Western concert flute cases C). Modern flutes may have a longer foot joint, a "B-foot", with an extra key to reach B. From high to low, the members of the concert flute family include: Each of the above instruments has its own range. The piccolo reads music in C (like the standard flute), but sounds one octave higher. The alto flute is in the key of G, and the low register extends to the G below middle C; its highest note is a high G (4 ledger lines above the treble staff). The bass flute is an octave lower than the concert flute,
Flute early 19th century. As such the instrument is often indicated as baroque flute. Gradually marginalized by the Western concert flute in the 19th century, baroque flutes were again played from the late 20th century as part of the historically informed performance practice. The Western concert flute, a descendant of the medieval German flute, is a transverse treble flute that is closed at the top. An "embouchure hole" is positioned near the top across and into which the flutist blows. The flute has circular tone holes larger than the finger holes of its baroque predecessors. The size and placement of tone