C4 Flute Fingering
How to play C4 on the flute: Thumb key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky low C key.
Filled keys in the diagram are the ones you press. The two levers at the top left are the thumb keys; the three keys along the bottom are the foot-joint keys, worked by the right pinky — the same pinky that holds the E♭ key on most notes. Piccolo players: this fingering is identical on piccolo and sounds an octave higher.
Hear C4 and try the fingering
Pick an instrument and a note and the diagram updates instantly — filled keys are the ones you press. The same finder sits on every note page, pre-set to that note.
The C4 fingering, step by step
- Put your left thumb on the thumb key (the B lever is its home position).
- Left hand: press keys 1, 2, 3.
- Right hand: press keys 1, 2, 3.
- Press the low C key with your right pinky — the middle of the three foot-joint keys.
In short: thumb key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky low C key.
About C4 on the flute
The low register is the flute’s warm, quiet voice. Almost every fingering here keeps the E♭ key down and the hands in a simple ladder — the exceptions are the two foot-joint notes at the very bottom, where the right pinky works the foot keys instead.
C4 is the lowest note on a C-foot flute — every finger is down, and the right pinky leaves its usual E♭ key to press the low C key on the foot joint. Flutes with a B foot joint go one note lower, to B3, adding the low B key to the same shape.
C4 is note 1 of the 37 in the full flute fingering chartC♯4 above it. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the Woodwind Fingering Guide before publishing.
Practising C4
Low notes need slow, warm air and a relaxed embouchure — blowing harder just makes them jump an octave. If this note will not speak, check that every finger is sealing its key completely and that the right pinky is where this fingering puts it.
Questions about C4
What is the fingering for C4 on flute?
Thumb key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky low C key. C4 is a low register note. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does C4 sound like on a flute?
Exactly as written: C4. The flute is not a transposing instrument, so the note you finger is the note that sounds. On piccolo, the same fingering sounds one octave higher, as C5.
Is there an alternate fingering for C4?
For C4, the fingering above is the one to learn. It is the basic fingering both reference charts give for this note, and the one teachers expect to see.
Think this fingering is wrong? Report it — every report is checked against the source charts.