How to play the highest note on the flute

Well, winter has definitely arrived in Sydney this week! Most people are rugged up warm inside their apartments, so it's not the best time for me to be delighting my neighbours with some loud high note flute practice! Instead, I'll teach you everything you need to know about the highest note on the flute (and you can serenade your neighbours with your new high notes instead!)

In this article, you're going to learn how to play the highest note on the flute. I'll show you the fingerings to use, plus tips on how to make these high notes come out, and sound strong!

Here are some quick links for you to jump right to what you want to learn: What is the highest note on the flute? | Easy flute high notes | Flute high note finger chart | High C on flute | High C# on flute | High D on flute | Flute high note finger chart | How to start a high note softly

What is the highest note on the flute?

Officially, the "highest" note on the flute is a C - this one:

But unofficially, it's common, amongst advanced flute players, to actually play up to a C# and D. These ones:

A quick note: Keep your cats away when practising these notes! They will probably hate you forever otherwise!

Flute highest note

The highest note is generally considered really high C, but in reality, advanced players play up to C# and D regularly.

Check out this great 4 minute mini-lesson on playing the highest notes on the flute: C, C# and D.

I'll demonstrate the notes for you and show you the fingerings, so watch it, and enjoy!

Flute high notes

Learning to play the highest note on the flute is fun, but did you know that it's not a good measure of how well you can play the flute?

The true way to discover the measure of how good you're getting on the flute is by these 2 ways:

1. By how easy your high notes are to play; and
2. How sweetly, softly and in tune, you can play them.

If you think of playing a high C, C#, or D more as a party trick, it will help you get in the mindset of learning to play the flute with proper flute technique rather than just how fast or high you can play!

Easy flute high notes

Luckily, there is a special technique that makes high notes sound both easy, and sweet-sounding.

One of the very first videos I recorded for YouTube (and it's also one of the most popular!) is how to easily play flute high notes. It's a great way to learn the proper embouchure technique for playing higher notes on the flute, which helps you truly sound great at the flute (not just bust out a high C!)

Tip! Instead of squeezing your mouth to get the high notes, your lips should move slightly forward. Check out my free tiny course on high notes to help you along your journey to achieving easy high notes! 

Flute high note finger chart

Most flute fingering charts show you that the highest note of the flute is C. You could say that C is the "official" highest note on the flute.

Below are simple diagrams for you that I drew myself and is the way that I teach all of my students in The Flute Academy how to play any new flute fingering. You'll notice it's a super easy way to see which fingers you need to put down.

If you're learning these super high notes, you probably already know how to read a flute fingering chart, but in case not, here's a quick hint for you:

In the diagrams below, I've only drawn the keys that you actually use on the flute. The coloured in (black) circles represent the keys you press down, and the empty (white) circles are the ones you don't press for this note. 

High C on flute

Here it is in a simple diagram (hand drawn by me!)

A great way to explain in words how to play a high C is that you put your entire left hand on including your little finger, but take your thumb off. And then on your right hand, the only key you press down is your F finger.

Take note that if you have a B foot as part of your flute (instead of the usual C foot), you'll need to also press down your gizmo key. Watch the video above for a demonstration of what this means

High C# on flute

This note is technically out of the standard range of the flute, and many fingering charts won't show this note. I've included it for you here because it's a really useful note to know if you're playing more advanced scales on the flute and want to play your C# major scale 3 octaves! 

Put your left hand middle finger on here, and take your thumb off. On the right hand, press down your F key, and then your low C roller key. You'll actually need to press the low C and C sharp key together.

Watch the video above for a clear demonstration.

High D on flute

This note is great to play if you want to start playing D major scale in 3 octaves. It's the way that I practise my D major scale, and if you're at that level, it's a great way to improve your finger dexterity in the top octave of the flute.

On your left hand, press down your thumb and ring finger. On your right hand, press down your F finger, second finger and low C again.

Why are flute high note fingerings so complicated?

Well, this is exactly the question that was asked in one of the recent Flute Q&A videos!

A lovely reader of the flute school blog called Eli asked literally asked me "Why are the flute high note fingerings so complicated?" 

If you're interested in the answer, have a look at this quick answer to Eli's question here. It's quite a fascinating reason why the high note fingerings are complex!

High note fingering on the flute is a harmonic of a fifth below. A good example is the high D fingering, it is a G fingering (you can check by putting down your index fingering). Overblow your G note and you’ll be able to hear a high D. The proper high note fingering for high D is we also lift our left hand index finger to make it more stable. So the high D is actually a harmonic of G, it's an overblown G.

Music that uses the highest notes on the flute

It's very rare for compositions to be written up as high as the 3 high notes I showed you in this article, purely because a lot of music for flute was written before the flute was physically able to play up this high. The flutes that existed before around the year 1850 couldn't play anywhere near as high as modern flutes now can.

