It's the nature of simple system flutes that all of the notes will not be perfectly in tune with each other, i.e. if your A tends to run sharp and you tune that note to an A=440 tuner (or an accordion at concert pitch), then your G will end up flat, and probably your F# as well. This is why on the old orchestral flutes, some notes need to be played by venting (opening) one of the lower keys in addition to whatever of the finger holes are opened. I always thought it was the D#(Eb) key that was used by classical players for venting these notes, but I suppose it would also work to vent the F# with the F natural key.mahanpots wrote: I'm not familiar with playing keyed flutes. So, is it common to vent the F# with the F natural key. Is that correct? I played in front of my tuner and see that I have a sharp A as well. And my B is a bit sharp as well. I think I realized this early on in my playing when I first got the flute, but stopped worrying about it. Part of playing acoustic instruments? I know when everyone tunes to an A at a session, my flute is going to be a bit sharp. Also, my ear isn't great as far as hearing whether I'm in tune or not -- my greatest worry at sessions.
Flutes made by modern makers specifically for use in Irish music often don't have this problem, since the makers will compromise the tuning of notes in the third octave (which we don't play in ITM) in order to improve the tuning of notes in the lower two octaves. However, even on these flutes it's often necessary to lip certain notes up or down a bit in order to get them perfectly in tune. It's also often a good idea (if you can get away with it) to ask the accordion player for a G to tune yourself against rather than an A, since G is a note that has less of an issue with being out of tune with other notes on the flute.
As for playing in tune with the rest of a session, many times that depends on whether the session itself is in tune. Many sessions don't care about being in tune, although they should, which means if you care about whether or not you're in tune you will find that you're always out of tune with some part of the session group. It's like trying to hit a moving target. I'd be willing to bet that if you are finding yourself not being able to get in tune on a regular basis at sessions, it's more the session's fault than it is yours. To train yourself to play better in tune with others, either find a session where you know everyone else is in tune, or play with just one other person, or play along with recordings. (Another hint: If you're trying to play along with a recording and just can't seem to get your flute in tune with it, then they're probably playing in Eb or Bb or C or some other non-concert pitch.)
