It has been a pretty good flute summer for me, and I spent a lot of my vacation time practising the flute. Well, sometimes I doubt I get any better :-) but I do my best...

I have now reached the first, C1, low C (middel C pianowise) in the lesson book, and I am not very fond of the note at all! yet. I am not getting it as strong and nice as I suspect it could sound. I guess it will improve over time.

The low C first appeared in a Swedish folk song, called Horgalåten. This is a nice song exept that it needs thoose Cs to sound too, not just the rest of it! What makes it even trickier is that the bars the C appears in look like (3/4 time, A flat, and my letters are 8th notes) - AbG GC EG -

This means I should move my RH little finger from the Eb to C key as I go from playing G to C. Seems almost impossible, and I was reliefed when my teacher said it was ok to skip the Eb key when playing the G.

And even worse when going from the C to E, since I need to lift the little finger at the same time as I should press my third finger. My teacher however seems to be able to simply slide from the C to Eb key. How, I do not know since the keys are usually not very slippery and I need to curl my little finger when moving it in order to hit the Eb key.

I guess that by cheating and not pressing the Eb key, the song should sound ok in a week. I am not too happy about cheating like that all the time, but the flute is not that ergonomic after all... Do professionals leave the Eb key up when needed, or when do you stop doing that? (And how!?)

The good thing is that now I am able to play music that goes down to middle C. (Never mind the rubato when I slow down so that I have enough time to get my fingers and breating correct )

Not a good idea to use false fingering to solve problems that everybody has to go over.

One has to slip the little finger from Eb to C, quick and reliably. It takes much, much practise, sometimes a few years... And If you had a B foot, it is not only a matter of slipping that finger, but also hitting the right roller (two of them, side by side)

If you rub your little finger on the side of your nose, the grease will help it slide more easily.

It sounds gross, but it's not uncommon.

I agree with TBFlute about rubbing the pinky on the side of the nose. The skin oil will let the pinky slide more easily.

Also, if you have problems getting the low C to to play, you might get your flute checked by a repair tech. Even the tiniest leak on any pad can make it difficult to play the low notes and especially the low C.

Thank you all for the helpful replies.

Jose-luis, better to cheat a little in the beginning, then to hurt myself using a fingering I don't have the coordination for yet. I'll continue trying to find a way do slide the pinky smoothly and to get the coordination to work, but it's certainly tricky.

Musicman, I don't think there are any leaks. The problem is most likely me this time. I'm able to make the C sound, but need to learn to do it faster, and to make it sound stronger and nicer.

Micron (and Jose), thankfully I do not have a B foot! One roller is hard enough since it's so small. It's easier to be sure I'm really hitting the roller (and not just the key below it) if using my finger tip, but it does recuire a lot of extra time positioning the finger and seems to make sliding impossible. I'll follow your advice since it feels more comfortable not using the finger tip. I guess these things depend on hand shape as well.

Oh, apparently I've been keeping my fingers and flute too clean. Some additional skin oil on my pinky should help a little, thanks.

i have this problem too, but then i tried some trevor wye excersices and it is better i will get the book in a while and write some on the note patterns he says to slur- it is something like cdedcdedcdedcdedcdedc and cd(eb)dcd(eb)dcd(eb)dcd(eb) i cant remeber exactly (i have a seive memory for this kind of thing) but it also helped slur C-Eb cleanly (like when doing a c minor arpeggio slurred), also try the nose grease thing (or if you don't have a greasy nose try a little lip salv). But the low c is awkward especcially when going from the notes you have decribed- just don't try cutting corners with fingerings- it will just make you develop bad habits in the future, but if you really can't do it with the proper fingerings try using some of the alternatives (you find them online but i have lost the bookmark to the one i like).

good luck, and just practice slurring and tounging the passages that are tricky slowly and then increase the speed gradually untill it reaches the correct speed,

Concerning "alternative" fingerings, I suppose there are different approaches.

My teacher would not let me do such a thing with low C. She would rather have me fail the note (no sound or bad sound) than to use fingerings that must be learnt, sooner or "later".

The problem with the "later" alternative is that it may become very difficult to forget and re-learn a difficult position if you become used to the cheat.

Also your ear may suffer because if the pitch is no correct, you may get used to that wrong pitch.

That said, I confess that I use a cheat fingering for the G# trill. I cannot trill with the two fingers fast and reliably enough. And on my flute there is absolutely no pitch difference when trilling with only one finger.

But first I had to demonstrate this to may teacher and she has the ear of a bat and a dog put together. So if she let me do that cheat is because it really makes no difference -on my flute. And probably she made a concession to my age, a privilege that cannot be shared, I guess. (much better for you indeed!! )

But it is, anyway, a bad practise, of which I am not happy at all. If I ever change flute and in my new flute I have to trill with both fingers (as is the case, i.ex with my teacher's Muramatsu), I am sure I will have great difficulty to re-learn the correct fingering.

Also, although not in my plans or my possibilities, if you ever try be be admitted at a music Conservatory, you will probably not be accepted if you do not master the standard fingering. Or so I have been told.

Thanks all!

Jose, I do strive to use proper fingering, but I will need some time to learn it. I'm not worried about getting used to incorrect pitch since I play the notes with proper fingering in all other places, and as I practise and improve I will use the right fingering.

By the way, my teacher would never allow me to stay with incorrect fingering. She is great, and she does show me how to play these difficult sections correctly.

Sadly, I'm to old for conservatory. I'm turning 30 in August, and I'm working on getting a PhD in a different field.

Nevertheless, I want my flute playing to become as good as it can be over time and considering I have to work. I hate how there always are new challenging things to learn in flute playing, but I love mastering them and to realise I suddenly play a lot better than last year!

If your flute has open holes, plug the right hand keys, at least the last one or two.
My own hand conformation is such that if I don't have E plugged (RH3), C and C# are very difficult to sound, and it is slow going between them.
A little nose oil will help to slide C# to Eb, practice this.

Yes, I remember struggling with low C.

It will take a lot of practice to get right.
Start on the lowest note that you can play well, and go down a half-step at a time, slowly. Listen for tone.
Do this a LOT, you will first find that your lowest 'good' note drops, and then that low C is easier.

I do agree with Jose-Luis, about learning to get the fingering correct when you are learning the first time.

Micron said:

But I would never endorse 2nd octave D or Eb with first finger off unless it was involved in a trill or tremolo.

Did you mean "with first finger ON" or did I misunderstand something?

I am happy to share that my sliding from the C to Eb key is improving. There is still no way I could do it up to speed in the piece I'm learning. (I have to be careful so that I lift the ringfinger fast enough at the same time as moving pinky when going from playing a C to an E.) But I've found a hand position that seems to work and feels ok, and it's slowly improving.

It's wonderful to have so nice support here, I will continue working on that C.

The flute is not an open hole one (thankfully!) it's a Yamahaa student model, 211 something.