I remember learning the long Bb fingering when I first started but quickly moved to the Bb thumb after I noticed a pattern in band music where B natural was rarely seen. Only when I got caught slipping on Bb frequently on a passage that I was forced to go back to the long fingering but instead I just switched to using the lever fingering instead. There was a funny incident where we were playing a Dvorak piece where everyone else switched to a non-thumb fingering because we kept needed to switch between Bb and B natural quite often, yet I was the only one to keep sliding on the thumb key because it felt the most natural for me.
As a beginner, I’m only aware of the long Bb fingering, as this is what is in my beginners music book. Wasn’t aware of other fingerings for that note. Love this video, very informative . Thank you . 👍
Great! You're definitely not alone in that...most beginner books only include the one fingering. I hope you'll be able to incorporate the other fingerings into your practice!
Good video and explanation. I never really thought about the side key as anything more than just a trill key and normally use the fork/long fingering with chromatic passages. It wasn't until last year that I used it and was so excited because I discovered a new trick for me.
I just disco ères your vidéos recently, however Thery are very interesting, and this one on the different Bb is brilliant and clear, and gave me ideas to improve my (old) practice. You must be a good teacher and your sound is very good ! Bravo ! Incidentally, 52 years ago, I learn the Bb left thumb fingering. Thanks a lot.
I like started playing the flute in November-ish but I learned to play it wrong so it became a habit to play it wrong and I've been watching your videos and they've been helping
The first B flat I was taught was the thumb one, and I got quite fast at sliding between thumb positions... the "long" B flat came up later, to address passages where the thumb key could not work. The lever however until recently had always remained a bit of a mystery to me and I often wondered why it was there at all :)
Thank you so much! I love your videos, they are so informative and your playing is amazing! I’ve recently been having trouble with these fingerings as I’ve only played music using only the thumb Bb for a while, but now getting into more difficult repertoire, It’s not working out so well. My teacher has talked about using these different fingerings, but this in depth explanation of when to use them definitely helps as I was unsure of whether you could switch between each of the fingerings in just one piece. Thank you for answering all my questions and helping us younger musicians, greatly appreciate it! All the love!
Thank you for this! I'm currently learning Köhler op. 33 no. 13, so thanks for the heads up. I would have killed myself trying to use lever B-flat during the end passage.
👍 Whew! That's great! Thanks for watching and please check out my other videos. I am working my way through Melodious and Progressive Studies and recently finished the whole Köhler Opus 33.
Thorough & comprehensive, Lance. Wished I had seen this 10 years ago... Coming from a sax background, I used the side key almost exclusively until I 'discovered' the anchor that the thumb key provided... nice job w/ the examples
@@LanceSuzuki Next time you are hunting for a topic, perhaps you could do some demystifying on the split E mechanism with some examples of why/why not it is desirable or worth the cost... Never fully understood that enough to HEAR the difference...
Thanks for the amazing tips. The first Bb fingering I learned was the Bb thumb, but I changed later to the fork fingering. However, as I made progress on my flute playing, I was curious to know if I should choose one single fingering or vary among the three. I'll try to work on it according to your tips and see what happens. Thank you very much!
Wait I never learnt the long fingering. This is the first time I've ever heard of it in 15 years that's crazy 😂😂 I don't know why my teacher never told me about it in school for all those years. For the last 7 years though I've been playing just alone as a hobby. I mostly use the thumb key because that's the one I was taught first and used the longest so I find it the easiest/most natural to do.
Wow! I hope you will be able to incorporate the fork fingering into your practice. It can sound much cleaner and be more reliable than sliding your thumb, for example. Happy practicing!
My go-to is thumb Bb if I'm in a key with Bb. 2nd choice is side lever Bb. I learned the split Bb first, but the intonation is not optimal so I almost never use that one.
This is a common issue. There are 3 balance points when you hold the flute: left hand 1st finger, RH thumb and where the embouchure plate meets your face. Ideally you should be able to balance with only those 3 contact points and no other fingers down. Try practicing this and see if it helps.
This a lot to take in for me ×∆× Cuz what I was taught is that the forked Bb is the *standard* (so when I had to play something like the short excerpt from the Köhler Op.33 no. 13, I already knew pretty much) , the Bb thumb only used in fast passages with more than one Bb in order to achieve a *clean technique* , and the side key Bb is a bit *uSeLeSs* because you can play chromatically using the 4th finger (i.e. forked Bb). It's hilarious how we can have such different opinions over a single note LMAO.
The argument for side key in chromatic passages is that it employs only one key as opposed to 3...there are also springs that go with those keys, so fork is usually much heavier under the fingers except in very expensive instruments. However, always do what's easiest and most comfortable for you. Thanks for you comment!
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I learned the split first and then thumb. I learned the lever ... a few minutes ago, watching this video 🤯
You need to add this to your flute fingering guides playlist (which only has the C note). This was astounding, thank you!!
I learned the 1st fingering. My instructor gave me your TH-cam video regarding why you use the 3 different Bb. She is wonderful.
Thank-you.
Great! Thanks for watching!
Merci beaucoup Monsieur
I learned the thumb one
I remember learning the long Bb fingering when I first started but quickly moved to the Bb thumb after I noticed a pattern in band music where B natural was rarely seen. Only when I got caught slipping on Bb frequently on a passage that I was forced to go back to the long fingering but instead I just switched to using the lever fingering instead.
There was a funny incident where we were playing a Dvorak piece where everyone else switched to a non-thumb fingering because we kept needed to switch between Bb and B natural quite often, yet I was the only one to keep sliding on the thumb key because it felt the most natural for me.
Some people are awesome at thumb sliding. Personally, I do that sometimes, but very rarely. Thanks for watching!
The split B-flat was also my first. I never learned the other ones. Peace.
