Pinky placement

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 12:10 pm

Playing whistle I balanced the
instrument by keeping the
ring finger on my right hand
down on the bottom hole.

Now that I'm playing flute
I'm using my right hand pinky
instead. Do you'all keep your
pinky down always? I find that
if I lift it, the flute
jumps around when I move
from a low D note to a G or any
other left-hand only note.
The problem with the
'pinky-down always'
approach is that it feels
a bit weird keeping my
pinky down always, especially
when playing the low D.

Suggestions on balancing
welcome!

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 12:49 pm

Hi Jim,

I lift it on certain notes, but it is usually down.

Lifted mostly on D, but that's probably just a carry-over from my Boehm. Sometimes lifted on E. Even then, I often leave it down on both of these; depends which note I'm coming from.

Erik

Post by **Nanohedron** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 1:35 pm

I used to leave it down -found it to be a good stable grip- until I got my first 8-key flute. Then, at first, I let it rest on the pin mounts for the C#/Cnat keys, but something about the metal's density or the bitty size of the contact point concentrating pressure or both or none of the above put my right hand in a fair amt of pain. Boy, was I depressed. The solution for me was to keep the pinky up (except when using the Eb, C#, Cnat keys). Naturally I had to reassess how I went about stabilizing the beast (a clarinetist friend says this is called "covering" in symphonic parlance), and so it took a little time -not so much- to train the ring and middle fingers to share and trade off on the job of keeping the flute in my hands and stable. Funny thing is, those pesky triplets in "Ships are Sailing" became easier and more distinct...go figure.

N, pinky aloft

sturob · Post by **sturob** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 3:08 pm

If you ever plan on playing a R&R or Pratten flute (meaning an original), it's probably not a bad idea to keep the pinky down most of the time. The correct fingering of basically any note other than C/C#/D involves venting (holding open) the Eb key. It really helps to bring those notes in tune.

Isn't that vented Eb retained on the Bõhm flute?

Stuart

Stuart

WarrenF · Post by **WarrenF** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 3:48 pm

ErikT - your flute is the same as mine - when you do put your pinky down are you putting it on to the E flat key and venting as Sturob describes ?

If you are not , then where do you position the key relative to the lowest open hole.?

I'm finding if I keep the E flat key in a position where my pinky naturally falls onto it I have to depress it to maintain flute balance.

On the other hand if I rotate it down to leave room for the pinky to rest on the wood for balance I then can't find the key when I need it.

Any suggestions ?

Post by **Nanohedron** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 3:52 pm

Thanks, Sturob. I'll give it a try. Anything for better intonation!!

My original epiphany was that I should be able to play if ever my pinkie got cut off, so no problem.

N, not Yakuza

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 5:17 pm

Hi Warren,

I know exactly what you mean. On my keyed flute, I've rotated it just slightly out of the way, but near enough that I can get to it. My pinky lays flat on the wood. I play few enough tunes that require an Eflat that I can manage to hit it when I need to. And I cheat... if I have something very chromatic (or not in an easy woodenflute key) I pick up my Emerson.

So, are you and your Ormiston getting used to each other?

Erik

edit: to clarify, I rotate it toward the top of the flute. I keep it close enought that my pinky just barely misses it.

[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2003-01-21 18:20 ]

ErikT · Post by **ErikT** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 5:23 pm

StuArt,

Yes, vented Eb is common for most notes on Boehm.

I'll have to give venting on my wood flute a try... it just didn't feel right when I first got my keyed flute (guess I've become used to very simple system flutes

I'll give it another try.

E

[ This Message was edited by: ErikT on 2003-01-21 18:24 ]

jim stone · Post by **jim stone** » Tue Jan 21, 2003 5:38 pm

You'all are way ahead of me, not
just because you can play these
things, but because you have
keyed flutes. mine's simple system.

If I'm playing something fastish
like "off to CA', and I play
low D, then go up to G, with my pinky up
on the D, down on the G, the
flute jumps during the
transition.

If I keep my pinky down,
the D feels a bit weird.
It's hard to manipulate the
ring finger with the
pinky down.

My impression from your
posts is that there's no
'right' thing to do. I'll
keep working at this. Thanks.
More advice welcome.

Doirlinn · Post by **Doirlinn** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 2:20 am

I was just fighting with this a few months ago. The flute I have now is an 8-key, and I decided I wanted more freedom in my right hand, but I couldn't pick the pinky up to save my life. For a short while I tried keeping it with the ring finger, just to get it to move... I even banded the two together for a few practices. In the end I gave up and decided to let the pinky be wherever it wants to be. (Part pain in the hand, but also because the flute I have now is borrowed and I know all the balance issues with this flute will change when I get my new one.)

Sincerely yours,

'Pinky-down-for-now'

ps - I'd be intersted to know if this varies between people using piper's grip or not...

[ This Message was edited by: Doirlinn on 2003-01-22 03:22 ]

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 6:18 am

Hey! I've got a keyless Copley, and I guess I keep the pinky down for the most part, I've never really paid that much attention ~ I'm still working on emboucher and breath control!
Mary

whamlyn · Post by **whamlyn** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 6:25 am

I'm one of the pinky-down believers (keyless of course), it seems to stabilize the flute significantly. Just about the only time it comes off is when I play a roll on the E, I find it too cumbersome leaving the pinky in place and lifting only my ring finger.

All the best,
Wes

kenr · Post by **kenr** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 6:34 am

Another vote for pinky down. Like a lot of Irish flute players I roll the foot so that the C & C# holes face away from me and I never use the Eb key so there's loads of room for the pinky - just about on the metal ring. The thumb and the pinky then hold the flute more or less steady at all times.

Ken

sturob · Post by **sturob** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 11:55 am

On 2003-01-21 18:38, jim stone wrote:
You'all are way ahead of me, not
just because you can play these
things, but because you have
keyed flutes. mine's simple system.

Simple system is what we all have, Jim; that term is used to refer to this fingering pattern whether you've got eight keys or no keys.

Stuart

Tradgirl · Post by **Tradgirl** » Wed Jan 22, 2003 4:38 pm

I usually keep my third finger down on the sixth hole. I dont know where I get it from, I usually dont do that with my clarinet. O well. Like you said, it helps me keep the balance. "Isn't that weird??"