Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwindfamily. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, aflute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrumentthat produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening. According to the instrument classification of Hornbostel–Sachs, flutes are categorized as edge-blown aerophones.

A musician who plays the flute can be referred to as a flute player, a flautist, a flutist, or, less commonly, a fluter. The term flutenist, found in English up tothe 18th century, is no longer used.

Asidefrom the voice, flutes are the earliest known musical instruments. A number of flutes dating to about 43,000 to 35,000 years ago have been found in theSwabian Alb region of Germany. These flutes demonstrate that a developed musical tradition existedfrom the earliest period of modern human presencein Europe.