And for that reason, contemporary classical composers are much more likely to write up super high for flute that baroque, classical and even romantic period composers.

Flute high notes in action!

By the way, one composer who has written up to this high D is Prokofiev. If you have a look at his Classical Symphony, there's a nice little flute bit that goes up all the way to high D, and is one of the trickiest orchestral excerpts for flute players to learn when they're auditioning for an orchestra!

Have a look at the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra flute players playing up to high C# and D throughout this piece:

How to start a high note softly

Playing high notes softly on the flute takes a very special technique, some time to practise it and get used to the technique, but it's worth the effort. 

You may like to look through this Flute Q&A where a reader asks "How would you start a flute high note softly and gently? I don't have enough room here to go into details, so I recommend that you check out the Q&A video for demonstrations of how to start high notes softly.

Did you know that The 45 Day Flute Transformation course contains an entire module on play high notes with proper technique? You'll learn the exact embouchure technique that you use to play high notes with ease. It's a fabulous way to instantly feel and sound a whole lot better on the flute.

In The Flute Academy, I call this Faster Progress Through Proper Technique. Learning the tweaks of proper flute technique really is the fastest (and easiest!) way to improve your playing!

Common problems with playing flute high notes

Now it's time to point you in the right direction if you're having trouble with your high notes! Here are some common problems and how to fix them.

If you get dizzy

You might find that you have to blow really hard to get a sound out for the these high notes! If that's the case, you're probably also getting dizzy!

I've got you covered. Watch this video on how to stop getting dizzy when playing the flute for some simple and highly effective tips to make you much more comfortable when you play.

If you run out of air too quickly

If you're taking huge breaths, and barely getting through a few seconds of a melody, it sounds like we need to tweak your embouchure a little bit. 

Check out this Instant Flute Fix #5: how to stop running out of air so quickly for some great quick tips on instantly getting you longer phrases.

 When I say blow softer. I'm not saying blow softer for high notes, by the way. I'm just saying don't blow too hard overall on the flute. The best thing is it will also conserve your air and you'll have more air to play with. So be able to play longer phrases. That's just a little bonus.

If your sound is fluffy

If your high notes are sounding fluffy, or you're running out of air really quickly, there's a good chance that your embouchure needs fixing! 

The main reason for unclear notes that sound fluffy is due to a big embouchure hole. Too big an embouchure hole adds to that breathy sound which contributes to the unclearness of the note. Watch this video on how I fixed my student's high notes in 10 minutes!

It might sound pretty difficult to fix an embouchure, but in actual fact, there are 3 easy tweaks to make to your flute. Join me in this free mini-course to instantly get a clearer flute tone! I'll show you exactly how to fix your flute embouchure (for free!) that makes all of your notes sound clearer.

Difficult High E on the flute

High E on the flute is a notoriously difficult note on the flute. Notoriously difficult, that is, unless you have something on your flute called Split E mechanism, which is a little extra thing that you get when you are purchasing your new flute. It's built into the flute. It allows the two keys that sit beside the Ab key, to work independently for this high E note. 

Unfortunately, it then makes high F sharps feel harder. By comparison, they're harder to your now easy high E's. Split E mechanisms are wonderful. I love them because it's just a bit more stability on that high E, but you definitely don't need one.

Sounding sharp on the flute

If you have your head joint pushed all the way in you will be sharp. It makes you sharp up high because the flute is designed to be closer to being in tune when this has pulled out a few millimetres.

The flute is designed to have the head joint pulled out a little bit when you play. Now the exact spot that you put this head joint depends mostly on the temperature of the day, but it also depends on how you're blowing, how hard you're blowing and also the tuning of the people that you're playing with. So start with your flute pulled out just a few millimetres, and that's a good place to start.

 If you smile when playing the flute, this makes the corners of your mouth pull back, creating a tight feeling with your mouth and cheeks. This tight embouchure will make your high notes sharp. 

 Students often do a combination of the two embouchures if their high notes are sounding sharp: squeezing or smiling and blowing harder. Blowing harder makes you sharp. Watch this video on the three things that make you sharp on the flute.

Your real measure of high note success

I hope you had fun getting a high C or even higher!

Don't forget that the real measure of how good you're becoming as a flute player is not how high you can play, but how easily and sweet-sounding you can get your high notes.

The students in The Flute Academy often comment about how much higher they can play after they learn proper high note technique. Not only can they play higher, but they comment on how much easier it is to play higher.

Come and join me in this free mini-course to instantly get a stronger and clearer flute tone. It's free to register, and is a great introduction into how learning the tweaks of proper flute technique gets you seriously faster progress! 

You'll learn a little tweak a day, for 3 days, and you'll literally instantly hear a huge change to the quality of your flute tone.

I'd love to see you there, because I know how good you'll sound afterwards!

Jane xx