polyarthritis in both hands–the arthritis has fortunately been in remission for years, but I am still an advocate of the technique.
This is called the Rockstro grip or sometimes the James grip (nope, I’m not that James 
)
First, in this approach, you don’t “grip” or “hold” the flute: you balance the flute. Flutes just aren’t that heavy, it really doesn’t take much active musculature to hold one up in playing position, and, as pointed out above, staying relaxed is critical for good playing on every level.
The flute is held in place (or, if you really want to get technical, the flute is prevented from falling) by three contact points: the right thumb is placed on the near side of the flute (not underneath it) and pushes gently away from the body. The base of the left first finger rests against the far side of the flute and pushes gently inwards. The third contact point is that the flute rests on the chin. The right wrist is straight, the left wrist gently bent but not drastically.
With this technique, the flute is perfectly stable without using the left thumb at all, which frees it up to work the B-flat key. The right pinky isn’t required either, which frees it up to work its E-flat key. I’ve done demonstrations where I play a tune with the left thumb dangling off into the air to prove it isn’t needed to hold the flute.
The flute is held at a slight angle, and the arms are held well away from the body, which helps keep the wrists straighter, and also helps with being able to quickly and quietly grab a full breath of air.
Holding flutes isn’t that big a deal: flutes are among the lightest of the wind instruments. Pity the guy who has to hold the tuba!!!
–James
i hold my flute a lot like what james described, but i find i use my right pinkie to balance and steady it. without using my pinkie, it feels a little wobbly. the only downside to this is some times my pinkie locks up and makes my right hand just a little stiff. what do you think? is it bad to use your pinkie to balance the flute, and if so, how do you do without it?
Using the right pinky is entirely proper and very widespread.
Many teachers teach it. I prefer it to other options but
people should use what works for them.
If your pinky ‘locks up’ this may improve with time. If it were me
I would tape my pinky to provide it support–anyhow this might help.
Also I put a moleskin piece on the flute where the pinky goes and
then put superglue on the outside of it (NOT the inside) to roughen it.
This provides an easy grip and lessens stress.
Also I use moleskin strips in the places where the rt and left thumbs go
and especially a strip where the flute rests on the base of the
left index. The more solid the grip, the more relaxed the hands.
using the little finger is fine
you might want to lift it as you come down the scale
there are some that use R3 also,
once they are far enough away from it that it doesn’t affect the tone
and they need the stability more
Moleskin and blobs are used by many
blobs, what are they called…ah, yes Bo Peps
That’s one of the good things about an Eb key,
venting it makes the flute much more stable.
Hear, hear! The little finger is a useful auxiliary stabiliser thus, or indeed without an Eb key if your particular hand proportions let it reach the tube comfortably (or you want to glue on a protrusion for it). But it is better for it not to become the main out-pusher - that is the R thumb’s job, and letting R4 usurp it too much does stress it and prevent fluency of movement in both R3 & 4.
You can play perfectly well in pipers grip if you find classical grip unworkable. Alan Doherty, Mike McGoldrick, and Cormac Breatnach are some piper’s grip players. Many players play flat-fingered with their right hands because of the wide hole spacing on big Pratten flutes.
The one advantage to classical grip is that you can reach all the keys comfortably on antique keyed flutes. You give up your thumb Bb in piper’s.
Thanks everyone, you’ve been a great help.
Both wrists should be kept as straight as possible, and there’s a physical reason for doing so.
For instance, the up and down movement of the fingers depends on the muscles of the forearm, where the fingers and the muscles are connected to each other by tendons, going through the hand and through the wrist, and the key point here is in the straightness of the tendons, via a straight wrist.
For instance, tendons are like ropes, meant to be pulled on (as everybody knows what “pushing” on a rope could amount to), and, basically, to get a finger to go up or to go down means that a pair of tendons could be at work, one for up, and one for down.
Now, a bent rope has what engineers call a “stress riser”, an increase of stress, at the point of the bend, meaning that a bent tendon could suffer stress wherever it could be bent. And, a straight wrist helps to reduce such stress.
Edit: A clarifying edit occurred, here.
American, Swedish, or forked grip? The American grip has only the index finger behind the string grip, the Swedish grip has two fingers behind it, forked actually holds the spear between two fingers, everything behind the grip. I prefer Swedish.
Spearchucker Charlie.
do patient headed ones fly truer?
Hi James,
Is there any chance you could put a phew photos up of you holding the flute so we can get a good look at the grip?
Karl
http://www.larrykrantz.com/hands.htm
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Rocksto_on_holding_the_flute.html
http://www.mcgee-flutes.com/Gunn%20on%20Tone.htm
http://www.thegalwaynetwork.com/notes/hold.htm
About the larrykrantz.com site, I could make a number of comments, some supportive, and some critical.
BTW, I was a student of one of Geoffrey Gilbert’s students, and, I play Open G#, too, as did GG.
And, I can also play an inline, French, “open hole”, mechanism with a straight LH wrist.
But, I prefer plateau, “closed hole”, keys, and an offset G mechanism.
About Sir James, wow, I've developed similar indentations, but not quite to that extent!
And, yes, after an hour of playing the base of my LH finger has that same, red color.
But, I don't have so much of that color with a simple system flute.
So, perhaps simple system flutes could have an advantage.Thanks Denny.