5 key

[oleorezinator]

https://youtu.be/EHxK6uXQiWg?si=53MPCa_5kF7gFnxB

[Terry McGee]

What a fascinating journey the quiet little French 5-key flute went on, to find itself re-imagined leading Charanga dance bands on the former Spanish colony of Cuba. (I think it might have come via the neighbouring former French colony of Haiti.) Perhaps the most remarkable transformation was to the range, which was too narrow for the Cuban musicians. So often they opened up the size of the small embouchure hole, to improve the venting, and pushed the stopper further down the tube to enhance the upper registers, at the loss of resonance in the low octave. But hey, nobody could hear us down there. They can now!

If you want to give Charanga playing a go, you can find a fingering chart put together by Spanish Charanga student Pablo Nuñez some years back. It may not work perfectly on your flute, but it should get you into the ballpark:

https://www.mcgee-flutes.com/5keyfingers.htm