The soprano flute (also called a third flute or tierce flute) is a type of

flute 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. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

, a

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

in the

woodwind Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and Ree ...

family. It is pitched in E, a

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a interval (music), musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval (music)#Number, interval numb ...

above the concert flute, and is one of the few members of the modern flute family that is not pitched in C or G. The pitch was set at a time such flutes substituted for the E-flat clarinet. The instrument is now rare. A few American publications for flute choir currently include a part for E (soprano) flute. In these publications, an alternative part is provided either for the C flute or for the

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

. With the substitution of one of these more common instruments, however, the distinctive colour of a treble flute sound is missing. Soprano flutes have also been made in F, sounding a

perfect fourth A fourth is a interval (music), musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending int ...

higher than the concert flute.

References

Side-blown flutes {{Flute-stub