The flute may not seem like it fits in with today’s style of music, but you would be surprised at just how heavily it influences the music scene.
The flute’s impact is not hidden today, and it can be heard in popular flute bands like Autumn Child or chart topping hits such as “Where Are Ü Now”. The classical instrument provides a flighty and lively quality that modern music thrives on.
From classical applications to modern mimicry, the unexpected influences of the flute cover thousands of years and touch every genre. Whether you realize it or not, the music you listen to now is built from a mold the flute created.
A Brief History of the Flute
The flute has a long history, with the oldest flute dating back at least 43,000 years (although many argue it is much older than that). This Neanderthal Flute, made from a fragment of a juvenile cave bear’s femur, is the oldest instrument discovered.
Since then, variations of the flute have been discovered across the globe, with larger historical concentrations in Europe and Asia.
At its core, a flute is an open tube that you blow into to create sound. You change pitch by opening and closing holes and adjusting your embouchure and airspeed, and the tonal quality varies depending on expertise and the specific flute in use.
This expansive history and broad application lead to an incredible and often unacknowledged influence on music today.
The Flute’s Path Through Music
The flute is a staple in most concert bands, and anyone with a knowledge of historical music will notice. Debussy’s Syrinx is one of the best examples to showcase the range of a solo flute, allowing the flutist to infuse the piece with their own flavor in just around 3 minutes.
If you’re not familiar with Debussy, names like Bach or Mozart may flip the switch for that lightbulb in your mind. These musical masterminds captured the range of the flute in pieces like Bach’s Sonata in B Minor or Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 in D Major.
The depth of emotion in either piece is unparalleled, and they served as a launching point for the flute’s use in modern music.
Flute Bands
The flute goes beyond a solo in a classical piece, and the recent shift to revive classical instruments for modern application has been in the works for a long time.
Consider Mark Holland’s band, Autumn Child. Mark Holland himself is acknowledged as one of the top flutists in the world, and the 1994 band showcases the versatility of the Native American Flute perfectly in lively pieces such as “Raven’s Dance”.
Autumn’s Child, with features on PBS and NPR, is one of the most well-known flute bands, but other artists contributed to this revival. One listen to Traffic’s “Forty Thousand Headmen” will infuse with the passionate work of flutist Chris Wood.
Without the passion of these artists and their initiative to use the flute in modern applications, the music industry may have never tapped into this unexpected influence, and many of the top hits in the past 10 years would not be the same.
The Flute in Today’s Music
Turn on the radio today and start naming instruments you recognize. You’ll probably be able to point out guitar, bass, drums, keys, and other popular pieces of the modern stage band. You’ll also be surprised by how many popular songs have been influenced by the flute.
Drake’s “Portland” proved that the flighty instrument holds its own in rap, and this is only confirmed by other examples like “Bop” by DaBaby.
To see how the flute ties music together through history, consider the iconic intro flute sample that kicks off Future’s “Mask Off”. This sample comes from “Prison Song”, a 1978 song written and performed by Tommy Butler as part of the Selma musical.
Rap is not the only industry influenced by the flute, and a quick trip over to electronic hits proves this. Skrillex and Diplo’s “Where Are Ü Now” with Justin Bieber features the singer’s pitch-shifted voice to mimic the flute’s unique sound.
Watermät’s “Bullit” uses lively flute trills in the 2014 summer anthem, and the pan flute in New World Sound and Thomas Newson’s “Flute” will haunt your dreams.
Final Thoughts
From cave bear bones to pan flutes to pitch shifting and beyond, the evidence of the flute throughout history is indisputable. Every instrument takes up its own space, and the flute has built a reputation on emotion and its weightless sound.
Music today would not be the same, missing out on the folky flute features of Autumn’s Child that created the global chamber music genre.
Next time you shuffle your favorite songs, pay close attention to those emotional, lively, and lilting melodies. There’s a good chance you’ll feel the influence of the flute.