How to Play the F Scale on the Flute

Many middle-school and junior high students each year want to learn to play the flute. The scales are the basis of preparation for such an instrument. The flute is a woodwind instrument and plays the harmony part on most orchestral compositions. Playing flute, then, requires an excellent tone and an ability to understand how scales and chords work.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Learn Proper Breath and Finger Placement

1. Practice your embouchure. The flute requires perfect mouth positioning to keep a good quality tone. The lips should start together casually but with a slight pout. Open the center of the lips to allow air to escape and hold the corners of the mouth taut.

2. Tighten and loosen the lips. Practice getting different octaves, or levels of high and low, for the sound by changing the embouchure.

3. Practice the correct fingerings of all notes. The numbers here correspond to the fingers if the hands are laid out in front of you. A "1" indicates the pinky of the left hand to a "10," which is the pinky of the right hand.

Memorize and Play the F Scale

4. Start with the fingers 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10 to play the lower version of F.

5. Begin by lifting 7 to play G.

6. Play A. From the G, lift 4.

7. Change to the B flat fingering. One option is to lift 3 and move 1 to the note-shaped key on the back of the flute. Some teachers instruct new flautists to keep their finger always on the triangular back key, in which case you would lift 3 only.

8. Lift 1 to play C. Only 2 and 10 should be pressed for this note.

9. Invert the fingering so that only 2 and 10 are lifted. This note is D.

10. Pick up 9 from the D fingering to play E.

11. Return to F. Use the same fingers as in the low F but adjust your embouchure for the higher sound. If you're playing the higher octave, the high F will require you to lift finger 3 as well.

Tips & Warnings

• Note: using the fingering numbers won't require a 6. The thumb of the right hand is used to balance the flute.