Flautastica — Concert Flute Range and Choice | flautastica.com
Medieval flutes of 1000–1400, the Renaissance traverso, Boehm the silversmith and his 1847 patent, and the modified Boehm flute used today.
Medieval flutes of roughly 1000–1400 were simple transverse tubes without a key mechanism. Intonation and chromatic notes depended entirely on fingerings and embouchure.
The Renaissance traverso refined the tube and added a single key, giving players a reliable low note while leaving the rest of the chromatic scale to forked fingerings.
Theobald Boehm was a flautist, composer, acoustician and silversmith who began to make flutes in the nineteenth century. His silversmithing background informed both the mechanism and the metalwork.
On narrow screens, swipe or scroll the plate sideways.
He patented his design in 1847. Keys were added to the flute, and the taper was changed to strengthen its lower register — the two structural changes layered onto the original tube.
The result is the modified Boehm flute used today. The acoustical structure of Boehm's tube remains almost exactly as he designed it, which is why the range figures from C4 to C7 or D7 hold across modern instruments.
Read together with the range table, the timeline explains why a first flute has the key coverage and low-register response a beginner needs.
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