The Flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike other woodwind instruments, a flute produces its sound from the flow of air against an edge, instead of using a reed.
A musician who plays the flute is generally referred to as either a flautist or a flutist. Flute tones are sweet and blend well with other instruments.
Early flutes were made of carved bone. The flute has appeared in many different forms in many different locations around the world.
The Flute has been dated back to, almost or even further back in time, the prehistoric times. A bone fragment of the femur of a juvenile cave bear with two to four holes found at Divje Babe in Slovenia and dated to about 43,100 years ago may also be an early flute.
Some early flutes were made out of tibias (shin bones).
During the 16th and early 17th centuries in Europe, the transverse flute was available in several different sizes, in effect forming a "consort" much in the same way that recorders and other instrument families were used in consorts.
At this stage, the transverse flute was usually made in one section (or two for the larger sizes) and had a cylindrical bore. As a result, the flute had a rather soft sound and limited range, and was used priimarily in compostions for the "soft consort".
With the advent of the Baroque (17th and 18th centuries), the transverse flute was re-designed. Now often called the traverso (from the Italian), it was made in three or four sections, or joints, with a conical bore from the head joint down.
The conical bore design gave the instrument a wider range and a more penetrating sound, without sacrificing the softer, expressive qualities of the instrument. In addition to chamber music, the traverso began to be used in orchestral music, eventually occupying an exalted status amongst the woodwinds.
Many composers, such as Frenchmen Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, Michel Corrette and Michel Blavet, Italians Antonio Vivaldi and Pietro Locatelli, and Germans Georg Phillipp Telemann and Johann Joachim Quantz, wrote significant collections of sonatas and chamber works for the traverso.
ohann Sebastian Bach also contributed to the literature of the flute with his Sonatas for Flute and Continuo BWV 1034-35 and the Partita BWV 1013.
Flute Terms:
Flautist - one who plays the flute.
Crown - the cap at the end of the head joint that unscrews to expose the cork, and which helps keep the head joint cork positioned at the proper depth of insertion.
Lip plate - the part of the head joint which contacts the player's lower lip, allowing precise positioning and direction of the air stream.
Riser - a metal section shaped like a 'top hat with the top cut off', which raises the lip plate from the head joint tube.
Head joint - the top section of the flute, has the tone hole/lip plate where the player initiates the sound by blowing air across the opening.
Body - the middle section of the flute with the majority of the keys.
Closed-hole - a finger key which is fully covered.
Open-hole - a finger key with a perforated center, allowing the use of techinques such as pitch bending or glissando.
Pointed arms - arms connecting the keys to the rods which are pointed and extend to the keys' centers; found on more expensive flutes.
French model - a flute with pointed French-style arms and open-hole finger keys, as distinguished from the plateau style with closed holes.
Inline G - the standard postion of the left-hand G (third-finger) key - in line with the first and second keys.
Offset G - a G key which is extended to the side of the other two left-hand finger keys (along with the G# key), thus requiring less bending of the wrist, rendering it easier to reach and cover effectively, and less uncomfortable and fatiguing to play.
Split E mechanism - a system whereby the second G key (positioned below the G# key) is closed when the right middle-finger key is depressed, enabling a clearer third octave E; standard on most flutes, but omitted from many intermediate- and professional-grade flutes, as it can reduce the tonal quality of 3rd octave F#.
Trill Keys - two small, teardrop shaped keys between the right-hand keys on the body; the first enables an easy C-D trill, and the second enables C-D#.
A Bb lever or "trill" key is located in line directly above the right first-finger key. An optional C# trill key which facilitates the trill from B to C# is sometimes found on intermediate- and professional-quality flutes.
Foot joint - the last section of the flute (played farthest towards the right).
C foot - a foot joint with a lowest note of middle C; typical on student model flutes.
B foot - a foot joint with a lowest note of B below middle C, which is an option for intermediate - and professional-grade flutes.
D# roller - an optional feature added to the Eb key on the foot joint, facilitating the transition between Eb/D# and Db/C#, and C.
"Gizmo key" - an amusingly named optional key on the B foot joint which can be used to play low B, as well as assisting in playing C7.
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