A Flute or a Fife; whats the difference?
This distinction can be as slippery as the difference between a pond and a lake: there’s no clear dividing line. We’ve listed here some features that tend to distinguish them. If the instrument in question is strong in the fife category, then call it a fife, and likewise for flutes. A Flute can be rather complicated, with many keyed tone holes, and is designed to play in many keys with a careful scale on standard pitch. More training is required and proper technique involves high ideals of tone, attack, phrasing, etc.. The flute is a long instrument with a wide bore for playing in the first two octaves, and often the third. This configuration is ideal for playing mellow, multi-part music from many traditions, especially indoors with voice or other well-developed instruments. “Flautists” drink champagne. A Fife has a simple construction, with only a few tone holes for direct stoppage by the fingers; it plays in only a few keys around B-flat; the scale and pitch may not be standard from
