Notes notation for different Octaves

Basics of Flute Playing, Tone Production and Fingerings

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flutestudent
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Notes notation for different Octaves

Post by flutestudent »

I am a beginner. I heard that a
normal flute can play 3 Octaves. Is the below notation correct for all the notes
played by a flute? In the order of their audibility... 1st Octave: c1, d1, e1,
f1, g1, a1, b1 2nd Octave: c2, d2, e2, f2, g2, a2, b2 3rd Octave: c3, d3, e3,
f3, g3, a3, b3 4th Octave: - not possible in flute? - I also found another post
talking about c4. Does such a note exist? Initially, I was taught to play 3
motes, B, A, G(left hand 3 fingers) for a few days. It took me a few days to get
these notes right.Then I was taught to play a few basic tunes. Couple of weeks
later, I played 4 more notes, E, F, D, C. (right hand 3 fingers, C is a bit
diff) 1. Do these beginner notes belong to the 1st octave? 2. Are most of the
songs/compositions played in the 1st/2nd octave? 3. When we speak with each
other, the english words/sounds do fall into some octave. I was wondering which
octave would that be.1st octave?

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powayflute01
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Notes notation for different Octaves

Post by powayflute01 »

Yes, the notation you wrote is
correct for the notes. I believe the written range of the flute is typically C1
to C4. However, just because it is the written range does not mean you cannot
extend it. The B foot joint has an extra key which allows the player to play B1
(I think there's an entire discussion thread on the B foot joint if you're
interested...) and there are "fake fingerings" for notes above C4. I have been
taught that it's best to learn to play up to D4, although I know fingerings
exist for at least up to F4! (I'm not sure how much you'd use the fingerings
beyond D4, anyway...) As for your questions: 1. The first notes you learned (G,
B and A) probably do fall into the first octave (although the fingerings for the
upper octave are identical...most beginning players learn to play the lower
octave first). I think the C you are talking about is C2 (put simply, if you're
using almost all your fingers, you're talking about C1; if not, you're
probably talking about C2). 2. As far as the flute goes...I'm not sure that
there is really a common octave or range. I would suggest you go to a local
music store and look through a couple of flute solo books and see for yourself
what you think. I guess I probably use the second octave range more than
anything else, and often times I discover that younger students have developed
the second octave range better than the first or third, so I guess that could be
an answer for you. 3. Gee, you don't ask easy questions, do you?[:p] I've
never studied voice, so it's hard for me to give an accurate answer to this
question. (Actually, I kind of have an idea...it's just hard to explain.) Do
you know that there are different clefs also? The clef which appears on flute
music is a treble clef. Lower instruments like tubas and the left hand of a
piano have music written in the bass clef, which has notes lower than the treble
clef. The tenor clef (also sometimes called the "C clef") puts the middle c on
the fourth line of the staff (difficult to explain; bassoons and cellos
generally use it.) The treble and bass clefs are generally used though, and when
they are both used for one part (if you look at a piece of piano music you'll
understand what I mean) it's called the "grand staff". To give you an idea of
how the treble and bass clefs are related...if I have a low B footjoint on my
flute and I play what we would consider a "B1" on my treble clef flute music, it
would actually be something like a B2 in the bass clef. This is really hard to
explain, but here's a website that explains it a little better than I did:
http://www.free-online-piano-lessons.co ... notes.html I hope that helps
somewhat[:)]
Haha, this one is my favorite: :shock:
[size=75]I <3 LXA[/size]

flutestudent
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue May 18, 2004 3:14 pm
Location: UK

Notes notation for different Octaves

Post by flutestudent »

Thanks. That did help a lot.
Cheers, Vish

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MonikaFL
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Post by MonikaFL »

In college, I had to practice my scales extended style up to F#4 (and had to play them that way in juries, too!). I hated it at the time, but my professor was brilliant for making us do this... because now, D4 doesn't feel high at ALL! It's nice and comfortable after playing all the way up to the F#. :lol:

This site has fingerings from C#4 all the way up to Bb4 (oh my!) :shock:

http://www.wfg.woodwind.org/flute/fl_alt_4.html

(Don't pay attention to the 7's next to the letter names... I'm thinking they numbered it as if on a piano.)
Visit [url=http://www.monikadurbin.com/formiapress]Formia Press[/url] to check out my compositions and arrangements for flute and more.

flutestudent
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Joined: Tue May 18, 2004 3:14 pm
Location: UK

Post by flutestudent »

Just when I thought the flute world ended with D4! :shock:

4th octave...upto Bb!....is Amazing indeed!!!

ick27
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Post by ick27 »

In all honesty, the flute really only goes up to an F# or a G. After that, the acoustic impedance is so high that you can't seperate the notes. F# seems to come out fairly well for me, but G doesn't always come out on every istrument it seems. I know some people who say they can play it on one instrument and not another. Also, I think the position of the head cork has some effect on whether or not the G speaks.

I really don't think the flute can play up to a Bb above that, in fact, I'm not sure that G# is even possible. If anyone can play a G# or above, tell me about it, I'd love to hear it done!

Also, it's important to realize that the flute was never designed to play that high. Because of that, some of those notes are rubbish (in particular, high F, which I can't ever make sound any better than a sharp E). I guess musicians just have always pushed their instruments as far as they can possibly go!

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