Baroque Flute Handbook
 |
A reader has identified this book as an undeveloped draft or outline. You can help to develop the work, or you can ask for assistance in the project room. |
The Baroque flute was popular for about a hundred years from the late 1600s through the late 1700s. It's known by several names:
- Traverso
- German flute
- One-keyed (or single-keyed) flute
Traverso is the name preferred by many for historical reasons. This book will also use Baroque flute because it accurately names the instrument for modern readers.
Even though multi-keyed flutes gradually supplanted the Baroque flute at the end of the 18th Century, one-keyed flutes continued to be made and used into modern times. The flutes used for Irish music are probably the best example of these. However, Irish flutes differ in some important respects from true Baroque flutes because they the former are designed to hold their own when playing with a group of other Irish instruments. In general, the Baroque flute has the following characteristics:
- It is made of wood, of which the most commonly used are boxwood, ebony, and grenadilla.
- It has a conical bore that is wide at the end with the embouchure hole and tapers to become significantly more narrow at the bottom.
- It has relatively small embouchure and finger holes.
- It has 6 finger holes plus a 7th hole on the far end that is closed unless opened by a single key.
- Its body is divided into 3 or 4 joints: a headjoint that contains the embouchure hole, 1 or 2 middle joints with 6 finger holes divided among them, and a footjoint having a 7th hole and key.
The Baroque flute returned to popularity in the 20th Century as interest grew in music, instruments, and performance practices of earlier times. While it is easier to find information about the Baroque flute than was once the case, that information tends to be scattered across a variety of sources, much of it in the form of an "oral tradition" passed among the community of makers and players. Even among experts, opinions on some matters vary widely. For the newcomer, this can be at times confusing and frustrating. The purpose of this handbook is to collect some of this material in one place, hoping it will be useful for beginners as well as more advanced players.
