Concert flute · one octave
F-major airflow route
Travel from F4 to F5 along a transverse Boehm flute. The key cups close in real fingering groups while the airflow marker shows how far you have moved through the octave.
Written = sounding pitch
F G A B♭ C D E Fone flat in the key signature
In this interactive widget, you’ll find a representation of how to play the F major scale on the standard concert flute. Clicking on each of the note chips will bring up the fingering and allow you to have a go at playing through the scale yourself (hands-on!).
A transverse flute diagram is displayed alongside a grid of the eight notes that make up the F major scale. There are also note chips for each note that include both the pitch and a shortcut fingering code. You can click on one of these to highlight the note and the flute diagram will change to reflect which keys needs to be pressed. These are shown either as open or filled-in circles depending on whether they’re raised or not. This gives some visual feedback so you can spot the physical pattern needed to play each pitch.
How to Use the F Major Scale Widget
To navigate the scale on your keyboard simply use the arrows. One left goes back a note and one right move to the next note in sequence. To play the chosen note press the space bar. This means you can step through the scale rhythmically without looking at your mouse.
Thumb B and Long B are the two fingering methods supported by the widget. You can switch between them using the toggle buttons in the sidebar. Thumb B is set to be the default as it makes good use of natural B flat position for this key.
To use them, adjust the sliders on the right-hand side to change the practice parameters. The air speed control can alters how quickly the widget runs across the scale when you turn it on. Run it slow to see all the transitions between finger clearly and make your way up to high speeds to develop muscle memory for quick playing. The volume slider is used to set the volume level of the synthesized flute sound. If you’re practising somewhere communal keep this down; otherwise push it up to hear the pitch relationships more clear.
To hear the whole scale played automatically, quickly click the octave button to run through every note of the scale from F4 to F5. As you play through the octave, the airstream marker on the flute diagram above widens to show where your finger needs to go next. It’s a great way to get a feel for how the air flows and your finger are lifted sequentially. Click close the airstream to stop the playback or simply choose an individual note that you want to hear.
At the top is the help panel that gives you a rapid guide to the notation including the explanation of the finger and thumb key labels. If you’re ever in doubt about which letters go with which flute keys, simply toggle it open again to see. This widget also assumes the Boehm keywork system and standard C foot joint. Pitches is all notated at concert pitch as they would be in sheet music for a non-transposing flute.
You can use it to reinforce how the fingerings relate to the visual notation on a piece. Why not close your eyes and just use the keyboard arrows as an exercise to see if you can recall the finger pattern, or even vary which B flat fingering you use to experience the change in hand posture? See what speed works best at keeping you accurate but not hesitating.
Begin with the initial note and then play it in on the space bar so that you can hear the pitch. From there press the arrow keys to go up or down the scale noting how the keyboard responds. This should of give you a feel for the shape of the scale and which way the air should travel for each interval. Spend some time playing around with the widget until you have full confidence in your fingerings for the F major scale.