Western concert flute

The Western concert flute can refer to the common C concert flute or to the family of transverse flutes to which the C flute belongs. Almost all are made of metal or wood, or a combination of the two. A musician who plays the flute is called a "flautist" in British English and a "flutist" in American English.
This type of flute is used in many ensembles, including concert bands, military bands, marching bands, orchestras, flute ensembles, and occasionally jazz combos and big bands. Other flutes in this family include the piccolo, the alto flute, and the bass flute. A large repertory of works has been composed for flute.

Predecessors

The flute is one of the oldest and most widely used wind instruments. The precursors of the modern concert flute were keyless wooden transverse flutes similar to modern fifes. These were later modified to include up to eight keys for chromatic notes.
Six-holed flutes pitched in D are the most common keyless wooden transverse flutes. They are used in Irish traditional music and historically informed performances of early music, including Baroque music. During the Baroque era the traditional transverse flute was redesigned and eventually developed into the modern traverso.

Medieval flutes (1000–1400)

Throughout the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries, the recorder was prominent in Europe while transverse flutes were very uncommon. The transverse flute arrived in Europe from Asia via the Byzantine Empire, whence it migrated to Germany and France. These became known as "German flutes" to distinguish them from others, such as the recorder. The flute began to be used in court music, along with the viol, and was used in secular music in France and Germany. It would not spread to the rest of Europe for nearly a century. The first literary appearance of the transverse flute was made in 1285 by Adenet le Roi in a list of instruments he played. After this, a period of 70 years follows in which few references to the flute are found.

Renaissance to 17th century

Beginning in the 1470s, the use of the flute in military contexts led to its spread through Europe. In the late 16th century, flutes began to appear in court and theatre music, and the first flute solos were seen.
After this flutes began appearing in chamber ensembles, often as the tenor voice, although flutes varied greatly in size and range. This made transposition necessary, which led flautists to use Guidonian hexachords to transpose music more easily.
During the 16th and early 17th centuries in Europe, the transverse flute was made in several sizes, in effect forming a consort, similarly to how recorders and other instruments were used. The transverse flute was usually made in one section and had a cylindrical bore. As a result, this flute had a rather soft sound and was used primarily in the "soft consort".

Traverso

During the Baroque period, the transverse flute was redesigned. Now often called the traverso, it was made in three or four sections or joints and made with a conical bore from the head joint down. The conical bore gave the flute a wider range and more penetrating sound without sacrificing its softer, expressive qualities. The head joint of the traverso contains one embouchure hole across which air is blown, and the two body pieces each contain three equally sized finger holes. There is one key on the baroque flute. It is on the foot joint and was usually made out of metal. The traverso was made with a variety of materials including wood, ivory, and metal. While very few flutes remain from the Renaissance and Medieval eras, many Baroque flutes have been preserved.
While the flute was mostly used in ensembles and group performances during the Renaissance and Medieval eras, Baroque era composers began to write more music for the flute in operas, ballets, and chamber music. The traverso also began to take on the role of soloist. The first written work for the solo traverso was a piece written by Michael de la Barre entitled “Pièces pour la flute traversiere avec la basse-continue” in 1702. Other notable baroque flute composers include Praetorius, Schütz, Rebillé, Quantz, J.S Bach, Telemann, Blavet, Vivaldi, Hotteterre, Handel and Frederick the Great. Several books studying the Baroque flute were published during this time. In 1707, Jacques Martin Hotteterre wrote the first method book on playing the flute: Principes de la flûte traversière. The 1730s saw an increase in the use of the flute in opera and chamber music, and Quantz published his Essay of a Method of Playing the Transverse Flute near the end of this era.
The Baroque flute requires less airflow than the modern flute and produces much softer, mellower sounds, often blending in with other instruments in the orchestra. The baroque flute also requires the player to adjust the intonation more than modern flutes. Additional adjustments are needed when playing notes outside of the D major scale. The flutist can change pitch through small adjustments in the mouth and by turning the flute towards or away from the player.
Flutes began to lose favor in the early Romantic era as symphony orchestras tended to feature brass and strings. The 21st century has seen a rise in the popularity of the Baroque flute, by flutist Barthold Kuijken and others such as Frans Bruggen, Emi Ferguson, and Peter Holtslag.

