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