Flute Trill Fingering Chart
Flute trills are mostly worked by the trill keys — the two small keys under the right hand — and by single fingers in the low register. This chart is deliberately short, and it says so up front: of the trill pairs in the flute's range, only eleven pass the test this site applies.
How to read this chart
Hold the first note's verified fingering from the flute chart, move exactly the element named, and land exactly on the partner note's verified fingering. Eleven trills do that cleanly, including the four best-known beginner trills in the first octave, which are also the ones cross-checked against a second published trill chart.
Each row gives a pair of neighbouring notes. Finger the first note exactly as the diagram shows — that fingering does not change. Then move only the element named in the third column, fast and evenly. That single moving element is the whole trill.
| Trill | Hold this fingering | What moves |
|---|---|---|
| E4–F4 | Thumb key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill your right-hand middle finger. |
| F4–G4 | Thumb key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill your right-hand index finger. |
| G4–A4 | Thumb key · left hand 1-2-3 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill your left-hand ring finger. |
| C5–D5 | Left hand 1 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill the D trill key (the first trill key). |
| C♯5–D5 | Right pinky E♭ key. | Trill the D trill key (the first trill key). |
| C♯5–E♭5 | Right pinky E♭ key. | Trill the D♯ trill key (the second trill key). |
| D5–E♭5 | Thumb key · left hand 2-3 · right hand 1-2-3. | Trill the E♭ key with your right pinky. |
| D5–E5 | Thumb key · left hand 2-3 · right hand 1-2-3. | Trill your right-hand ring finger. |
| E♭5–E5 | Thumb key · left hand 2-3 · right hand 1-2-3 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill your right-hand ring finger. |
| E5–F5 | Thumb key · left hand 1-2-3 · right hand 1-2 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill your right-hand middle finger. |
| C6–D6 | Left hand 1 · right pinky E♭ key. | Trill the D♯ trill key (the second trill key). |
Why this chart is shorter than most
Flute trill tables list many more trills than this — most of them perfectly real in a professional's hands. They are withheld here because they trill onto special fingerings of the partner note (shortened, vented or shaded fingerings that are not the note's basic fingering), and this site publishes only what it can verify against its own checked data plus an independent source. A student who learns the eleven trills below has the trills that appear in school band music; the exotic ones belong with a teacher, who can hear whether they speak in tune.
Every fingering these trills stand on is on the flute fingering chart, checked against two published sources. If a trill you need is missing, the honest answer today is: it has not passed verification yet — ask a teacher, and tell us which trill you were looking for.
Hear the notes in the Fingering Finder
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.
What is a trill fingering?
The fingering that stays still while one finger or key shakes. On the flute that is usually one of the two trill keys; in the low register it can be a main finger. Everything else stays exactly where the held note put it.
Why are there only eleven trills on this chart?
Because the rest of the published flute trills land on special fingerings of the upper note, not on its basic fingering — they cannot be verified against the checked chart data, so they are withheld rather than printed on trust. The eleven here are the ones that check out completely.
Do I need trill fingerings for school band music?
Mostly the first-octave ones on this chart — C to D, C♯ to D, C♯ to E♭ and C to D in the second octave are the shakes that actually appear in band parts. Learn those four and you are covered for almost everything at school level.