Flute

High school (ages 12+)
Art & Creativity

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/flute

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the instrument family?Woodwind instrument (though modern concert flutes are often metal)
2. What is the earliest known examples?Bone and ivory flutes dating back over 40,000 years (Paleolithic era)
3. What is a flute and how does it make sound?A flute is a wind instrument that makes sound when you blow air across a small hole. The air creates a vortex that makes the air inside the flute vibrate, and the keys change the length of that air column to change the pitch.
4. How old is the flute?Flutes are very old—scientists have found flutes that are at least 40,000 years old in German caves. Those early flutes were made from bird bones and mammoth ivory.

Embouchure: The way a musician shapes their mouth and lips to produce a sound on a wind instrument.
Aerophone: A musical instrument that produces sound by the vibration of air, such as flutes, trumpets, and clarinets.
Boehm System: A revolutionary flute key system developed by Theobald Boehm, greatly improving intonation and ease of playing.
Multiphonics: A technique where a wind instrument player produces more than one note simultaneously.