Five-key flute Five-key flute The five-key flute is a musical instrument once common in school marching bands, and composed of wood with metal keys. It is a transposing instrument, most commonly in Bb, this variant being known as the Bb flute and sounding one tone below the orchestral piccolo. The next most common variant is the Eb flute, sounding a fifth below the Bb flute and used as its bass instrument in band harmonies. It is now often found in British military corps of drums, often playing various regimental marches. As the name suggests, the five-key flute most commonly has five keys,
Music instrument technology Music instrument technology Music instrument technology refers to the construction of instruments and the way they have changed over time. Such change has produced modern instruments that are considerably different from their historical antecedents. An example is the way in which many instruments commonly associated with a modern symphony orchestra are markedly different from the same instruments for which European composers were composing music centuries ago. Such changes include the addition of piston valves to brass instruments, the design of more complex fingering systems for woodwind instruments such as the flute, and the standardization of the family of orchestral string