E6 Flute Fingering
How to play E6 on the flute: Thumb key · left hand 1-2 · right hand 1-2 · 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 E6 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 E6 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.
- Right hand: press keys 1, 2.
- 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: thumb key · left hand 1-2 · right hand 1-2 · right pinky E♭ key.
About E6 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.
E6 is note 29 of the 37 in the full flute fingering chart, sitting between E♭6 below it and F6 above it. Like every fingering on this site, it was checked against Yamaha’s official chart and the Woodwind Fingering Guide before publishing.
Practising E6
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 E6
What is the fingering for E6 on flute?
Thumb key · left hand 1-2 · right hand 1-2 · right pinky E♭ key. E6 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 E6 sound like on a flute?
Exactly as written: E6. 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 E7.
Is there an alternate fingering for E6?
For E6, 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.