All B-flats are Equal

I recently heard of a flute teacher telling their students to NEVER slide their thumb from the B-flat key to the B-natural key. I often heard that throughout my many years of playing, and I’m sure I’ve instructed students in the same way when I was young. But, when I recently heard this said with such force and conviction, I was taken aback and so I spent some time thinking about why saying this no longer aligns with what I believe as a teacher.

First of all, I believe I am a student-centered teacher and that each student must be approached as an individual with unique needs, desires, and goals for their musical life. Because I endeavor to be student-centered, in a situation where a student is sliding their thumb to play B-flat and B-natural, my first inclination is to ask questions.

“I noticed you’re sliding your thumb for these two notes. Can you tell me why you’re doing that?”

There could be many answers! Maybe the student was only taught B-flat thumb. Maybe they just found it to be easier. Maybe they didn’t even know that there were other options for that note! Maybe it was actually quicker and fit better with the patterns that were coming up next. I find it to be very important to begin by asking students questions. Students should not be scolded or made to feel guilty by not knowing information. How can someone know something that they’ve never been taught? If you approach a situation like this with the attitude of “how dare you do this,” the student is going to deflate and feel ashamed. Why should a student feel shame about not knowing something? That’s literally why they are coming to you as a flute teacher! Asking them questions allows them to put more thought into WHY they are actually doing that specific action. Becoming aware of what they are doing, and why, allows a student to make a conscious decision to continue to do that thing because it is serving them, or to leave it behind because it is not.

Once you find why students are doing something, then you can tell them what you have observed and offer possible changes. Let’s assume that a student has only been taught B-flat thumb and they always slide for B-natural. Once they give me that information, I can say “I noticed when you slide your thumb that there was a small blip in the sound. There are actually two other ways that you can play B-flat that will make this passage so much easier AND you won’t have that blip. Why don’t we learn these other B-flat fingerings and give them a try.”

I like to use questions, observations, and suggestions patterns with all of my students in all areas of flute playing. But, I also am outcome focused. If the outcome of a specific pattern of notes SOUNDS THE SAME regardless of what fingering is used, then the fingering that student used is perfectly correct. This doesn’t mean that I don’t make my students aware of other options or that they don’t practice other fingerings during their technique work. (In order for a student to know what physically serves them best, they need to encounter all the different ways their fingers can move.) 

It does mean that when a student tells me that this fingering is the most comfortable for them, AND IT SOUNDS GREAT, I believe them and leave it alone. If sliding the thumb from B-flat to B-natural is the easiest thing for a student to do, it doesn’t cause them unnecessary tension, and it sounds beautiful, then I do not give one iota of a care about how it looks. We are in an aural art form, and I highly doubt that any member of an audience would be looking at a performer’s thumb so intensely. If they are, I would suggest that they are missing the point of a concert.

Just this past 2 weeks, I had two students encounter pieces of music that would generally be easier to play if they used B-flat thumb, EXCEPT there was at least one tricky section that would require them to move to a B-natural/C-flat. With each student, we talked about the pros and cons of the different fingerings that could be used in the situation. One student decided that sliding their thumb was not the most efficient way to move from the B-flat to the C-flat. So we wrote in their music where they would move their thumb and start using B-flat lever and where they would return to using their B-flat thumb. It resulted in a very seamless and effective transition. The other student decided that they wanted to slide their thumb, so they went home that week with the assignment of ensuring that the slide was not noticeable in their sound. When they came back the next week, they were sliding their thumb from the B-flat to the B-natural and it sounded wonderful and they assured me that they did not feel any extra tension and they were really happy with their choice. I’m very proud that my students spent THOUGHTFUL time really considering their options and came back with the decision that was best for them.

I have spent so many years hearing these blanket statements in the flute pedagogy community that begin with NEVER. Never play it like this. Never finger that note like that. Never say this, never do that, never, never, NEVER. Quite frankly, I’m sick of it. This community is diverse and varied. People are built differently and want different things and all should be made welcome. So let’s stop shaming people for using “unpopular” fingerings. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t work, we find another solution.