The flute is a woodwind instrument that dates from ancient times. Sound is produced from a flute by blowing onto a sharp edge, causing air enclosed in a tube to vibrate. Many types of primitive flutes are known throughout the world. In tropical regions and in East Asia, they are commonly made from bamboo tubes. End-blown flutes may be simple tubes with a sharp edge or notch, or they may have an inserted block, as in the recorder and whistle. The widespread side-blown or transverse flute is now common in the West. The term flute also refers to certain organ pipes.
Evidence of the side-blown flute in Europe is sporadic until the later Middle Ages, when it was cultivated chiefly by the minnesingers in Germany. Shrill, narrow-bored flutes (fifes) became common as military instruments, and one-handed, narrow-bored pipes, played together with small drums, accompanied dancing in southern France and are still used in northern Spain. By 1500 both recorders and keyless, six-holed, cylindrical transverse flutes were familiar instruments; the tenor transverse flute, pitched in D, was the ancestor of the modern instrument. About 1670 the transverse flute, like the other basic woodwinds, underwent a transformation. The instrument emerged in three sections--the cylindrical head joint, the middle joint, and the foot joint with inverse conical bore--and had six finger holes plus one closed key for D sharp in the foot section. It was usually constructed of boxwood, the joints and ends strengthened by decorative ivory rings. The instrument's lovely, mellow tone was capable of sensitive nuances and inspired a large solo literature, including more than 500 compositions by Johann Quantz and the concertos and chamber music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Nevertheless, chromatic notes (sharped and flatted tones) were difficult to play in tune in tonalities other than D Major and those closely related. With the addition of more instrument keys late in the century, however, the flute of the baroque and classical eras reached its peak.
Theobald Bohm experimented with the flute from 1832 to 1847, desiring to give it a bigger tone. He finally produced a parabolic (bowl-shaped) head joint attached to a cylindrical body with open-standing keys and finger pads to cover large finger holes. Other minor improvements have been made since. The modern flute has a range from middle D (D') upward for three or more octaves--although keys on the foot section may extend its range down to B. In Europe flutes are often made of wood; silver is common in the United States.
Other orchestral flutes are the piccolo, a brilliant instrument pitched an octave higher than the standard flute, and the alto flute, pitched a fourth lower than the standard instrument. The rare bass flute, pitched an octave below the standard instrument, is not a regular member of the orchestra.