History of the flute

The history of the flute dates back to the beginning of humankind. Along with the drum, the flute is one of the first instruments people used to make music--predated only by the drum and the human voice itself.

Flutes appear in every culture on the planet in some form, and exist in many forms today as a folk instrument.

In Western culture, the flute has evolved to its present state as the metal, keyed instrument we know today. It is mostly massed produced in a factory and costs thousands of dollars.

The flute had humble beginnings--just a simple piece of carved wood with holes for changing the pitch of the instrument.

Advances in the Western art led to the Boehm key system and the transition from wood to silver and gold.

Ethnic flutes, however, although a significant part of flute history, have remained largely in their folk art state.

There are many flutes that fall into this category, including...

• celtic flute
• bamboo flute
• chinese bamboo flute
• japanese flute
• shakuhachi (traditional Japanese flute)
• pan flute
• indian flute
• Irish flute
• native American flute
• penny whistle
• recorder

Within the classical flute arena, we must include jazz flute as well. Jazz is played on a classical flute and borrows much from the classical style, including scales and chordal structures, but is unique unto itself.

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