Flageolet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Flageolet (disambiguation).
A flageolet is a woodwind musical instrument and a member of the fipple flute family. The first flageolets were made in the 16th Century and the instrument continued to be made until the 20th Century when it was succeeded by the tin whistle.
Flageolets have varied greatly during the last 400 years. The first flageolets were called "French flageolets", and have four tone-holes on the front and two on the back. This instrument was played by Samuel Pepys, and Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel both wrote pieces for it. Small versions of this instrument, called bird flageolets were also made and were used for teaching birds to sing. The number of keys on French flageolets range from none to seven, the exception being the Boehm system French flageolet made by Buffet crampon which had thirteen keys.
In the late 18th and early 19th century certain English instrument makers started to make flageolets with six finger-holes on the front. These instruments are called "English flageolets" and were eventually produced in metal as tin whistles. The keys range between none and six. Some were produced with changeable top joints which allowed the flageolet to be played as a flute or fife
An English maker, William Bainbridge, in around 1810 patented a double flageolet which consisted of two English flageolets joined together so that the player could harmonise the tunes that he played. He also produced a triple flageolet which added a third, drone pipe which was fingered in a similar way to an ocarina.
The flageolet was eventually entirely replaced by the tin whistle and is rarely played today. However, it is a very easy instrument to play and the tone is soft and gentle. It has a range of about two octaves.
[edit] External links
- flageolets.com — a site devoted to the flageolet
