C7 Flute Fingering
How to play C7 on the flute: Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1 · left pinky G♯ 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 C7 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 C7 fingering, step by step
- Take your left thumb off the thumb keys completely — this note is played with no thumb.
- Left hand: press keys 1, 2, 3.
- Right hand: press key 1.
- Press the G♯ key with your left pinky.
- Keep your right pinky off the E♭ key for this note — it is one of the few notes played with the pinky lifted.
In short: left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1 · left pinky G♯ key.
About C7 on the flute
The high register has its own fingering logic: forked shapes, thumb-less notes, trill keys doing real work, and the E♭ key coming off for the top three notes. These fingerings come straight from the standard charts — third-octave fingerings are the ones players most often misremember, so check rather than guess.
C7 is the highest note in the standard chart. The fingering is the full left hand plus the G♯ key and right finger 1, with the E♭ key off. On a flute with a B foot joint, adding the gizmo key — the small key on top of the foot joint, pressed by the right pinky — helps this note speak and settles its pitch; the Woodwind Fingering Guide’s B-foot chart includes it, while its C-foot chart (and Yamaha’s chart) show the fingering above without it.
C7 is note 37 of the 37 in the full flute fingering chart, sitting between B6 below it. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the Woodwind Fingering Guide before publishing.
Practising C7
Third-octave notes need fast, focused air and a firm — not tight — embouchure. Practise this note in short bursts from the note below it, and stop before your embouchure tires; tired practice teaches the wrong shape.
Questions about C7
What is the fingering for C7 on flute?
Left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1 · left pinky G♯ key. C7 is a high register note. The full step-by-step is on this page, and you can hear the note with the Fingering Finder.
What does C7 sound like on a flute?
Exactly as written: C7. 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 C8.
Is there an alternate fingering for C7?
For C7, 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.