C5 Flute Fingering
How to play C5 on the flute: Left hand 1 · right pinky E♭ 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 C5 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 C5 fingering, step by step
- Take your left thumb off the thumb keys completely — this note is played with no thumb.
- Left hand: press key 1.
- Rest your right pinky on the E♭ key and keep it down — it stays down for most flute notes, for tuning and balance.
In short: left hand 1 · right pinky E♭ key.
About C5 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.
C5 is the first note played with no thumb at all. Only the left index finger is down (plus the E♭ key), which makes the flute feel unbalanced until you learn to support it with the right hand and chin contact.
C5 is note 13 of the 37 in the full flute fingering chart, sitting between B4 below it and C♯5 above it. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the Woodwind Fingering Guide before publishing.
Practising C5
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 C5
What is the fingering for C5 on flute?
Left hand 1 · right pinky E♭ key. C5 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 C5 sound like on a flute?
Exactly as written: C5. 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 C6.
Is there an alternate fingering for C5?
For C5, 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.