Editing Flute (section)

{{short description|Woodwind instrument}}
{{About|the whole family of instruments|the flute commonly used in orchestras and bands|Western concert flute|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
[[File:Shinobue and other flutes-3.jpg|alt=Picture of a collection of flutes. Contains Shinobue and other flutes spread out on a violet velveteen cloth.|thumb|[[Shinobue]] and other flutes]]
{{Brass}}
The '''flute''' is a member of a family of musical instruments in the [[woodwind]] group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are [[aerophones]], producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In the [[Hornbostel–Sachs]] classification system, flutes are [[edge-blown aerophones]].<ref>{{cite journal |title= Classification of Musical Instruments: Translated from the Original German by Anthony Baines and Klaus P. Wachsmann |author1-first= Erich M. |author1-last= von Hornbostel |author2-first=Curt |author2-last= Sachs |journal= The Galpin Society Journal |volume= 14 |date= March 1961| pages= 24–25 |doi= 10.2307/842168 |jstor= 842168 |url= https://www.jstor.org/stable/842168 |quote= 4 Aerophones The air itself is the vibrator in the primary sense&nbsp;... 421 Edge instruments or flutes a narrow stream of air is directed against an edge|url-access= subscription }}</ref> A musician who plays the flute is called a '''flautist''' or '''flutist'''.

[[Paleolithic flute]]s with hand-bored holes are the earliest known identifiable musical instruments. A number of flutes dating to about 53,000 to 45,000 years ago have been found in the [[Swabian Jura]] region of present-day [[Germany]], indicating a developed musical tradition from the earliest period of modern human presence in [[Europe]].<ref name="NYTimes">{{Cite journal| last = Wilford| first = John N.| title = Flutes Offer Clues to Stone-Age Music | volume =459| issue = 7244| pages =  248–52| date = 24 June 2009 | pmid = 19444215| doi = 10.1038/nature07995 |bibcode = 2009Natur.459..248C | journal = Nature | s2cid = 205216692}}. Citation on p. 248.
*{{cite news |author=John Noble Wilford |date=June 24, 2009 |title=Flutes Offer Clues to Stone-Age Music |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/25/science/25flute.html |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="jhevol">{{Cite journal| title = Τesting models for the beginnings of the Aurignacian and the advent of figurative art and music: The radiocarbon chronology of Geißenklösterle | journal = Journal of Human Evolution|year=2012 | doi = 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.03.003| last1 = Higham| first1 = Thomas| last2 = Basell| first2 = Laura| last3 = Jacobi| first3 = Roger| last4 = Wood| first4 = Rachel| last5 = Ramsey| first5 = Christopher Bronk| last6 = Conard| first6 = Nicholas J.| volume = 62| issue = 6| pages = 664–76| pmid = 22575323| bibcode = 2012JHumE..62..664H}}</ref> While the oldest flutes currently known were found in Europe, Asia also has a long history with the instrument. A playable bone flute discovered in China is dated to about 9,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite press release |title=Brookhaven Lab Expert Helps Date Flute Thought to be Oldest Playable Musical Instrument, Bone flute found in China at 9,000-year-old Neolithic site |date=September 22, 1999 |publisher=Brookhaven National Laboratory |url=https://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/1999/bnlpr092299.html |access-date=December 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071030084138/http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/pubaf/pr/1999/bnlpr092299.html |archive-date=October 30, 2007}}</ref> The Americas also had an ancient flute culture, with instruments found in [[Caral]], [[Peru]], dating back 5,000 years <ref>{{cite web |title= Music in the Ancient Andes |date= August 2009 |publisher= Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date= 10 December 2020 | url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/muan/hd_muan.htm |quote=Thirty-two tubular horizontal flutes were discovered in Caral&nbsp;... made with pelican and condor bones could produce seven different sounds&nbsp;... the discoveries at Caral proved that music was an integral part of the ritual life of the Andean people 5000 years ago.}}</ref> and in [[Labrador]] dating back about 7,500 years.<ref name="Goss_2019_dev_flutes_northamerica">{{cite web |last=Goss |first=Clint |title=The Development of Flutes in North America |url=http://www.Flutopedia.com/dev_flutes_northamerica.htm |date=22 November 2019 |website=Flutopedia |access-date=10 December 2020}}</ref>

The [[bamboo flute]] has a long history, especially in China and India. Flutes have been discovered in historical records and artworks starting in the [[Zhou dynasty]] ({{Circa}}1046–256 BC). The oldest written sources reveal the Chinese were using the [[Guan (instrument)|kuan]] (a reed instrument) and [[Xiao (flute)|hsio]] (or xiao, an [[end-blown flute]], often of bamboo) in the 12th–11th centuries BC, followed by the chi (or ch'ih) in the 9th century BC and the yüeh in the 8th century BC.<ref name=sachs1>{{cite book |title= The History of Musical Instruments |last=Sachs |first= Kurt |publisher= W. W. Norton & Company |place= New York |date= 1940|pages= 178–179 }}</ref> Of these, the bamboo chi is the oldest documented [[transverse flute]].<ref name=sachs1/><ref>{{cite web |title=Ancient Chinese Musical Instrument's Depicted On Some Of The Early Monuments In The Museum|publisher= [[University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology]]|url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/1401/ |quote=The [[Erya|Erh Ya]] (c. 400 B.C.) says the ch'ih was made of bamboo, its length was 16 inches, one hole opened upwards, and it was blown transversely. }}</ref>

Musicologist [[Curt Sachs]] called the cross flute (Sanskrit: vāṃśī) "the outstanding wind instrument of ancient India", and said that religious artwork depicting "celestial music" instruments was linked to music with an "aristocratic character".<ref name=sachs2>{{cite book |title= The History of Musical Instruments |last=Sachs |first= Kurt |publisher= W. W. Norton & Company |place= New York |date= 1940|pages= 158–159, 180 }}</ref> The Indian bamboo cross flute, [[Bansuri]], was sacred to [[Krishna]], who is depicted with the instrument in [[Hindu]] art.<ref name=sachs2/> In India, the [[transverse flute|cross flute]] appeared in reliefs from the 1st century AD at [[Sanchi]] and [[Amaravati#History|Amaravati]] from the 2nd–4th centuries AD.<ref name=sachs2/><ref name=MusINstrNepal>{{cite book |title=Musical Instruments of Nepal |last=Kadel |first=Ram Prasad |publisher=Nepali Folk Instrument Museum |place=Katmandu, Nepal| date=2007 |pages= 45|isbn= 978-99946-883-0-2|quote=Banshi&nbsp;... \transverse flute&nbsp;... made from bamboo with six finger holes&nbsp;... known as Lord Krishna's instrument.}}</ref>

According to historian Alexander Buchner, there were flutes in Europe in prehistoric times, but they disappeared from the continent until flutes arrived from Asia by way of "North Africa, Hungary, and Bohemia".<ref name=pichistory>{{cite book |last= Buchner |first= Alexander |title= Colour Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments |publisher= Hamlyn |place= New York | date= 1980 | isbn= 0-600-36421-6|pages=64–65}}</ref> The end-blown flute began to be seen in illustration in the 11th century.<ref name=pichistory/> Transverse flutes entered Europe through [[Byzantium]] and were depicted in Greek art about 800 AD.<ref name=sachs3>{{cite book |title= The History of Musical Instruments |last=Sachs |first= Kurt |publisher= W. W. Norton & Company |place= New York |date= 1940|pages= 287–288 }}</ref> The transverse flute had spread into Europe by way of Germany, and was known as the German flute.<ref name=sachs3/>