The flute belongs to woodwind instruments, since initially it was made exclusively from wood. The history of this instrument began in antiquity. The uniqueness of the flute is that, unlike many ancient instruments that have sunk into oblivion, the flute pleases people with its magical sound today.
Instructions
Step 1
Unlike many other wind instruments, the sounds of the flute are formed by cutting air currents against the edge, without using the tongue.
Step 2
According to ancient mythology, the inventor of the first flute was Ardal, the son of Hephaestus. Initially, the flute had the shape of a whistle, on which holes for fingers were later made.
Step 3
The flute is the main wind instrument in the Middle East. In Egypt, the flute was mastered 5 thousand years ago.
Step 4
Initially, there were only two types of flute - longitudinal and transverse. The longitudinal one has up to 6 finger holes. This instrument is capable of octave blowing, providing a full scale. The intervals within such a scale can change and form frets by changing the strength of the breath and crossing the fingers on the holes.
Step 5
The transverse flute, also with 5-6 finger holes, was improved by French craftsmen at the end of the 17th century. It was they who added the valves that allow the full chromatic scale to be played. Thanks to the updated design and improved sound, the transverse flute soon took pride of place in the brass symphony orchestras.
Step 6
A number of improvements in the design of the flute were made in 1832-1847 by Theobald Boehm. He added a system of rings and valves to the design, with which the musician could close all the holes on the instrument. Boehm was the first to propose to make flutes entirely from metal. This improved the sound of the instrument and increased its volume.
Step 7
In the 19th century, flutes were often made of silver, although there were also unique specimens made of ivory or glass, and were not so much musical instruments as works of art.
Step 8
The modern orchestral flute has a fairly wide sound range - three octaves. The scale of such an instrument is read from the note B of a small octave.
Step 9
In addition to the traditional great (soprano) flute, which is mainly used for solo and orchestral performances, there are several other varieties of this wind instrument, which differ not only in size, but also in pitch. The piccolo flute sounds an octave higher than the soprano flute. The sound of the alto flute is one fourth lower than the sound of the great flute. There is also a bass flute, the sound of which is a whole octave lower than the soprano one.
