what finger(s) do you use to trill a D flat?
Also... how do you play a low d flat on a piccolo?

Umm..trilling from Dflat to D natural? or trilling C to Dflat?..

ya... D flat to D natural

<Added>

Sorry... I guess I should have said that to begin with.

which octave?

If you are doing middle and the upper octave..you know, the D flat that only involves the right pinky(key). Then i believe the it's the first trill key....

Yeah, first octave you use the C# spatula key. Second and third play C# (open) and trill the first trill key.

As far as playing Db1 on a piccolo....They only go down to D-natural.

-Dennis

That's generally true, Dennis, but there are exceptions. A company named S.C. Kirkley down in Florida has been producing C foot piccolos for a while, and I know for a fact that Nagahara is coming out with a piccolo that they designed from the ground up which has a standard B foot, and the option of a C# trill.

If someone doesn't point out that trills always go to the next note name up the scale then someone else is ging to eventually get confused between key signatures and accidentals.

IOW: You don't trill Db to D natural. Enharmonically, it would be C# to D or Db to Ebb. TFor my Piccolo, the first C# trill key with the middle finger works ok.
But the Db could also trill to Eb. This is generally the two middle fingers on both trill keys. This trill comes up most often for Piccolo players in the US in the most common arrangement/key of the S&S forever picc. solo where the trio is in Ab arr:Church.

On the other hand, you would most likely never see the trill Db to E nat. because it is greater than a whole step and could be classifled as a tremolo then.

~Bilbo
N.E. Ohio

Db same thing as C#...

<Added>

what did you mean when you said enharmonicly?...

Bilbo,

You have to know the High School Flutist mentality, right? They never really get music in sharps, so everything is in flats. They get the odd C# and they always call it a Db no matter what. I think my high school band would have freaked out if the Flute part was written in D. Clarinets would be in E along with trumpets, the Altos would be in B. I just think they would simply freak out. High school kids (unless they are at a magnet arts school) tend not to play in these keys. At least not in any high school I practiced with or played in. Not even All-State come to think of it. I wonder why that is?

-Dennis

Dennis, I had a student like that. She had to transpose every sharp into a flat which did not make any sense to me. That is the first time I have ever heard of that.

Seriously, it's because the High Schools do not play music in keys like that. More flats is fine, but throw sharps in there and the whole band is freaked up. Of course when you get into orchestras and symphonies...They make other instruments to help with the transposing. That way you can write a piece (like the First Scene from Swan Lake) in the key of two sharps, but have an A Clarinet in one flat, rather than a Bb clarinet in 4 sharps. The Valse after that one...written in 3 sharps, would be 5 for Bb clarinet, but nothing for an A Clarinet. Schools don't have access to these instruments normally, so it in turn keeps bands from playing things in lots of different keys. In Rhapsody in Blue for Concert Band - The slower section that everyone knows is written in E. Luckily, instead of 6 sharps for clarinets you can write it in 6 flats, but either way is not very nice. If I were in that band and had an A Clarinet, I would take an evening and re-write it out in 1 sharp so that it is easier to handle. I think that's enough out of me! Just wanted to mention how common it is, though, to see flutists doing exactly what Kara said!

-Dennis

to me i think it's easy to understand the c# is Db and G# is Ab. And i know, how ppl like to freak out in band. when my friend played a scale, song whatever,... very time there was a sharp, she HAD to change it to a flat. She said it helped her. i don't see the point in that...i guess it's easier for band ppl, since there used to flats.
i personaly don't do that, i think it's because i used to play piano and i know my notes REALLY well.
in symphony orchestra i played a song in sharps..but never in band..

<Added>

oH! in district honor band, instead of having sharps whatever, we had 7 flats in this song. we were kinda out of tune..but then we fixed it at the end

I think perhaps times are changing a bit, and band music is starting to use sharps more than it has in the past. I've played band music with 7 sharps before, as well as many pieces with fewer. I don't think that calling a C# a Db is necessarily "band mentality," rather the result of not being taught enough basic theory to understand that they are, technically, two different things. Many band directors don't teach theory, assuming that you already understand the basics, and expecting others to have taught their students these things means that students may never learn it.

"what did you mean when you said enharmonicly?..."-schoolgirl0125

That two notes such as C# and Db are the same fingering but not the same note. And as per the reason that I cited above, one should use the correct spelling of the notes so that there is no confusion in certain situations. For example, a common belief is that an Ab and a G# are the same note. If one were playing a piece in C major where a G# is found at the beginning of a measure as an accidental and the note A is found later in that measure, is this an Ab or A natural? Keeping in mind that the accidental G# carries through the measure. This mistake happens often for younger players. Another totally deep can of worms is that the enharmonic notes in band playing/temperament are tuned a bit differently. If you are really interested...good luck....
See:
http://pages.globetrotter.net/roule/temper.htm

Dennis,
Yes I understand these things BUT it does not serve the best intrests of music education and the students to dilute the correct responses because it is easier for the students to understand what is more common to them. That is a common mistaken assumption on the part of educators that students are ignorant where they are merely uninformed.

BTW: The reason why there are generally more flats in band flute parts is that in the concert keys with sharps the majority of the instruments would be playing in keys with many or even too many sharps or in keys where the intonation is not as easy for the band in general. What key would the Eb Saxs be playing in if the flutes were in C# major and had 7 sharps?