A transverse flute or side-blown flute is a flute which is held horizontally when played. The player blows across the

embouchure Embouchure () or lipping is the use of the lips, facial muscles, tongue, and teeth in playing a wind instrument. This includes shaping the lips to the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument or the mouthpiece of a brass instrument. The word is of Fr ...

hole, in a direction

perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

to the flute's body length. Parmenon Ovatio

Transverse flutes include the

Western concert flute The Western concert flute is a family of transverse (side-blown) woodwind instruments made of metal or wood. It is the most common variant of the flute. A musician who plays the flute is called a flautist (in British English), flutist (in Ame ...

, the Indian classical flutes (the

bansuri A bansuri is an ancient side blown flute originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an aerophone produced from bamboo and metal like material used in Hindustani classical music. It is referred to as ''nadi'' and ''tunava'' in the '' ...

and the venu), the Chinese dizi, the Western

fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

, a number of Japanese

fue is the Japanese word for bamboo flute, and refers to a class of flutes native to Japan. come in many varieties, but are generally high-pitched and made of a bamboo called . The most popular of the is the . Categorization are traditionally ...

, and Korean flutes such as daegeum, junggeum and sogeum.

See also