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Woodwind instrument | |
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The flageolet is a woodwind instrument and a member of the family of duct flutes that includes recorders and tin whistles. Its invention was erroneously[1] ascribed to the 16th-century Sieur Juvigny in 1581.[2] There are two basic forms of the instrument: the French, having four finger holes on the front and two thumb holes on the back; and the English, having six finger holes on the front and sometimes a single thumb hole on the back. The latter was developed by English instrument maker William Bainbridge, resulting in the "improved English flageolet" in 1803.[3] There are also double and triple flageolets, having two or three bodies that allowed for a drone and countermelody. Flageolets were made until the 19th century.[4]