Chords on the Flute

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Chords on the Flute (multiphonics)

Can be played only softly. In the octave above middle C:

C# and E: Thumb, second and third ngers on left hand; on the right hand, use your F nger to put the F down and your D nger to put the E down. Then use the E nger to press the rst trill key. D and F: Finger F while pressing both trill keys. C and the D an octave above: Finger the third D and underblow it. Other: By playing a low note (middle C, C# or D is best) and overblowing to get the harmonics, you can sometimes get two or more harmonics to sound simultaneously, hence getting intervals of an octave, fth, fourth, and third. You may have to experiment with breath pressure in each case. (There are other multiphonics, but they dont all work on all utes.)

High notes
The ofcial highest note of a standard ute is the C 3 octaves above middle C (called 4th octave C if counting from where the ute starts), but I sometimes get asked how to nger notes above it. Here is a quick reference, although I do not recommend these notes as they can be noisy. Note Left hand Right hand C#: A, G# F D: thumb, G F, E, C All down to Eb (i.e. thumb, B, A, G, G#, F, D#: E, D, Eb) E: B, A, G tr1, E

http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/ssb22/compos/fingering.htm

5/6/2013

Chords on the Flute

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tr1, E difcult F, D, Eb+C (use little nger F#: thumb, B, G more difcult for both) thumb, A, G, even more difcult (does not work G: E, tr2 G# on all utes) Alternative ngerings for fast passages can sometimes be found by simple experiment, but for the 3rd octave its useful to know that: F: A Overblowing 2nd octave ngerings usually works well enough for loud-and-fast orchestral passages, at least up to about A (maybe up to B on a good day) For notes up to about G (sometimes higher) you might get a slightly better result by overblowing 1st octave at a 12th (i.e. count up a 4th and drop two octaves, e.g. low F for 3rd octave C, F# for C#, etc) but this is best worked out in advance. Quiet 3rd-octave notes are possible (its an embouchure technique; try tightening the lip muscles a little more), but this works best below the A; after that its increasingly difcult to play softly without an unacceptable level of hiss. Leaky pads can make the things worse (have the mechanism adjusted if necessary).
All material Silas S. Brown unless otherwise stated.

http://people.ds.cam.ac.uk/ssb22/compos/fingering.htm

5/6/2013