The flute is one of the oldest woodwind instrument, dating back to around 900 BC
1400’s: Flutes are shown in various sorts of pictures in all parts of Western Europe.
The first flute was made out of bone. It had 5 finger holes and a v-shaped mouthpiece. It only had one section.
1500's: flutes were consisting of a cylindrical tube with a cork stopper in one end, a blow hole and six finger holes.
1670: the flute went from one piece to three separate pieces ( foot joint, body joint, head joint )
The tone holes of this new instrument remained at six, but they were much smaller and a key was added
1700's: the piccolo began to appear with 1 to 4 keys
1720: the body was divided into two different parts
1726: the E flat key was added
1752: an essay was written by Quantz and Tromlitz with the fingerings for each note
By the end of the 1700’s: Two or more keys were added to make it an 8 key flute
1831: Theobald Boehm went to a concert and their flute had larger finger holes which made a fine tone
1832: the tone holes would have to be spaced for good reasons, rather than the convenience of the players comfort.
In 1832: Boehm invent a mechanism for the flute and by the middle of the 1800's it had already made its way onto the piccolo.
In 1843: Boehm had licensed flutemakers in London and Paris to make this new instrument
1847: Boehm made a different instrument with a cylinder body joint, a foot joint, and a head joint. The tone holes were even bigger then they were in 1832.
1855-56: the Alto Flute was invented by Theobald Boehm
In 1910: the Bass Flute was created by Abelardo Albisi
1980's: Yamaha started to make flutes ( which is a good brand for beginners )