A Brief History of the Flute

The flute is one of the oldest instruments in the history of mankind. Instruments of the woodwind family date back all the way to Bible times, in Genesis 4:21 it mentions a man by the name of Yuval "who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe." This could be taken to mean that this Yuval fellow invented these instruments or that it was one of his descendants, the widely accepted belief is that he is in fact the original inventor of the flute.

Flutes have been made from all kinds of different materials over time and still are to this day. They have been made from wood, bone, horns, reeds, and many other things including more interesting materials like hooves! In 2004 there was an ancient flute found that had been made from a mammoth tusk.

There are many different theories as to why the flute was created, some scientists believe that the flute was created so that people could signal one another with greater ease. It is also suggested that they were made in some way for hunting. On the other hand however for those who believe that the Bible is accurate and that Yuval was the inventor of the flute, then those suggestions would seemingly be void. If Yuval created the harp for music, then surely he created the flute for music as well.

As time has passed many different kinds of flutes have been introduced into the array that exists. There are those that are one pipe with differing numbers of holes. The more common flute in the United States is the Western Concert Flute, while in other places like India they play the Indian Bamboo Flute which was developed separately from the Western Concert Flute. There are also pan flutes which have several different pipes of different put together to make one single instrument. There are advantages and disadvantages to the pan flute. The main advantage is that it is easier to play than the regular one piped flute, however there is a loss of control when it is played.