Haley Robinson,

Mr. Meyers

Concert Band

28th October, 2010

The History of the C Flute

All throughout history, one instrument is constantly seen in historical evidence; the flute.

Although the cross flute, German flute, transverse flute and flauto traverse might not be the same

type of flute one may play in concert band; they had one main similarity; they’re played parallel

to the ground making those same flutes the early ancestor of today’s flute.

The earliest flutes are shown in history are in two hundred BC pre-Christian Roman

artifacts where such drawings of the cross flute are shown and evidence from three hundred AD

suggests it was played by both Ancient Romans and Etruscans. Thanks to the Byzantines, the

earliest models of the flute (in the key of D) were found all through out Western Europe by the

fourteenth century. Within a hundred years, Henry VIII’s large collection of flutes with a cork

stopper and shape like today’s flute but with a limited range (different sizes of flutes were used

for different ranges, smaller the flute…the higher it went) made the flute a critical component in

Italian music. In sixteen-seventy, the evolution of the flute progressed as the Jean Hotteterre

family made improvements such as making it a three part instrument (head joint, body, and foot

joint), making the body of the flute conical, and downsizing the size of the six keys to add a key

to allowing it to produce an E-flat and playing chromatics using cross fingerings. This

eventually progressed to London flute-makers adding G-sharp, B-flat, and F keys in seventeen-

sixty. All of these improvements increased the popularity of the flute as Mozart and Hayden
made musical arrangements including/for it and extending the range to include low C and C-

sharp making it also popular in Celtic ensembles by the end of the eighteen century.

In the early to mid eight hundreds, Theobald Boehm revolutionized the flute to what it is

today. Boehm was originally a goldsmith and a jeweler but his love of music transformed him

into a flute maker and professional flutist in the royal court’s orchestra in Munich. Within

thirteen years of playing and making flutes, he attended a concert of Charles Nicholson of

England where flutes had larger finger holes making a better sounding tone. There, he realized

that the tone holes would have to be spaced for good intonation meaning a new mechanism

would be needed to allow the extension of the fingers… a conical design allowed this. By

eighteen forty-three, Boehm patented the structure. He wasn’t done improving the flute. Three

years later, he studied acoustics with Carl von Schafhautl at the University of Munich. This lead

to the design of padded cups for keys larger than earlier of his models and a U-shaped head-joint.

Not many changes have been made since to flute other than the fact a U-shaped head-joint

normally used for young children learning to play flute since their short neck doesn’t allow the

extension to play the more tube shaped modern head-joint.

Due to fact the flute has been around for so long, the reason why the flute was

made is unknown. It is in fact the oldest woodwind instrument and was once only made out of

wood, bones, and tusk. Love or hate the flute, the flute will always be the high note to any

concert band.
 Pitch Tendencies
Pitch Tendency Average Intonation on How To Fix
Instrument
C Flat 12 cents flat Direct air up
C# Flat 12 cents flat Direct air up
D Flat 6 cents flat Push in
D# Flat 7 cents flat Push in
E Flat 4 cents flat Push in
F Flat In Tune Push in
F# Flat 5 cents sharp Push in
G Flat 3 cents flat Push in
G# Flat 6 cents sharp Direct air up
A Flat 14 cents sharp Roll out
A# Flat 4 cents sharp Roll out
B Flat 1 cent sharp Push in
C Sharp 10 cents sharp Direct air down
C# Very sharp 50 cents sharp Direct air down
D Flat 28 cents sharp Push in
D# Flat 3 cents flat Push in
E Flat 4 cents flat Push in
F Flat 3 cents flat Push in
F# Sharp 17 cents sharp Pull out
G Sharp 20 cents sharp Roll in
G# Sharp 28 cents sharp Roll in
A Sharp 10 cents sharp Roll in
A# Sharp 10 cents sharp Pull out
B Sharp 35 cents sharp Pull out
C Sharp 33 cents sharp Roll in
C# Very sharp 38 cents sharp Roll in and depress
right hand fingerings
D Flat 20 cents flat Push in
D# Sharp 47 cents sharp Push out
E Sharp 35 cents sharp Push out
F Flat 30 cents flat Push in
F# Flat 20 cents flat Push in
G Sharp 8 cents sharp Push out
G# Sharp 31 cents sharp Push out
A Sharp 7 cents sharp Push out
A# Flat 4 cents flat Push in
B Flat 13 cents flat Push in
C Sharp 28 cents sharp Push out
 Websites used:
 http://www.gemeinhardt.com/history.asp

 http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Who_invented_the_flute

 http://wwwcshs.stjohns.k12.fl.us/band/Pitch%20Tendencies%20of%20Instruments.pdf

 http://bjhmusic.homestead.com/Pitch_Tendency_Chart_Guide-_Flute.pdf

 http://www.bethchandler.com/downloads/Flute%20Intonation.pdf

 http://www.hhsbands.com/forms/Pitch%20Tendency/Flutepitch.pdf