The flute is one of the most common orchestral instruments; you can find it in primary school bands, symphony orchestras, pop and rock bands, and even in TV shows like Brooklyn 99 and movies like Anchorman. But what about the other members of the flute family? Where can we find them and what do they sound like? Read on to learn more about just five of the most common members of the extensive flute family!

Piccolo

The piccolo is the smallest and highest instrument of the modern flute family. Its origins can be traced from small bone and wooden transverse flutes, through the fife in the Middle Ages and Baroque Period, to the modern mechanical developments of the instrument we use today. It was originally used as a military instrument, a tradition carried through to modern military and marching bands which are particularly celebrated in the USA. Today, the piccolo is also commonly found in orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Over the last 50 years, the piccolo has begun to move beyond its role as an auxiliary instrument, propelled by the rise in exceptional piccoloists and pedagogues such as Patricia Morris, Nicola Mazzanti, Gudrun Hinze, and Australia's own Rosamund Plummer, Andrew Macleod, Julia Grenfell, Sonia Croucher, Kate Lawson, and Lloyd Hudson. This has led to an increase in compositions for solo piccolo such as Parable XII by Vincent Persichetti, Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra by Lowell Liebermann, and Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra by Paul Stanhope. Piccolo is strongly becoming a primary instrument in its own right, assisted by great teachers, method books, and events such as the International Piccolo Festival.

Beginner piccolos are generally made from composite materials and a silver-plated mechanism, whereas more advanced instruments are made from grenadilla wood with a sterling silver or - less commonly – gold mechanism. Other frequently used exotic woods include rosewood and cocus wood.

Flute

The modern flute is often referred to as a C flute, concert flute, or simply a flute. It is the most common member of the flute family, championed by the mechanical and acoustical innovations of Theobald Böhm in 1847. As the flute has experienced enduring popularity and adoration since its earliest origins, it can be found in a variety of musical contexts, from the Sydney Opera House with the classical sounds of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, to pop-icon Lizzo at the Grammy's, and prog British rock with Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.

The flute is most commonly made from metals like copper, silver, gold, and platinum. However, some modern musicians still prefer the sweetness and mellowness of the metal flute's predecessors, the wooden Baroque and Classical flutes. Therefore, some flutists also play on wooden flutes or headjoints such as Swiss classical flutist Sébastian Jacot.

Alto Flute

The modern alto flute is longer and larger than a concert flute and, therefore, lower in pitch. Confusingly, the alto flute was historically referred to as a bass flute as it was, at the time, the lowest flute. Once the bass flute was invented, the alto was thereafter described as an 'alto flute in G.'

In early keyless iterations of the instrument, the combination of tube length and large spacing between holes made it very difficult to play. Böhm's innovations in the mid-1850s improved the playability of the alto flute, using the mechanism design from his C flute with the addition of other levers and keys to alleviate stretching of the hands and fingers. Since then, there have been small changes made by instrument makers such as Rudall and Carte and, more recently, Eva Kingma. Today's alto flute is silver-plated or made from sterling silver and can be purchased with a straight or curved headjoint.

The alto flute can be found in flute ensembles and private studios but has also been included in several orchestral compositions such as Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Holst's The Planets.

Bass Flute

The bass flute sounds an octave lower than a C flute and uses a curved headjoint. The invention of the modern bass flute is attributed to British manufacturers Rudall and Rose in the 1930s, with an honourable mention to Abelardo Albisi's 'Albisiphone' bass flute of the 1910s which was more similar to a modern vertical bass flute. Since the 1930s, other craftspeople have further developed the bass flute, including Kotato & Fukushima and Eva Kingma.

Bass flutes are now commonly manufactured by respected companies around the world such as Jupiter, Di Zhao, Yamaha, Pearl, and Kingma. Though it is still a relatively uncommon instrument in ensembles beyond the flute choir, there is an emerging body of solo works by composers including Katherine Hoover, Mike Mower, and Gary Shocker.

Contrabass Flute

If you thought the bass flute was the lowest flute, surprise! The contrabass is in C and sounds two octaves lower than a C flute. It was invented in 1988 by Kotato & Fukushima and introduced to the global flute community at the National Flute Association Convention in San Diego, USA, in the same year.

The contrabass uses roughly 2.7m (9 ft) of tubing compared to the 66cm (26 inch) in a standard flute. To ensure the instrument can be supported and played, the flute stands vertically on a support pin and the headjoint comes across the face horizontally. Due to its relatively recent development and large price tag, there are only a handful of compositions that include the contrabass – ensemble or solo. One fascinating contribution to the bass flute repertoire is Sex Magic by Australian composer, Liza Lim, written for contrabass flute, live electronics and installation of kinetic instruments!

Five Members of the Flute Family

How to Care for Your Wooden Piccolo