Long F vs Short F advice

[Tonehole]

Can anyone share their experience with using Long F vs short F in simple system flutes.


I had a flute which made the long F easy to reach and found the long F more useful than the F, except for E/Fnat trills and fingering. My fingering from Fnat to D and back again doesn't sound so good on the short F key but recently my left short finger is strained from overdoing it.

Are there any guidelines on when to use the long F rather than the short F?

[LorenzoFlute]

Pretty simple, long F for D/F and F/D passages, short F for everything else... (duh)

[jim stone]

I wonder how Nicholson, who I believe had only a short F key on hist flutes,
managed these D/F fingerings? What does one do if one only has short F?

[Denny]

have the touch angled a bit lower on the R3 side

it doesn't take much to remove the need to raise R3 more than wee bit

[jim stone]

Interesting. Thanks, Denny.

[Denny]

we drifted through this back in April
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=87594&p=1067759

[Doug_Tipple]

With regard to long vs. short, I have been advised that long is better.

[Julia Delaney]

June NiChormaic, for one, has just the short F on her keyed flute. I use the short F most of the time. I can go from the Fn to the D without a perceptible pause but it took years to be able to do that. I am happy, though, to have the long F when I feel that I need it. Aaron Olwell told me years ago to use the little finger on the long F key because "that finger isn't doing anything so you might as well put it to use." But it doesn't respond as quickly for me as the short F key - a combination of a slow finger and, perhaps, a longer pivot point.
I think of keys on the flute as a car with a standard, rather than an automatic, transmission. You don't need instant access to a lower gear all the time but it's nice to have it there when you want it. It gives you more control over the vehicle. Likewise, I feel more in control of the flute - and the tune - when I know that I can hit the accidental cleanly.
I never played the whistle before picking up the flute. I came to the flute from the fiddle and very quickly moved to a keyed flute. I wanted to play those fiddle-friendly modal tunes, and keys felt useful and natural to me. Sometimes I get caught out playing the one instrument on a tune that fits better on the other. At the session last night I was playing the fiddle when a fluter launched the flute friendly Trim the Velvet. I was tempted to respond with The Jaundiced Itinerant but that kind of trash talk can ruin a friendly session.

[benhall.1]

With regard to long vs. short, I have been advised that long is better.

IME, the length isn't as important as the placement.

[LorenzoFlute]

With regard to long vs. short, I have been advised that long is better.

IME, the length isn't as important as the placement.

I agree with Ben, but I find best results in having both.

[benhall.1]

With regard to long vs. short, I have been advised that long is better.

IME, the length isn't as important as the placement.

I agree with Ben, but I find best results in having both.

Agreed. Oh, and btw, I much prefer a long F myself. The short ones just don't do it for me any more. Although sometimes they can be nice.

[jemtheflute]

Never mind the length, it's how you use it which counts!

I probably use mine about equally overall, but less so depending on key/mode context - one or other will tend to dominate. Of course, I routinely use one to vent most F#s as well...... again, as convenient contextually. I find short F to D slides awkward even with a sloped key - in fact I can only think of one context where I do that, where there is contextually no alternative, and I had to practice it quite a bit. I don't think I ever do D to F save with the long F.

One probably could work out guiding principles for when to use which, but I think common sense is adequate - just decide you're going to make proper use of them and get on with it. Mark up some chosen tunes' notations for practice if it helps.

[crookedtune]

Another one of those F'ing threads?

Not sure if this helps, but there's also half-holing or complete abstinence. It's a problem note, to be sure.

[benhall.1]

Another one of those F'ing threads?

Not sure if this helps, but there's also half-holing or complete abstinence. It's a problem note, to be sure.

Hmmm ... half-holing's risky, to say the least. I suppose there's always cross-fingering. But I'm not sure that would give you a proper F.

[jemtheflute]

The OP Q was about using the F keys, not about playing F nats as such. Generally English C19th and derived there-from flutes don't have a usable cross-fingered F nat. Half-holed F nats can be ok on whistle (where there's no alternative) for the odd accidental, but aren't really viable for playing in flat key signatures/tunes with lots of 'em. Probably ditto on flutes lacking F keys, but if you've got 'em.....