I have my first silver flute. Yay! – it’s in C. ^^
I’m trying to play a lot of music in D, but I have an issue hitting C#. For some reason, fingerings provided in the book that came with C and C# sound exactly the same. I’m probably doing something wrong, but all the same, I was wondering if there was an alternate fingering for C and C#-- in both octaves.
Its annoying to try to play something like Banish Misfortune if you can’t play C and C#! 
Check the following web pages.
http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/flute/index.html
http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/flute/fl_fing.html
hello all,
I’m a bit new to the forum (have been reading posts for a while)…
C# is when you only have the pinky on your right hand down, and C is only the first finger of your left hand down. it’s the same in both middle octaves (on the staff and just above the staff, different if you’re talking about below the staff or way way above the staff). there’s something very wrong if they don’t sound different. I hope that helps 
just out of curiosity, why try playing traditional music on a classical flute? obviously Joanie Madden can pull it off, but it seems like a lot of extra effort.
cheers,
Sara
If C and C-sharp sound the same, take a close look at the key that the left hand first finger sits on…it’s spring may be off its catch, or even broken.
Without a working spring, this pad won’t life and C and C-sharp will indeed sound the same. It will also create various other tone and venting problems as you go up and down the scale.
–James
…and the trill keys
Those little holes closer to the embouchure.
C-Sharp is a problematic note on most Boehm-system flutes.
On modern instruments, the fingering Sara gives (all fingers up except right hand pinky) will sound a pretty decent C-sharp; however, on many older flutes this fingering is only correct for the second octave C-sharp and will be very sharp in the first octave. On these flutes, put the first, second, and third fingers of the right hand down in addition to the pinky, and the note will be much more in tune.
–James
i dont know, it seems about the same amount of effort to me.
slides aren’t nearly as easy and rolls can be a bit awkward. obviously it’s possible though.
slides: i concede that they are a bit more difficult. i cannot do the the f# to g slide with my fingers (though with a little work you can get it with your mouth). and i cannot do the b to c# slide (ditto). but as for rolls…
it depends on which one you start! i dont play the wooden flute, and i dont own one, but i have played them and its about the same difference for everything else. except the rolls. i can get them, but not every time (of course, there’s no nice, easy c natural roll, either). naturally, this is because i havent practiced. so, i could say that the rolls on the wooden flute are “akward”, but i know that it is only my experiences that have made it seem that way.
I guess it depends what you’re used to. I was clasically trained on flute, rebelled, and now mostly play traditional music on wood flute. I tend to keep the two totally separate. it keeps me from getting confused about fingerings if nothing else 
cheers,
Sara
Thanks guys!
It was a spring on the large pinky key. I fixed it and now how both C and C#. Thanks for all your help!
-B
Also - if you’re trying to get a “Hard D” and other reedy types sounds out of your Boehm by blowing down instead of across, you will probably be playing flat. I asked Joannie about this at Wind on the Bay - she taught a class on playing Irish music on a Boehm Flute there- and she told us that her flute is tuned to A=442 so she’s a little sharp to start with.
If this is a problem you may have to get a bit of the mouthpiece slide trimmed so you can push in just a bit further.