What is the history of the Flute?
The flute is the third oldest instrument for making music. The human voice is the first and the drum is a close second. The flute did not follow far behind. The flute has been developed independently in almost all cultures. Originally a simple hollow stick with holes to change the pitch, it has evolved into the metal tube with keys that we now picture when we say flute.
Flutes are among the oldest group of instruments in the world. The first flutes had no keys and thus had many notes that were out of tune. The flute finally got keys during the 1700s when the French and other European countries began to add a D# key and experimented with adding other keys. The largest development of the flute belongs to a designer named Theobald Boehm. Boehm invented a system of keys in 1832, which completely reinvented the flute. In fact if you go to buy a flute today the company will probably advertise their flute as using the Boehm System for its keys. Adding keys to a flute eliminated a lot of out of tune notes and greatly improved the quality of the sound. The flute is now one of the most popular instruments in the world thanks to the work of Theobald Boehm. If you would like to hear a great recording of a flutist listen to James Galway. What is the history of the Clarinet? The clarinet is a descendent of an instrument called the chalumeau, which as a shepherds re