Development

Boehm flute

In the nineteenth century, the great flautist, composer, acoustician, and silversmith Theobald Boehm began to make flutes. Keys were added to the flute, and the taper was changed to strengthen its lower register. The dimensions and key system of the modern western concert flute and its close relatives are strongly influenced by Boehm's design, which he patented in 1847. Minor additions to and variations on his key system are common, but the acoustical structure of the tube remains almost exactly as he designed it. Major innovations were the change from wood to metal, a large straight bore, a "parabolic" tapered headjoint bore, very large tone holes covered by keys, and the linked key system, which simplified fingering. The most substantial departures from Boehm's original description are the universal elimination of the "crutch" for the left hand and almost universal adoption of Briccialdi's thumb key mechanism and a closed-standing G key over an additional G tone hole. Boehm's key system, with minor variations, remains regarded as the most effective system of any modern woodwind, allowing trained instrumentalists to perform with facility in all keys. The modern flute has three octaves plus C₇–C₇–D₇ in the fourth octave. Many modern composers used the high D₇. While such extremes are not common, the modern flute can produce even higher notes.

19th-century variants

The Meyer flute was a popular flute in the mid 19th century. Including and derived from the instruments built by H.F. Meyer from 1850 to the late 1890s, it could have up to 12 keys and was built with head joints of either metal-lined ivory or wood. The final form was a combination of a traditional keyed flute and the Viennese flute, and became the most common throughout Europe and America. This form had 12 keys, a body of wood, a head joint of metal and ivory, and was common at the end of the century.
Quite at the opposite end of the spectrum, in terms of the complexity of the key system developed by Boehm, was the Giorgi flute, an advanced form of the ancient holed flute. Patented in 1897, the Giorgi flute was designed without any mechanical keys, though the patent allows for the addition of keys as options. Giorgi enabled the performer to play equally true in all musical keys, as does the Boehm system. Giorgi flutes are now rarities, found in museums and private collections. The underlying principles of both flute patterns are virtually identical, with tone holes spaced as required to produce a fully chromatic scale. The player, by opening and closing holes, adjusts the effective length of the tube, and thus the rate of oscillation, which defines the audible pitch.

Modified Boehm flute

In the 1950s, Albert Cooper modified the Boehm flute to make playing modern music easier. The flute was tuned to A440, and the embouchure hole was cut in a new way to change the timbre. These flutes became the most used flutes by professionals and amateurs.
In the 1980s, Johan Brögger modified the Boehm flute by fixing two major problems that had existed for nearly 150 years: maladjustment between certain keys and problems between the G and B keys. The result was non-rotating shafts, which gave a quieter sound and less friction on moving parts. Also, the modifications allowed for springs to be adjusted individually, and the flute was strengthened. The Brögger flute is only made by the Brannen Brothers and Miyazawa Flutes.

Characteristics

The flute is a transverse woodwind instrument that is closed at the blown end. It is played by blowing a stream of air over the embouchure hole. The pitch is changed by opening or closing keys that cover circular tone holes. Opening and closing the holes produces higher and lower pitches. Higher pitches can also be achieved through over-blowing, like most other woodwind instruments. The direction and intensity of the airstream also affects the pitch, timbre, and dynamics.
The piccolo is also commonly used in Western orchestras and bands. Alto flutes, pitched a fourth below the standard flute, and bass flutes, an octave below, are also used occasionally.
The standard concert flute, also called C flute, Boehm flute, silver flute, or simply flute, is pitched in C and has a potential range of three and a half octaves starting from the note C₄. The flute's highest pitch is usually given as C₇ or D₇. More experienced flautists are able to reach up to F₇, but notes above D₇ are difficult to produce. Modern flutes may have a longer foot joint, a B-footjoint, with an extra key to reach B₃.
From high to low, the members of the concert flute family include the following:

Piccolo in C or D
Treble flute in G
Soprano flute in E
Concert flute in C, described above
Flûte d'amour in B, A, or A
Alto flute in G
Bass flute in C
Contra-alto flute in G
Contrabass flute in C
Subcontrabass flute in G or C
Double contrabass flute in C
Hyperbass flute in C

Each of the above instruments has its own range. The piccolo reads music in C, but sounds one octave higher. The alto flute is in the key of G, and the low register extends to the G below middle C; its highest note is a high G. The bass flute is an octave lower than the concert flute, and the contrabass flute is an octave lower than the bass flute.
Less commonly seen flutes include the treble flute in G, pitched one octave higher than the alto flute; soprano flute, between the treble and concert; and tenor flute or flûte d'amour in B, A or A pitched between the concert and alto.
Flutes pitched lower than the bass flute were developed in the 20th century. These include the contra-alto flute, the subcontrabass flute, and the double contrabass flute. The flute sizes other than the concert flute and piccolo are sometimes called harmony flutes.