Let’s face it, Bb on flute is one of the thorniest fingering issues on the flute. As you already know, there are several different fingerings for Bb on flute. Which fingering do you teach your beginners? When do you introduce the other options?
So what are the different fingerings? There’s the so-called 1 and 1 or forked Bb fingering, the thumb Bb fingering and the side-key Bb. Unlike other woodwinds with multiple options for many notes, it’s the only note on flute for which there are so many choices.
Here is my recommendation for teaching Bb to beginners. Start with the 1 and 1 Bb. Why? Because starting with the thumb Bb causes more problems than it solves even though it is an easier fingering. I strongly believe that 1 and 1 Bb should be taught until chromatic scales are introduced because chromatic scales and any example with adjacent B and Bb (such as in the keys of Gb/F# or Cb/B) need to be fingered with either the 1 and 1 Bb or sometimes the side-key Bb. I am willing to put up with a little lumpiness in the technique centered around the G-Bb combination until the student has learned to play chromatically. To my mind, when students are taught thumb Bb first, more often than not I find they slide between the thumb keys in chromatic scales and passages, which is a much bigger technical problem. A sliding thumb is an impediment to smooth technique in most cases.
Thumb Bb should be taught after students master a basic chromatic scale. Since flutes primarily play in flat keys in band, it actually is a smoother fingering for intervals such as A-Bb, Ab-Bb, G-Bb or Gb-Bb. You may find some initial resistance to learning the new fingering, but the kids soon discover it is an easier fingering in most flat keys.
Choosing the best fingering for Bb can be a bit like voting. Often the choice is very clear, a good candidate and a bad candidate. Unfortunately it can all too often be like have a slate with a jerk, an idiot and a crook and you have to choose the least offensive of the three. After you get past the basics, help your students learn to choose the best fingering based on the context of what they are playing.
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Dr. Cate's Flute Tips 
I very much agreed with your point that teaching the best fingering for the context is wise. Personally, I start my students with thumb Bb, then introduce the “lever” for chromatic passages, and show them 1 + 1 last since I encourage using it only when a right hand finger is already down. Some truly great flutists use 1 + 1 exclusively with ease. As far as sliding off the thumb Bb key, I remind my students to “roll” rather than slide for stability. On rare occasions, it is truly the best option to make a passage sound clean; Altes even has a section in his method to practice rolling from thumb Bb to B natural. Certainly not when one is trilling, though! 🙂
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Teresa, as flute instructors you and I have the luxury of being able to supervise the fingering habits of our students closely, something busy school directors do not always have time for. I do think your progression is really sensible. I am basing my recommendations on problems students bring to me in lessons whose only prior experience has been in band.
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I actually was a public school middle school (grades 5 – 8) band and orchestra instructor for more than a decade. All of my woodwind students learned alternate fingerings and the correct context for using them in their group lessons. They were expected to mark them in the music, too. And the trumpets knew what the third valve slide was put on the horn for. It isn’t easy, but it can be done. Notice that I came to my senses and now teach students one at a time!
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It’s wonderful to see the classic method of teaching B-flat fingerings reinforced here by a flute specialist. When students learn flute in a group school setting, instructing regarding the basic fingerings first, followed by alternative fingerings when appropriate, can be lacking. While the thumb B-flat fingering is the most easeful, making it a tempting first choice for teaching this note, all three fingerings require fluency from advanced flutists, and learning the most cumbersome, 1 + 1 B-flat, first sets the foundation for the most technical versatility later in a students’ playing career.
On a personal note, I teach the B-flat fingerings the same way addressed here in both my private studio serving grades 5 – 12 in Columbus, Ohio, as well as in my collegiate studio at Marietta College, and, as an undergraduate and graduate student studying with New York Philharmonic principal flutist Robert Langevin, I was only allowed to use 1 + 1 B-flat in all of my technical work for scales and etudes, as he insisted that all of his students be able to master tricky passagework with the most difficult fingering, thereby making all other fingering choices easier in repertoire context.
As the wife of a public school band director, I am lucky that my expertise as a flute specialist is sought after from his program at all levels, reinforcing the best methods of beginning flute instruction to avoid some of the common mistakes seen by private studio instructors when their students begin lessons after group instruction in school. School music instructors and flute specialists working together with mutual respect and dialogue fosters healthy playing practices for a lifetime of music making from our students!
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Dr. Cate,
I am a percussionist who teaches flute as a secondary instrument but I’ve been doing it for over 30 years (in a band program that still has pull-out lessons). Thank you for the Bb Topic. It’s nice to know I have been doing your way forever, mainly because it seemed logical and a flute colleague, whom I respect greatly, said the same.
I love the posts and have passed them on to other teachers.
John G. Apple Valley, MN
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John, Thank you for your comment and for sharing the blog with your colleagues. Let me know if there is any specific flute topic you would like me to address.
Dr. Cate
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Dr. Cate – could I suggest you add the beginners tag to this article? 1 & 1 comes up occasionally in a PLC that I frequent, and I usually forget that you have this in with fingerings only. (I should probably just remember that, LOL… but I do think it would help non-flute band directors to search your site quickly)
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Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll add it right now.
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thanks for the information
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