The Piccolo

Musicians

Isabelle BRUYERE

The piccolo is a wind instrument, specifically a woodwind belonging to the flute family. It is half the size of a normal flute, and has roughly the same range, except that it cannot play the low register, and it produces a sound an octave higher than the written music. It is made up of two sections, the head and the body, and is made of wood (Ebony), metal (silver, alpaca), or resin for students. It has been popular for 200 years, and is the smallest and most acute instrument of the symphony orchestra. Its tone, particularly penetrating, is clearly audible even when all of the other instruments are playing.