Western concert flute

The Western concert flute can refer to the common C concert flute or to the family of transverse (side-blown) 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.

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.

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.

Beginning in the 1470s, the use of the flute in military contexts (the Swiss army used flutes for signalling, for example) led to its spread through Europe. In the late 16th century, flutes began to appear in court and theatre music (in predecessors of the modern orchestra), 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 (used by singers and other musicians since their introduction in the 11th century) 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 (or two for the larger sizes) and had a cylindrical bore. As a result, this flute had a rather soft sound and was used primarily in the "soft consort".