Great tips and the close up on all the b flats.
As a beginner, I’m only aware of the long Bb fingering, as this is what is in my beginners music book. Wasn’t aware of other fingerings for that note. Love this video, very informative . Thank you . 👍
Great! You're definitely not alone in that...most beginner books only include the one fingering. I hope you'll be able to incorporate the other fingerings into your practice!
Lance Suzuki I’ll definitely try to use them , thanks
Good video and explanation. I never really thought about the side key as anything more than just a trill key and normally use the fork/long fingering with chromatic passages. It wasn't until last year that I used it and was so excited because I discovered a new trick for me.
That's great! Yes, it is so important to incorporate all three fingerings. Makes life so much easier with all those options! Thanks for watching!
Thank you!! I’m going to use the third fingering in chromatic scale practice this week
I just disco ères your vidéos recently, however Thery are very interesting, and this one on the different Bb is brilliant and clear, and gave me ideas to improve my (old) practice. You must be a good teacher and your sound is very good ! Bravo ! Incidentally, 52 years ago, I learn the Bb left thumb fingering. Thanks a lot.
My first b flat fingering was the b flat thumb key, and it's only very recently when I was relearning the flute that I learned about the others!
I like started playing the flute in November-ish but I learned to play it wrong so it became a habit to play it wrong and I've been watching your videos and they've been helping
The first B flat I was taught was the thumb one, and I got quite fast at sliding between thumb positions... the "long" B flat came up later, to address passages where the thumb key could not work. The lever however until recently had always remained a bit of a mystery to me and I often wondered why it was there at all :)
Hopefully you’ll put that side key to use now!!
Thank you so much! I love your videos, they are so informative and your playing is amazing! I’ve recently been having trouble with these fingerings as I’ve only played music using only the thumb Bb for a while, but now getting into more difficult repertoire, It’s not working out so well. My teacher has talked about using these different fingerings, but this in depth explanation of when to use them definitely helps as I was unsure of whether you could switch between each of the fingerings in just one piece. Thank you for answering all my questions and helping us younger musicians, greatly appreciate it! All the love!
Thanks so much! Yes, please switch between the fingerings freely and try to avoid sliding your thumb or sliding onto the side key. Happy practicing!
Well explained. Thanks!!!
This is the first time i am learning the long fingering of Bb and it is quite easy also
Great! I hope you will be able to use all the fingerings in the future!
Thank you for this! I'm currently learning Köhler op. 33 no. 13, so thanks for the heads up. I would have killed myself trying to use lever B-flat during the end passage.
👍 Whew! That's great! Thanks for watching and please check out my other videos. I am working my way through Melodious and Progressive Studies and recently finished the whole Köhler Opus 33.
Thorough & comprehensive, Lance. Wished I had seen this 10 years ago... Coming from a sax background, I used the side key almost exclusively until I 'discovered' the anchor that the thumb key provided... nice job w/ the examples
Thanks so much!
@@LanceSuzuki Next time you are hunting for a topic, perhaps you could do some demystifying on the split E mechanism with some examples of why/why not it is desirable or worth the cost... Never fully understood that enough to HEAR the difference...
@@TwainsBlues You've read my mind! I was literally thinking about this the other day. Now it definitely goes into the queue!
Love this channel! Informative, interesting, and you are AMAZING at flute.
Thanks so much!! ❤️🎶
Thanks for the amazing tips. The first Bb fingering I learned was the Bb thumb, but I changed later to the fork fingering. However, as I made progress on my flute playing, I was curious to know if I should choose one single fingering or vary among the three. I'll try to work on it according to your tips and see what happens. Thank you very much!
Great! In the end, whatever allows you to play the cleanest with the greatest amount of ease is the best solution. Happy practicing!
Wait I never learnt the long fingering. This is the first time I've ever heard of it in 15 years that's crazy 😂😂 I don't know why my teacher never told me about it in school for all those years. For the last 7 years though I've been playing just alone as a hobby. I mostly use the thumb key because that's the one I was taught first and used the longest so I find it the easiest/most natural to do.
Wow! I hope you will be able to incorporate the fork fingering into your practice. It can sound much cleaner and be more reliable than sliding your thumb, for example. Happy practicing!
My go-to is thumb Bb if I'm in a key with Bb. 2nd choice is side lever Bb. I learned the split Bb first, but the intonation is not optimal so I almost never use that one.
Good plan!
Thank you, sir, for all your hard work. 👍I experience a slight awkwardness when trying to execute the playing of notes that omit the left thumb.
This is a common issue. There are 3 balance points when you hold the flute: left hand 1st finger, RH thumb and where the embouchure plate meets your face. Ideally you should be able to balance with only those 3 contact points and no other fingers down. Try practicing this and see if it helps.
@@LanceSuzuki Thanks, Master Suzuki. I appreciate you.
This a lot to take in for me ×∆×
Cuz what I was taught is that the forked Bb is the *standard* (so when I had to play something like the short excerpt from the Köhler Op.33 no. 13, I already knew pretty much) , the Bb thumb only used in fast passages with more than one Bb in order to achieve a *clean technique* , and the side key Bb is a bit *uSeLeSs* because you can play chromatically using the 4th finger (i.e. forked Bb).
It's hilarious how we can have such different opinions over a single note LMAO.
The argument for side key in chromatic passages is that it employs only one key as opposed to 3...there are also springs that go with those keys, so fork is usually much heavier under the fingers except in very expensive instruments. However, always do what's easiest and most comfortable for you. Thanks for you comment!
8:13 ♡ ♥💕❤
Thanks! 🦜🎶❤️
I learn the thumb and the all 3 note?
Yes. You should learn all three fingerings and learn to use them interchangeably. Thanks for your question!
@@LanceSuzuki thankies
B flat thumb.
👍👍