The Native American flute is a musical instrument and flute that is held in front of the player, has open finger holes,
and has two chambers: one for collecting the breath of the player and a second chamber which creates sound.
The player breathes into one end of the flute
without the need for an embouchure.
A block on the outside of the instrument
directs the player's breath from the first chamber—called the slow air chamber—into the second chamber—called the sound chamber.
The design of a sound hole at the proximal end of the sound chamber causes
air from the player's breath to vibrate.
This vibration causes a steady resonance of air pressure
in the sound chamber that creates sound.
Native American flute crafted by Gary Kuhl in 2003. Material: Myrtlewood. Collection of Clint Goss.
Cipriano Garcia playing a flute of the Tohono O'odham culture, 1919. Photograph by Frances Densmore.
Flute by Pat Partridge crafted in 2006 in the style of flutes of the Tohono O'odham culture. Collection of Clint Goss.
Nest area detail of the Tohono O'odham style flute shown above. The ridges on the sides of the sound mechanism were added by Pat Partridge to improve playability and are not found on authentic Tohono O'odham flutes.
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute produces sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, flutes are edge-blown aerophones. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist or flutist.
Shinobue and other flutes
Statue of Krishna playing a flute
Chinese women playing flutes, from the 12th-century Song dynasty remake of the Night Revels of Han Xizai, originally by Gu Hongzhong (10th century)
Bone flute made of a goat's tibia, 11th–13th century AD.