A few popular alto flute pieces include Variations on the Willow Tree (for alto flute alone, by Garth Baxter), and Afterglow (for flute and electronics, by John Palmer). It can also be used as a solo instrument. It’s clear to see that composers have been welcoming the alto into the orchestra for quite some time.Īlto flute is frequently used as a harmony instrument in flute choirs. Ravel included a solo for this instrument in his version of Daphnis et Chloe. It can be heard in pieces such as The Planets, in the movement Neptune, as well as in the famous Rite of Spring. In addition, flutists such as Barry Griffiths (GrizzlyFlute) arrange innumerable genres with this instrument.Even video game music! Let’s check out one of his creative multi-frame videos here to see what he does with it!Ĭomposers such as Stravinsky, Ravel, and Holst have brought the alto flute under the shining lights of the orchestra. Alto flute music has been becoming more and more prevalent in contemporary pieces. You might be wondering what kind of flute repertoire is out there for the alto flute. It doesn’t produce the piercing sharpness that can occur in higher flutes, even as the notes progress up the staff. It is much more mellow than its more popular family members, the piccolo and the concert flute.Īs we work our way up the range, the alto flute begins to sound even more ethereal and mild in the high range. This lends to those beautiful, dark low notes. This flute takes more air than the concert C flute, due to its larger size. The alto flute is renowned for its rich tone color, especially in the lower register. We can’t talk about the alto flute without mentioning its tone. In England, they call the alto flute "the bass flute." So if you’re listening to someone else talk about members of the flute family, remember that the language (and the speaker's background!) can vary! Tone But it’s nothing a lot of practice and long tones can’t solve! They Call It What?! Like other woodwinds, the closer the alto flute gets to this altissimo range, the more airy and difficult it becomes to get a good tone on the instrument. More advanced alto flute players can often reach the Db7 above the G.
Take a look at a comparison of the alto flutes range vs. It’s called the flute d’amour, but it’s very uncommon. Interestingly, there is one more flute in between the range of the C concert flute and the alto flute. The alto flute's range begins almost where the C flutes range ends, making it perfectly designed for extending flute arrangements into lower note territory. By comparison, the typical C flute ranges from C4-C7. The alto flutes range is from G3-G6 on the staff. Since the alto flute is a transposing instrument, when an alto flute player reads a C on the staff, it will sound a G below that on the piano. Let’s talk a little more about alto flute transposition. The alto flute is pitched in G, which means that it sounds a 4th lower than written. Since the alto flute is lower than the C concert flute but higher than the bass flute (which sounds exactly one octave below the concert C flute), you might be wondering about the alto flute’s key. (This was not the first alto flute made, but after Boehm made his model, the concept really took off.) So, even though that seems like a long time ago, this flute is unique in that it is very new to the flute timeline! Range and Key Theobald Boehm, the inventor of the modern flute system, made his first alto flute around 1850. But the alto flute, and other harmony flutes, are much newer. They’ve even been found dating back from the paleolithic ages.
It’s no news that flutes have been around for a very long time.
It’s not an uncommon instrument, but it isn’t played nearly as often as the C flute. The alto flute is a part of the flute family, like the C (soprano) flute, and the bass flute.
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