The Western concert flute refers to both the family of transverse (side-blown) woodwind instruments made of metal or wood and its most common member.

During the Baroque era the traditional transverse flute was redesigned and eventually developed as the modern traverso.

The first literary appearance of the transverse flute was made in 1285 by Adenet le Roi in a list of instruments he played.

This made transposition necessary, which led flautists to use Guidonian hexachords (used by singers and other musicians since their introduction in the 11th century) to transpose music more easily.

[6] This conical bore design gave the flute a wider range and more penetrating sound without sacrificing the softer, expressive qualities.

[9] Other notable baroque flute composers include, Praetorius, Schütz, Rebillé, Quantz, J.S Bach, Telemann, Blavet, Vivaldi, Hotteterre, Handel and Frederick the Great.

In 1707, Jacques Martin Hotteterre wrote the first method book on playing the flute: Principes de la flûte traversière.

The end of this era found the publication of Essay of a Method of Playing the Transverse Flute by Quantz.

With the onset of the Romantic era, flutes began to lose favor: symphony orchestras rather featured brass and strings.

[6] However, the 21st century has brought a rise in the popularity of the Baroque flute, most notably led by flutist Barthold Kuijken, and others such as Frans Bruggen, Emi Ferguson, Peter Holtslag.

In the nineteenth century, the great flautist, composer, acoustician, and silversmith Theobald Boehm began to make flutes.

[14] The dimensions and key system of the modern western concert flute and its close relatives are strongly influenced by Boehm's design, which he patented in 1847.

Minor additions to and variations on his key system are common, but the acoustical structure of the tube remains almost exactly as he designed it.

This form had 12 keys, a body of wood, a head joint of metal and ivory, and was common at the end of the century.

Giorgi enabled the performer to play equally true in all musical keys, as does the Boehm system.

The underlying principles of both flute patterns are virtually identical, with tone holes spaced as required to produce a fully chromatic scale.

The player, by opening and closing holes, adjusts the effective length of the tube, and thus the rate of oscillation, which defines the audible pitch.

In the 1950s, Albert Cooper modified the Boehm flute to make playing modern music easier.

The alto flute is in the key of G, and the low register extends to the G below middle C; its highest note is a high G (4 ledger lines above the treble staff).

Examination of his flutes did not reveal a true parabolic curve, but the taper is more complex than a truncated cone.

The head joint is the most difficult part to construct because the lip plate and tone hole have critical dimensions, edges, and angles that vary slightly between manufacturers and in individual flutes, especially where they are handmade.

Head joint geometry appears particularly critical to acoustic performance and tone,[22] but there is no clear consensus on a particular shape amongst manufacturers.

Cheaper student models may be purchased with a curved head to allow younger children with shorter arms to play them.

It is reported[25] that old Louis Lot French flutes have a particular sound by nature of their specific silver alloy.

Flutes can also be made out of wood, with African blackwood (grenadilla or Dalbergia melanoxylon) being the most common today.

Good quality flutes are designed to prevent or reduce galvanic corrosion between the tube and key mechanism.

Most keys have needle springs made of phosphor bronze, stainless steel, beryllium copper, or a gold alloy.

In small band contexts, notable performers included Bud Shank, Herbie Mann, Yusef Lateef, Mélanie De Biasio, Joe Farrell, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Lloyd, Hubert Laws and Moe Koffman.

Jethro Tull is probably the best-known rock group to make regular use of the flute, which is played by its frontman, Ian Anderson.

[42] An alto flute is briefly heard in The Beatles song "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", played by John Scott.