The notes B, A and G are called ‘natural’ notes. This idea can be pictured by looking at the picture of a black and white piano keyboard: all natural notes correspond to the white notes on a keyboard.
The distance between each of the notes B, A and G is called a whole tone.
All natural notes can be raised half a tone by the ‘sharp’ sign: #
They can be lowered half a tone by the ‘flat’ sign: b
On a keyboard, sharp and flat notes are black.
Playing G Sharp
When the note G is written with a sharp sign beside it, the note is called ‘G sharp’.
On the flute, there is a special key for playing G sharp. Find the hand position for the note G, then use the little finger of the left hand to press the protruding tear-drop shaped key (as indicated on the diagram). Practise playing G and moving the little finger to change the note to G sharp. It can be clearly heard that the note rises in pitch as the fingers move to the ‘sharp’ position. The distance that the note rises is half a tone.
When the note A is written with a flat sign beside it, the note is called ‘A flat’. By lowering the note A to A flat, the pitch moves half a tone down towards the note G. Given that G can be raised half a tone to G sharp, that means conveniently that A flat and G sharp are actually the same note, and are therefore played in the same way!
Playing B Flat
When the note B is written with a flat sign beside it, the note is called ‘B flat’.
On the flute, there is a special key for playing B flat.
When playing the note B, the left hand thumb rests on the smooth thumb key on the right side. In order to play B flat, the thumb must rest on the raised, tear-drop shaped key.
Practise playing B and moving the thumb in order to play B flat. The B flat thumb key does not alter the sound of any other note. For this reason, when playing a piece which contains B flats (and no B naturals), the thumb can be kept on the B flat key all the time.
When the note A is written with a sharp sign beside it, the note is called ‘A sharp’. By raising the note A to A sharp, the pitch moves half a tone up towards the note B. Given that B can be lowered half a tone to B flat, that means conveniently that A sharp and B flat are actually the same note, and are therefore played in the same way!
Playing Alternative B Flat
The note B flat (or A sharp) can also be played another way. Find the position of the note B, then use the forefinger of the right hand to press the large round key shown on the diagram (ie, of the two keys labelled as Right Hand 1st Finger, use the one on the right side). This B flat position is indicated for use in pieces where B natural is also present, as it avoids any thumb acrobatics!
Please note that the other Right Hand 1st Finger key also produces the note B flat, however it is not necessary to use it until the student reaches an advanced level.
The two new notes (with multiple names) introduced in this article should now be incorporated into the daily practice routine. When in doubt, the note positions can be checked on Krantz's interactive fingering chart. The student can improvise own music using the new notes, and search for pieces in a music book (see book suggestions at the end of the article 'Your First Notes'). The tutor book by Trevor Wye, Beginners book for the flute - part one published by Novello, also has many good short pieces for practicing these notes.
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