The Beginning of Musical Instrument

Hey guys! How’s all going? Well! Often you might have wondered to know the very first origin for everything you cross in life. From there, a chosen one is this subject to be discussed. Do you know the very first or the earliest musical instrument in the world?

Still, thinking?! Well!

The earliest musical instrument is the FLUTE.

Origin of Flute

Paleolithic archaeology sites suggest that prehistoric people used carving and piercing tools to create instruments. They have found paleolithic flutes carved from bones in which lateral holes have been pierced. The Divje Babe flute carved from a cave bear femur is thought to be at least 40,000 years old. The flutes are made from bird bone and mammoth ivory. It came from many caves from all over the world. It contains the early evidence for the occupation of Homo sapiens (modern humans). Scientists used carbon dating to show that the flutes might be 40,000 years old.

Recovered From One of the Earliest Civilisation

Instruments such as the seven-holed flute and various types of stringed instruments such as the Ravanahatha have been recovered from the Indus Valley Civilization archaeological sites in India. India has one of the oldest musical traditions in the world. Those were from the references of Indian Classical Music (marga) found in the Vedas, ancient scriptures of the Hindu tradition. The earliest and largest collection of prehistoric musical instruments was found in China and dates back to between 7000 and 6600 BCE.

About Flute

A Flute is a reedless-wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening. The flute comes under the woodwind family group. A musician who plays the flute can be called by various names like flute player, flautist, flutist, flutter, flutenist. A musician flutes are the earliest musical instrument as paleolithic instruments with hand-bored holes have been found. According to the instrument classification of the people who study the musical instruments, they categorized the flutes as edge-blown aerophones.

How does it work?

A flute produces sound when a stream of air directed across a hole in the instrument creates a vibration of air at the hole. The airstream creates an up-down movement which excites the air contained within the flute. The flutist changes the pitch of the sound produced, by opening and closing holes in the body of the instrument. A study in which professional flutists could find not many differences between flutes made from a variety of metals. The study concluded that there was "no evidence that the wall material has any appreciable effect.

Indian Flute

The Indian flutes are very simple compared to the Western counterparts; they are made of bamboo and are keyless. The bamboo flute is an important instrument in Indian Classical Music. The Hindu God, Lord Krishna, is traditionally considered a master of the bamboo flute. It is also mentioned in the Hindu Holy Book. Even the statues of Lord Krishna in the temple depicted with the flute playing.

The South & the North Indian Flute Difference

Two main varieties of Indian flutes are currently the Pullanguzhal and the Bansuri. The Pullanguzhal has eight finger holes and is played predominantly in the Carnatic music of Southern India. Bansuri has six finger holes and one embouchure hole and is used predominantly in the Hindustani music of Northern India. Presently, the eight-holed flute with cross-fingering technique is common among many Carnatic flutists. In a regional dialect of Gujarati, a flute is also called Pavo. Some people can also play pairs of flutes (Jodiyo Pavo) simultaneously.

Finest Flute

But in the South Indian flute, only seven finger holes, with the fingering standard developed by Sharaba Shastri, of the Palladam school, at the beginning of the 20th century. The quality of the flute's sound depends somewhat on the specific bamboo used to make it, and it is generally agreed that the best bamboo grows in the Nagercoil area of South India. Now developed a methodology to produce perfectly tuned flutes for the ten 'thatas' currently present in Indian Classical Music.

Best Indian Flutist

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia is an Indian classical flutist, who plays the Bansuri, an Indian bamboo flute, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known internationally as the greatest living master of Bansuri. Dr Natesan Ramani, commonly known as N. Ramani or N. Flute Ramani, was an Indian Carnatic flutist. He was awarded the Madras Music Academy’s Sangeetha Kalanidhi in 1996. Ramani is also credited with introducing the long flute into Carnatic music.

Learn Music Online - Stay Home - Stay Safe

If you are a music lover, then start to learn music from your home. Meet our experts who teach piano, electronic keyboard, guitar online with our creative step-by-step structured curriculum. Get our new course "Voice Culture" for FREE when you sign up for an Online Music Classroom membership!