The Flute

  
HEY! Thinking of considering band in the near future? Not sure what instrument is right for you? Well this is the perfect instrument! The Flute. Would you like to know why It's so great? Well read on and find out.

The Flute is a woodwind instrument with 18 keys. Only 9 of which can be pressed at any one time.

If you were to stay at the top of the flute and work your way down, there would be over 6 different important pieces that make the flute work. At the very top we have the Crown, which is at the top of the Head Joint. Following after is the lip plate and embouchure hole these two parts are what are used to make the sound. Then there is the turning slide, also known as the tenon which attaches the head joint and the body piece. The next part is the body piece which contains all of the different keys. At the very end is the foot joint were the end of the instrument is. 

The clef that this instrument is played is Treble Clef as shown below is what a Treble Clef looks like on a sheet of music. This is located at the very beginning of each arrangement.

Most traces of the flute were found in the 10th century from the Byzantium but others report that the earliest was that of the Chinese Chi Flute. This said to be the earliest of the transverse Flute design. However, later on in time in 1832 Theobald Böhm, a German inventor and musician, came up with today's modern design for the instrument. Giving it a more bowl like shapes, and adding more octaves.

Thus now having a higher pitch for the instrument it was lead on to play important parts in orchestra. With it's fluttering sound it made music more soft and alluring.

If you want to make a sound you first need good posture. Sit upright at the end of your chair with both feet on the ground. Make sure your not slouching or leaning back and make sure to keep your arms up with playing.

    To make the sound with a flute you must first place your bottom lip so it has the lip place resting just above it. Next, you must open your lips a little bit and blow OVER the hole. Watch so you don't blow directly into it, this is challenging for some but many become used to it over time. Once you have gotten the hang of blowing over the hole, make a "To" sound when you want to play a note. Press the keys and blow making the sound. This is called tonguing and makes the note more crisp.

This video is a great example of a good warm up activity on how to play the flute. Notice how her lip is blowing right over the embouchure hole and not into it?

Now with all this said and done you can't make anything work if you can't put the instrument together!
Start by placing the case with the clips at the side right side up. Open the case while making sure everything is in place. Take out the head joint from the side first. Always remember to pull the piece out from the sides, do not rip it out by it's keys because this will surly ruin the instrument. Next, Use a cleaning solution to cleanse it of any residue of germs. Dip ONLY the embouchure plate and hole in the liquid and rinse in water. Dry well and blow in to make sure everything is out. Now, take the body tube out and remove the cleaning stick located inside. Slowly put the head joint into the larger end with the hole on the body piece. Finally, take out the last piece of the Flute, the foot joint and twist the piece slowly onto the end of the body piece that has the smaller hole. If you can't, ask for some oil or assistance from your teacher.

Things to remember about your flute:

• The flute is not a toy, it's an instrument and needs to be taken care of.
• Don't swing the instrument around or leave it in places it could get damaged.
• Keep it in a safe place while in it's case.
• Only pull the pieces out of the case from the sides, never the keys.
• Keep the instrument sterile, don't play while food is still left in your mouth. ( No gum! )

See how awesome The Flute is? Pretty cool! In my time of playing it I found it to be a great thing to play and it's very fun when you put the work into it.

Thanks to

1. http://www.flutehistory.com/
2. http://www.aboutmusic.org/
3. http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/music/flute/
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/orchestras/learn/guidetotheorchestra/#
5. http://www.artsalive.ca/en/mus/instrumentlab/woodwinds.html#flute
6. http://library.thinkquest.org/5116/
7. http://www2.si.umich.edu/chico/instrument And
8. http://www.sbgmusic.com/html/teacher/reference/instruments/flutes.html

For all the information I used in this post.

-Sam