Flute
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The Flute is a woodwind instrument. Most flutes are made of metal, usually silver ; modern flutes are only occasionally made of wood. The flute is used in orchestras, wind bands, and jazz bands to give a bright, silvery sound. It is played by blowing across the blowhole. Apart from the piccolo, the flute is the only instrument in the orchestra that is played in this way.
| Family |
| Woodwinds |
| Pitch range |
| Three octaves. |
| Material |
| Occasionally wood, but usually metal-often silver, but also sometimes gold or even platinum. |
| Size |
| 26 in (66 cm) long ; just under 1 in (2.5 cm) in diameter. |
| Origins |
| Wooden flutes were used in medieval Europe as military instruments. In the mid-19th century, Boehm's complex key system revolutionized the instrument. |
| Classification |
| Aerophone: an instrument that produces its sound by the vibration of a column of air. |
| And also... |
| The flute's haunting sound has long been linked with magical properties, as in Mozart's opera. "The Magic Flute," or in the Pied-Piper legend. |
