Timeline of the Flute
200 B.C. - Flutes had only tone holes, without keys and were made of bones. These flutes were used during hunting and in magic rituals. Some drawings of the early flute appear on Roman artifacts.
200 A.D.- Flutes were popular with the Romans and Etruscans but not by the Greeks. Flutes were used to entertain royalty, in theatrical productions, and at festivals and celebrations.
1000 A.D.- The flute seemed to not become as popular with the fall of Rome and they only began to reappear in Germany.
200 A.D.- Flutes were popular with the Romans and Etruscans but not by the Greeks. Flutes were used to entertain royalty, in theatrical productions, and at festivals and celebrations.
1000 A.D.- The flute seemed to not become as popular with the fall of Rome and they only began to reappear in Germany.
1300 - The flute appeared in non-Germanic European countries such as Spain, France, and Flanders.
Circa 1320 - The one piece, 2 inch wooden flute in the key of D was invented.
1400 - Flutes are shown in various sorts of pictures in all parts of Western Europe.
1460 - Flutes were introduced to the military.
1500 - Flutes were one of the most popular instruments of the Italian musical scene. It was simple to construct. Iit consisted of a cylinder tube with a cork stopper in the end, a blow hole, and six finger holes. They were also made into different sizes to handle different ranges in the music performances.
1511 - The Zwerchpfeiff was invented. It was narrower and it had six finger holes.
1529 - The flute family expanded. The descant, alto, tenor, and bass flutes are created.
Circa 1320 - The one piece, 2 inch wooden flute in the key of D was invented.
1400 - Flutes are shown in various sorts of pictures in all parts of Western Europe.
1460 - Flutes were introduced to the military.
1500 - Flutes were one of the most popular instruments of the Italian musical scene. It was simple to construct. Iit consisted of a cylinder tube with a cork stopper in the end, a blow hole, and six finger holes. They were also made into different sizes to handle different ranges in the music performances.
1511 - The Zwerchpfeiff was invented. It was narrower and it had six finger holes.
1529 - The flute family expanded. The descant, alto, tenor, and bass flutes are created.
1600 - The flute went out of favor during the first half of the 17th century because it couldn't compete in playing the new expressive style which the violin had made popular.
1619 - Praetorius Syntagma Musicum portrayed three Querflotten, with two octave ranges.
1636 - Flute Allemands appeared. The flutes now played in the key of D and G. It has a new cylindrical bore, and made out of wood.
1619 - Praetorius Syntagma Musicum portrayed three Querflotten, with two octave ranges.
1636 - Flute Allemands appeared. The flutes now played in the key of D and G. It has a new cylindrical bore, and made out of wood.
1670 - The French players of this period was the Jean Hotteterre family who were employed in the royal court created a new development of the flute.
The design included these following changes:
The design included these following changes:
- The body of the flute went from one piece to three pieces: the head, body and foot joint.
- The bore of the body became conical with the lower end of it being the smallest diameter
- The foot joint was also conical with the bore becoming larger at the bottom end. This type of design for the bore of the instrument has remained unchanged today in our modern piccolos.
- The tone hole remained six, much smaller and a key was added to form a E-flat
1720 - The body joint was divided into two parts which allowed the player to shift the pitch of it to be in tune with different orchestras. This instruments sounded best in the key of D and G.
1722 - The famous Flutist Quantz added a tuning cork in the head joint and a C-sharp key in the foot joint.
1726 - E-flat key was added to the foot joint.
1760 - The keys of G-sharp, B-flat and F keys were added by flute makers in London.
1722 - The famous Flutist Quantz added a tuning cork in the head joint and a C-sharp key in the foot joint.
1726 - E-flat key was added to the foot joint.
1760 - The keys of G-sharp, B-flat and F keys were added by flute makers in London.
1780 - The flute was appearing in instrumental music by Mozart and Hayden. Flute makers also added low C and C-sharp keys to the foot joint. By the end of the 18th century, two more keys were introduced which resulted in the eight keyed flute.
1800 - B-flat lever and left hand lever was added.
1808 - Rev. Frederick Nolan invented the open holes and links the keys to one another.
1800 - B-flat lever and left hand lever was added.
1808 - Rev. Frederick Nolan invented the open holes and links the keys to one another.
1810 - George Miller started making metal bores
1812 - Tebaldo Monzani put knobs on the mouth-hole.
1814 - James Wood in London made three tuning slides.
1820 - Theobald Boehm created a new design of the flute, which is the flute design that is so familiar to us today.
1830 - Beethoven used flutes in his symphonies.
1834 - Theobald Boehm's flute design becomes popular with the French and German flutist.
1846 - Boehm continues to perfect the flute while he studies at the University of Munich.
1812 - Tebaldo Monzani put knobs on the mouth-hole.
1814 - James Wood in London made three tuning slides.
1820 - Theobald Boehm created a new design of the flute, which is the flute design that is so familiar to us today.
1830 - Beethoven used flutes in his symphonies.
1834 - Theobald Boehm's flute design becomes popular with the French and German flutist.
1846 - Boehm continues to perfect the flute while he studies at the University of Munich.
1847 - Boehm produced a new design of this instrument. It had a cylindrical body, a foot joint, and a parabolic head joint. The holes were even bigger than before and he designed padded cups for each hole.
1855 - Boehm's flute won a gold metal at the Paris Exhibition
1878 - Theobald perfected his modern flute.
At the end of the 1800s - Flutes were played in orchestral scores of Brahms, Strauss and Tchaikovsky.
1900s - The flutes have mostly stayed the same as the model that Theoblad Boehm made with a few changes, such as a G-sharp lever, a "Gizmo" key and, a cork in the head joint for tuning the flute.