Fingering Chart for M and E Flutes

This chart shows a set of fingerings that seems to work well with our keyless flutes. They allow you to play our D flutes in the keys of D, G, and A. You can use basically the same fingerings for our Eb and F flutes. The chart may be a bit intimidating, since we've included some cross-fingerings, but if you check the key of D fingerings (D-E-F#-G-A-C#-d) it's actually pretty straightforeward. This fingering is basically standard for keyless Irish flutes and pennywhistles.

(X)

X: finger down O: hole open

(X) = Optional. Experiment to see which gives you the best tone and grip/balance.

Notes:

The little finger down is optional on a lot of the notes, and is mostly for balance.

The G# and g# give you the key of A, which occasionally pops up in traditional Irish music.

I don't know how common these C, C# and c# combinations are, but they seem to work pretty well. To a certain extent, optimal fingerings depend on the particular flute you are playing, be it an M and E flute, or some other Irish flute. We'd love to hear comments on other useful fingerings and combinations from M and E flute players.