Profile of the Flute

FluteWoodwindThe musician, or flutist, blows air into the edge of the instrument, changing the pitch of the sound by closing the holes using his/her fingers.There are numerous types of flutes that are played differently. Some of these are:

Side blown flutes - piccolo, fife, bansuri

End-blown flutes - recorder, ney, kaval, quena, shakuhachi, tonette

Commonly known flutes include the piccolo, concert flute, alto flute, bass flute and contrabass flute. Less known flutes include the treble flute, soprano, tenor, sub-bass and octobass flute.

First known Flutes:

Archaelogists have discovered in Slovenia an ancient flute made from the bones of a cave bear dating back around 50,000 years ago.

Flutists :

Among the well-known flutists are:

Classical Flute Players - Julius Baker, William Bennett, Theobald Boehm, James Galway, Kieko Hashiguchi, Hans-Martin Linde, Marcel Moyse, Jean Pierre Rampal, Henrik Wiese to name a few.

Jazz Flute Players - George Adams, Hariprasad Chaurasia, Eric Dolphy, Pannalal Ghosh, Paul Horn, Herbie Mann, Jeremy Steig, to name a few.