Soprano flute

MissyHPhoenix · Post by **MissyHPhoenix** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 8:06 am

I just had a wild hair thought and wanted to see if anybody could give me a hint on it.

Why is the regular flute (ie the one we all play in band) called the "C" flute? I know, concert flute, but if we have the alto, bass, and treble flutes that are different, why wouldn't the "concert" flute be the soprano?

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 1:46 pm

There actually is a soprano flute. It is in the key of E flat. My flute choir had one at one time, but we sold it to help finance an alto which is much more logical. The soprano flute has fallen out of use and as far as I know, no longer made.

asoalin · Post by **asoalin** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 2:36 pm

I'd never heard of a soprano flute before. Here's a blurb on it. Interesting....

http://kjt.glis.net/tealflutestudio/PiccoloEbTenor.html

fluteguy18 · Post by **fluteguy18** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 6:37 pm

I currently have two Eb flutes in my possession. They're owned by my University but they haven't been touched in ages. My teacher has let me borrow them to do some repair work on them. They're in pretty good shape actually but need some cleaning and light adjusting.

As for sound and intonation.... EEK! Talk about an educational experiment gone wrong! It's no wonder they aren't made any more.

fluttiegurl · Post by **fluttiegurl** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 8:43 pm

Sound and intonation were the biggest issues with ours, not to mention the lack of repertoire

Arlee · Post by **Arlee** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 4:52 pm

It is called a C flute because it is in the key of C meaning when you see a C written and finger a C, the note sounded is actually a C. Alto flutes are actually in the key of G so if you finger a C you sound a G, which can be quite disconcerting if you aren't used to it

I believe the bass flute and contrabass flutes are both also in the key of C though I could be wrong as I don't have experience playing them.

wkzh · Post by **wkzh** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 7:34 am

Well, these are just names... Take for example the clarinet: the common Bb clarinet we see is actually a "soprano clarinet" although its range extends an octave below a soprano singer. Some have suggested that the flute family be named similar to the saxophone family: indeed, the ranges of the saxophone family do correspond to vocal ranges, so it's more logical.

It's called "concert" because, well, I suppose it's because the other flutes aren't used for concerts? It may make a little sense, because there are a lot of flutes out there which are really unsuitable for most concert use. Not too sure, someone enlighten me too!

Arlee · Post by **Arlee** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:35 am

It's called "concert" because, well, I suppose it's because the other flutes aren't used for concerts? It may make a little sense, because there are a lot of flutes out there which are really unsuitable for most concert use. Not too sure, someone enlighten me too!

I think, and clearly this is just my own supposition, that calling the modern flute a concert flute just came about from people who didn't realize what the C stood for. But like I said I don't really know why that would happen

Also might have soemthing to do with modern flutes are designed so they can easily be played with different types of instruments, which wasn't always the case.

As for the clarinet, I had never heard that the Bb one was concidered a soprano clarinet. I always thought the E (might be Eb i can't remember for sure though) would be concidered the soprano of the clairnet family. That's really interesting to think about though.

As for the saxophone ranges it is sort of funny because they have the sopronino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and contrabass saxes (i think there might be one more I am forgetting)... I never realized they actually corisponded to the vocal ranges though.

wkzh · Post by **wkzh** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:54 am

Actually I think that the term "C flute" came later. Go read some of those more historical books, nobody calls it a "C flute", usually "concert" or just simply, "flute." The "C" may have come about because bands usually have Bb Eb F whatnot instruments, so there may have been a distinction there. Perhaps there's the difference of "concert" and "band" flutes because indeed, band flutes were in Eb and Bb as well, a commoner example being the Db piccolo.

Ummm I think Eb clarinets are called sopranos too. And for the saxophones, they don't exactly correspond, but to a appreciable degree. It would, however, make sense for flutes to be named that way because they would correspond to the vocal ranges. A concert flute would be a soprano, alto and alto, the bass a tenor, the contr'alto a baritone, the contrabass a bass. The rest will just have other names made up, like piccolo or subcontrabass.