This mellow-sounding flute is a little different, pitched in the key of G it sounds a perfect fourth below what is written. Listen to a collection of my favourite flute players here… The BEST flute player you’ve never heard of Alto Flute Typically made of nickel silver or silver, it can also be made in more precious metals such as platinum or gold. Pitched in the key of C, its a non transposing instrument that sounds exactly as it’s written in music. The most common of the flute family and the flute we all know and love. The timbre of the piccolo can be described as clear, brilliant and graceful in its middle register, and piercing and shrill when played loudly in its upper register. There is some solo repertoire, concertos and chamber music written for piccolos. Piccolos can be made from a variety of metals and most commonly the hardwood grenadilla. Concert band music often has a piccolo part and so this is a common instrument for flute players to double on. It’s the highest pitched flute (in the key of C) sounding an octave higher than the concert flute when played. The smallest of the flute family, the piccolo measures approximately half the length of the concert flute. They share the same note fingerings, however there are some important differences in the amount of breath, breath support and embouchure formation required between them. The flute family has four main members (although there are other rarer members too). Once the flute had established reliable intonation, beautiful tone and improved playability, composers once again showcased the flute in an explosion of solo works. Only slight changes have been made during the 19th and 20th centuries – a testimony to his skill considering the manufacturing technologies that evolved during this time. The flutes we play today are based on the Boehm model. He experimented with the use of different metals, sealing tone holes with pads and the cut of the embouchure hole to find the best tone quality possible. The Boehm system as its now known consisted of a system of rods, pins and springs that could allow simultaneous closure of multiple keys that were not playable with your hands alone and thus developed a simpler fingering system for players. However it was a goldsmith and musician called Theobald Boehm that revolutionised flute design, from the early 1800s. Flute makers up until the 19th century tinkered with flute design and construction – modifying its diameter, the size of tone holes, adding new keys and gradually splitting the instrument into three pieces. However their problematic intonation and complicated cross fingerings meant they were not heavily featured in musical works. Simple wooden flutes with six holes were used throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, in military and folk music. The first evidence of simple transverse flutes with only a few holes was in Etruscan carvings in the 4 th to 1 st centuries BC. The Ancient Summarians, Egyptians and Greeks were all known to use flutes, as depicted in early carvings however these were all front-blown flutes (similar to the recorder), rather than the transverse (side-blown) flute we know today. Flute artefacts made of bone and dating back to the Stone Age have been unearthed. The flute is the oldest known instrument in the world. Continuing to expand your appreciation and understanding for this amazing group of instruments always yields a hidden treasure that’s sure to inspire you in your own playing. I’m hoping I might even spark your interest in adding some of the beautiful music they make to your playlist or even try playing new types of flute yourself. Today I’m going to take you on a similar journey and introduce you to some of the types of flutes (call them your long lost flute cousins) from around the world. As they chase down birth and marriage dates, photos, and names long forgotten, it’s been a fascinating journey to put together the pieces of our history, understand where we came from and unravel connections we never knew existed. Amazingly, they’ve been able to go back ten generations. My parents are in the middle of constructing our family tree.
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