The flute’s range in notes and hertz
C4 is the bottom on a standard C foot; a B foot adds B3. Notes above C7 exist and appear in modern music, but they are not part of the written range a flute is expected to have.
Written and sounding pitch
The flute reads at concert pitch in treble clef: a written note sounds as written, so the range above is both the sound and the page.
Range by size
| Size | Sounding | Span |
|---|---|---|
| C foot | C4–C7 | 3 octaves |
| B foot | B3–C7 | 3.1 octaves |
Instruments with a similar range
The instruments whose normal range shares the most notes with the flute’s:
- Violin · G3–E7 37 notes shared
- Viola · C3–D7 37 notes shared
- Mandolin · G3–D7 37 notes shared
- E♭ clarinet · G3–C7 37 notes shared
- Harmonica · C4–C7 37 notes shared
- Marimba · C2–C7 37 notes shared
Tune it, play it
- Flute tuner — tune by microphone, with the flute’s own target notes.
- Play a flute online — the same range, playable in your browser.
Songs that fit the flute
36 songs from our public-domain library fit inside the flute’s range, each written out in the notation flute players read:
- Hot Cross Buns
- Lightly Row
- Going Home (New World Largo)
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
- Happy Birthday
- Ode to Joy
- Mary Had a Little Lamb
- Row, Row, Row Your Boat
- Jingle Bells
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas
- Yankee Doodle
- Silent Night
Frequently asked questions
What is the range of a flute?
The flute’s normal range runs from C4 to C7 — 261.63 to 2093.0 Hz, about 3 octaves. At the extremes it reaches B3–C7.
What is the lowest note on a flute?
B3 (246.94 Hz), on instruments that have it; the usual bottom is C4.
What is the highest note on a flute?
C7 (2093.0 Hz).
Sources
- The chart behind our playable flute, itself checked note by note against published charts.