In this simple guide, I’ll explain the correct way to hold a flute to play comfortably.
It involves understanding where to position your fingers on the keys, known as the home keys.
Additionally, you will learn the proper technique for holding any type of flute in the proper playing position.
1. Hand Position
To begin, we need to understand the correct way to hold the flute. We can start by creating hand puppets using both of our hands.
The puppet on your left hand will speak to you, while the puppet on your right hand will speak to someone in front of you.
When holding the flute, avoid having flat hands. Instead, shape your hands like the letter C.
The left hand should face toward you, while the right-hand face away from you.
2. Home Keys
Let’s now understand where to position our fingers on the flute keys. Remember the concept of home keys – each finger has a specific key to press on the flute.
Once we know which key to press, we keep our fingers on that key without moving them to play a different note.
Left Hand Position
Now, we will practice the home keys for our left hand. At the base of the flute, where there are fewer keys, you will find a long flat key. This is the key that your left-hand thumb will press down on.
Next, flipping the flute to the top where all the keys are located, we see this particular key. We won’t be using this key because it remains untouched. Our index finger rests on this key instead.
Start by placing your thumb on a key, then skip one key and use your index finger. Skip another key and go directly to the next key with your second finger. Finally, place your third finger on the following key.
To summarize, for your left hand: thumb on the long flat key, skip a key, index finger, skip a key, second finger, third finger. Your pinky should be placed on the side key.
Right Hand Position
Now, when it comes to your right hand on the flute, your thumb doesn’t press down any keys. Instead, it rests on the bottom of the flute to provide support.
On the other side of the flute, it’s quite simple for your three fingers on your right hand. Your three fingers are placed on the bottom three keys of the body in a sequence of one, two, three.
So, while your thumb supports from underneath, our first three fingers on top go one, two, three on the bottom three keys of the body.
Lastly, our pinky is responsible for the first key of the foot joint.
3. Hold Flute In Playing Position
Now that you understand all of the home keys for both hands, I’m going to explain how to hold the flute in a playing position.
Make sure that your fingers are positioned correctly on the home keys and place the embouchure hole in the middle of your lips.
Whether you’re standing or sitting, make sure you’re holding your head up and you’re not bent down in a hunched-down position.
Stand or sit up nice and straight and make sure the angle of your flute is going almost straight out towards the wall.
Conclusion
I hope I’ve explained everything properly and in simple words. Now, as long as you know how to hold a flute, you can start playing your flute. Start with simple notes to get used to it and then you can try some melody lines.
