Piccolo Perfection

Are you looking for your first piccolo or an upgrade? Consider the difference between a metal and wooden piccolo. Both materials have unique advantages and disadvantages. So don't write off either option until you compare the two. Before we get into the pros and cons, this post contains affiliate links. Click here to read the full disclosure policy. Pros of Wooden Piccolos If you ask a group of piccolo players about the type of piccolo they play, a lot of them will probably say wood. Like other woodwinds (clarinets, oboes, bassoons), most professional piccolos are wood. That is part of how the name "woodwind" originated. Even older flutes were made of wood. But regardless of the professional status, wooden piccolos offer a few benefits. Warm Sound When you play in an orchestra or band, you can blend a lot more easily on a wooden instrument . Metal piccolos tend to be pretty shrill, so blending is more difficult. As a piccolo player, I've had to blend with flutes, cla...

Do you know your piccolo history? If you want to play the piccolo and take it seriously, you should understand where the instrument came from. A lot of its history is similar to that of the flute. But there are some important differences that you should know when playing both instruments. A quick note: this post contains affiliate links. Click here to read the full disclosure policy. Before the Piccolo Piccolo history goes back almost as far as flute history, starting with ancient flutes and piccolos. People have found many transverse flutes and similar instruments dating back thousands of years. Flutes and piccolos were found in Egypt, China, and other countries. One early piccolo is from 200 BCE, and it was found near an Etruscan tomb, now part of central Italy. The flute they found is less than two feet long, signalling something smaller than the modern concert flute. There have also been discoveries of bone flutes from over 40,000 years ago. However, there has also been some debat...