Contents Page2: The History of the flute. Page3: Timeline of the flute. Page4: The family of the flute. Page5: The diagram of the flute and how the sound is produced on the flute.
Page6: Interesting facts/Special features Page7: Bibliography
The flute History 1,000 years ago flutes where made out of bones. Many years later, the flutes developed into wood or bamboo because the materials were relatively available. The flute only came available with holes (no keys), so that meant it could be played on the right side, left side or straight like a recorder. (1,000 years later the flute was made with keys so it could only be played on the right side.)
In the 16th century and on, the flute developed into the modern flute we have now, but in the 16th century it was still in one piece and had no keys at all only holes. The flute was finally made into three pieces and got its first key. The first key was a d sharp which we still have today. (This key is where you put your right little finger.) Flutes became available in four pieces after 1720. The shorter pieces were for playing higher pitch and the longer pieces were for playing a lower pitch. With only one key it was very hard to play. There was also very complicated fingering. These fingerings were called fork fingerings and did not sound too good. There became extra holes on the flute to get rid of the fork fingerings. Around 1775 the flute had four keys: D sharp key, B flat key, G sharp key and the F key. More and more keys were added to the flute, but there was still no good system for the keys. The very famous English flautist Charles Nicholson introduced larger holes for the fingers and a larger hole for the mouth piece in order to get a better sound.
Timeline 1320 - One-piece wooden flute; 2' long, key of "D"
1529 - Descant, alto, tenor and bass flutes appears. 1636 - Keys of "D" and "G", with new cylindrical bore, made of wood. 1670 - Three-piece flute, 1-keyed flute "D" appears in the French orchestra.
1720 - Middle joint is divided in half, 2 keys added 1726 - E-flat & D-sharp keys added on foot joint
1760 - G#, B-flat, & F keys added by London makers 1821 - Rudall & Rose start making 8-keyed flutes, which become popular in England
The Family
The piccolo: Is the smallest flute of them all. The piccolo sounds one eighth higher than the regular flute and is usually made of wood, silver and there are even piccolos made of plastic.
The regular flute: Cheap flutes only have a silver layer and are not made entirely out of silver. Flutes can also be made of wood, silver, gold or platinum. You can often see flutes of mixed materials, for example a silver flute with golden head joint or silver keys on a golden flute. Flutes can be made with closed keys or open keys (also known as French keys).
The alto flute: The alto flute is larger than the regular flute and therefore it sounds lower. You can buy an alto flute with a straight head joint or with a curved head joint.
The bass flute: The bass flute is already so big that it is only build with a curved head joint (4 foot tall). Otherwise it is impossible for you to hold the flute. The bass flute sounds one eighth lower than the regular flute.
Diagram of the Flute
How the sound is produced You play the flute by holding it horizontal with both hands holding it, blowing across the embouchure whole makes a sound. You use your fingers to open and close the keys, which changes the pitch of the sounds. You have to have the right mouth shape to make a sound otherwise you are just blowing air and wasting your breath. If you blow into the hole softly no sound can be produced, so you must blow lots of air, because some of the air escapes when blowing across. The sound travels down the flute, where the flutist can change the pitch of the sound. Opening keys with the fingers usually raises the pitch (makes it higher) and where closing keys generally lowers the pitch.
Interesting facts/special features o 2-4 flutes in an orchestra o 3 different names for a flute player, Flute player, Flautist or a Flutist. o Flutes are divided into two groups, end-blow flutes or side-down flutes. o The flute is a woodwind instrument.
o The flute needs more air than any other woodwind instrument. o The woodwind instrument is the 2nd oldest family after percussion.
Bibliography Flute kids N/A, N/A, accessed September 2012, <http://www.flutekids.eu/en/flutefamily.en.htm>. SFS kids N/A, N/A, accessed September 2012, <http://www.sfskids.org/templates/instorchframe.a sp?pageid=3>.
Flute fact check N/A, N/A, accessed October 2012, <http://flutefactcheck.blogspot.com.au/>. Yahoo Answers N/A, N/A, accessed October 2012, <http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200 81/23839AACJ3i9>.