Flute Fingering Chart for Beginners: Your First Six Notes

Published October 19, 2026 · by Flute Fingering Chart

If you have just picked up a flute, a full flute fingering chart can look like a wall of circles. The good news is that you do not need all of it. Most teachers start beginners on just six notes, and those six notes already unlock a surprising number of songs.

Why start with B, A and G

The usual teaching order is B, A, G, then C, D and E. B, A and G come first because they build on each other: you add one finger at a time on your left hand, and your right hand stays resting on the flute.

• B: left thumb and left index finger.
• A: add your left middle finger.
• G: add your left ring finger. Now all three left-hand fingers and the thumb are down.

Because you only add or lift one finger, the move from one note to the next is small and easy to control. You can see each of these on its own page: B, A and G.

Adding C, D and E

The next three notes are where the right hand joins in.

• C (the one above G) uses only your left middle finger. It surprises many beginners that it is so few keys.
• D uses the thumb and all six fingers, three on each hand.
• E is D with the right ring finger lifted and your right little finger on the D♯ key.

Every diagram on the site shows pressed keys filled in, so you never have to guess. Tap any note on the beginner view of the chart to hear it too.

How to practise the first six notes

1. Make a sound first. Fingerings only help once you can get a steady note from the head joint. Spend a few minutes a day on a clean, airy tone.
2. Go slowly and watch your hands. Press with the pads of your fingers, not the tips, and keep them close to the keys.
3. Move one finger at a time. B to A to G and back is the best first exercise there is.
4. Play a real tune. Hot Cross Buns uses only B, A and G. Mary Had a Little Lamb and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star follow soon after.

Does my flute type matter?

For these six notes, no. Open-hole and closed-hole flutes use the same fingers; open-hole flutes simply have little holes in the middle of some keys that you cover with the finger pad. Our chart lets you choose your flute type once you move on to more notes.

Take it away

Print the beginner flute chart and stick it on your music stand, or grab the whole set from the printable flute fingering chart PDF. Learn a few notes well rather than all of them badly: six notes, played cleanly, are a better start than twenty-six notes, played anxiously.