Copyright 1999 - 2008 by Kim J. Teal
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 Here are a few common questions about the flute that will give you a basic background.

 
1. YOU MIGHT ASK, "WHAT IS A FLUTE?"

A. The flute is classified as an aerophone or wind instrument. The sound is produced by blowing a column of air and splitting it against an edge, with part going into the flute and forming a vibrating column of air. A simple example of this would be blowing across a soda pop bottle to make a sound. Closing or opening tone or finger holes on a flute lengthens or shortens the vibrating air column, thus making low or high tones. If you fill your bottle with water, it will produce higher tones since the water displacing the air in the bottle shortens the vibrating air column.

 
2. SO, HOW OLD ARE FLUTES AND WHAT ARE THEY MADE OF?

A. The flute is the oldest melody instrument made by man. One made of bone was found in Eastern Europe in 1995 that has been dated to between 43,000 and 80,000 years old. While not completely intact, it can play the top half of a modern diatonic scale.

B. Flutes throughout history, have been made of many materials including bones, reeds, stone, bamboo, hard woods such as maple, baked clay, porcelain, ivory, glass, metals such as silver, hard rubber, and modern plastics.

3. IS THERE MORE THAN ONE KIND OF FLUTE?

    YES! There are MANY types of flutes.

A. Flutes are divided into two main categories: side-blown (transverse) and end-blown.

1. A transverse flute is a tube with one end stopped up and has a blowhole that you blow across to split the air.

2. End-blown flutes are divided into 2 major sub-categories called a) notched or rim-blown flutes and b) duct or fipple flutes.

a. Notched or rim-blown flutes involve splitting the air by blowing across the top of a tube that has either a sharp edge or notch such as panpipes (zampognas) or the Japanese shakuhachi.

b. Fipple or duct flutes involve blowing air into a duct or channel which guides the air across a sharp edge known as a fipple. Duct flutes can be subdivided into several more sub-categories such as vessel or globular flutes called ocarinas, flutes with 6 finger holes called flageolets, and flutes with 8 finger holes called recorders.

 
B. Transverse and end-blown flutes have co-existed side by side throughout history and have been found in all cultures around the world in some form or other.

Japanese Shakuhachi, notched flute



South American Antara Panpipes, rim-blown flute





Soprano Recorder, duct or fipple flute





Ocarina, globular duct flute


Suling duct flutes from Bali



Irish Tin Whistle, flageolet-type fipple flute


Fife in Bb, transverse flute


Chinese Dizi (transverse) and Hsaio (notched, end-blown) flutes

4. HOW DID THE MODERN FLUTE AND PICCOLO COME INTO BEING?

A. The modern concert flute that we are all familiar with today was developed in Europe over the course of the last 800 years. It started as a keyless transverse flute and was developed side by side with the recorder-type of end-blown flute. Both flutes came in families called consorts, which were arranged according to size with the smallest to largest being sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, and bass.

 B. During the 15th & 16th centuries recorders were the most popular flutes in Europe and represented the pinnacle of design in end-blown flutes. Around 1600 however, the transverse flute supplanted the recorder since it could play dynamics (loud & soft) more easily. Playing in tune was a problem on both types of flutes.

 
C. At the time the transverse flute was becoming the main flute in European music, a small transverse flute called the fife came into common use in military bands. It was usually in one or two pieces with 6 finger holes. The fife is the ancestor of the modern piccolo.

D. Around 1670 a flutist named Quantz decided that the keyless flute was just too problematic. It couldn't play very well in tune on certain notes and playing half steps in a scale was difficult. Quantz tried to help solve this by adding a single key for the right hand pinky finger. This single key was just the first step in making life easier for the flutist. The 1-key flute is often referred to as a Baroque flute.

E. Throughout the 18th & 19th centuries the transverse flute remained in a state of developmental flux, with various numbers of keys and fingering systems existing side by side. These are referred to as simple system flutes. Examples of these are the 4-key, 6-key (Ziegler system), and 8-key (Meyer system) flutes & piccolos. In 1831 a brilliant German flutist named Theobald Boehm began to develop the modern system of keys that we play on today. His design, perfected by 1878, used a radically new fingering system that enabled flutists to play chromatically in all keys signatures and to play better in tune. This new system of fingering met with much resistance from flutists who were used to the older systems. It wasn't until after 1900, when that generation of flutists had past away, that the Boehm system flute became the main type of flute used.

F. Although the Boehm system flute is the most popular flute used today, other side and end-blown flutes are still very popular in folk music around the world. One of these folk flutes is the Irish tin or penny whistle, a flageolet type of duct flute. These flutes first became popular in Ireland around 1900, were made of tin, and cost a penny, hence the names. They are still relatively inexpensive and quite easy to play. I highly recommend trying one.

5. WHAT IS THE MODERN FLUTE FAMILY LIKE TODAY?

A. While there are now many new, larger flutes being made, such as contralto, contrabass, and double contrabass flutes, the medium to smaller members the flute family are the ones in more common usage today. They are usually made of silver or gold, but can also be made of platinum, nickel, brass, wood, or even plastic. They are, according to size from largest to smallest:

1. bass flute in C
  

2. alto flute in G

3. tenor flute, also called flûte d’amour in Bb

4. concert flute in C

5. soprano flute in Eb

6. treble flute in G

7. piccolo in C

Visit the Puzzle Page for puzzles about flutes.