Although there are differences with regard to scale and fingering, the shinobue can, in principle, be considered an instrument which uses bamboo in place of the tube of the flute, with the flute structures removed, with the same number of tone holes as the number of fingers on the human hand, and made in a length that makes it easy to handle.
音階や運指などに違いはあるが、原理的には「フルート」の管を竹にして「フルート楽器の構造」を取り去り、音孔の数を人間の指の数に合わせ、押さえやすい長さにしたものと考えてよい。