Fun Facts About the Flute
Some interesting facts about the flute (some will be further explained in other pages of the website):
- The first flute was found in Germany approximately 35,000 years ago, where it was claimed to be the first instrument ever created ("History and Development").
- The flute has been made with many different materials including bone, wood, glass, ivory, nickel, silver, and gold ("History and Development").
- People who play the flute are mainly referred to as flute players, flutists, flautists, and sometimes fluters.
- Some of the most important people in the early days such as President George Washington, President James Madison, and artist Leonardo da Vinci were flute players.
- Theobald Boehm held a major position in the flute development process. He invented most of the features and abilities for the modern concert flute, with the help of other people adding on to his inventions. ("History and Development").
- There is a flute family. Not only is there the concert flute, but a piccolo, an alto flute, a bass flute, and a contrabass flute ("Flute Family").
- The concert flute is the most commonly played flute in concert bands (hence the name "concert flute"). It is very rare that the alto, bass, or contrabass are played in bands.
- Flutes have a wide variety of sounds. The piccolo can play extremely high and the contrabass can hit the lowest pitch heard by a human ear ("Flute Family").
- Many cultures were inspired by the existence of this instrument that some decided to make their own. An example of a foreign flute is the Japanese flute named "The Shakuhachi" shown below.