The Flute Family

The piccolo (piccolo flute) is the second most commonly used instrument after the flute. As the Italian word piccolo means ‘small’, it is about half the size of a flute. This one does not have a foot pipe like the flute, but is divided into a head joint and a body. It produces a note one octave higher than the flute.

Has a slightly larger tube than the flute and produces an even lower sound than the flute. The head joint can be straight like a standard flute or bent into a U-shape. This is to prevent the instrument becoming too difficult to hold due to the long tube.
The fingering is the same as that of the flute, but because it is tuned to G, it is a transposed instrument that produces a note that is a full 4 tones lower than the flute.

Produces a note one octave lower than the flute. Like the alto flute, the head joint is bent in a U-shape. There are models with hand rests and pegs to make the instrument easier to hold.

There are other types of flute, such as the contrabass flute and soprano flute. These flutes are mainly used in flute ensembles (ensembles within only the flute family).

A transverse flute that was the forerunner of today’s flutes. Compared to today’s flutes (modern flutes), it has a simpler construction and has no complicated key mechanism. The instrument is made of wood.