The flabiol () is a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

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 reed ...

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make 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 who pl ...

of the family known as ''

fipple The term fipple specifies a variety of end-blown flute that includes the flageolet, recorder, and tin whistle. The Hornbostel–Sachs system for classifying musical instruments places this group under the heading "Flutes with duct or duct flut ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s''. It is one of the 12 instruments of the

cobla The cobla (, plural ''cobles'') is a traditional music ensemble of Catalonia, and in Northern Catalonia in France. It is generally used to accompany the Sardana, a traditional Catalan folk dance, danced in a circle. Structure The modern Cobla no ...

. The flabiol measures about 25 centimeters in length and has five or six holes on its front face and three underneath.

Overview

The two main types are the ''dry flabiol'' without keys, usually made of a hardwood such as

bubinga ''Guibourtia'' is a flowering plant genus in the family Fabaceae, also known by the common names as Rhodesian copalwood, African Rosewood, Amazique, Bubinga, Kevazingo, and Ovangkol. Scientific Name being Guibourtia spp. Description ''Guibourti ...

, and the keyed flabiol, used in coblas for

sardana The ''sardana'' (; plural ''sardanes'' in Catalan) is a Catalan musical genre typical of Catalan culture and danced in circle following a set of steps. The dance was originally from the Empordà region, but started gaining popularity throughout ...

dances and in other folk music ensembles. The flabiol is normally played by the left hand while the player uses the right hand to beat a small drum (called '' tamborí'') attached to the left elbow. All sardanes played by a cobla begin with a short introduction (''introit'') from the flabiol which is terminated by a single tap of the ''tamborí''. Its traditional geographic zone extends from the south of

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

to the

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...

area of France, and from the Eastern strip of

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

to the

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, where it is used as solo instrument with its own melodies. Apart from being in the cobla for the performance of sardanes, the flabiol is also found in the reduced version of the cobla known as ''cobla of three quarters'' formed of one tarota or tible, a flabiol and a ''sac de gemecs'' (

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

). A specific type of flabiol is the ''flabiol de gralla''. This is a flabiol made to be played with the same fingering as the gralla, an instrument used in traditional music such as that played during

castell A ''castell'' () is a human tower built traditionally at festivals in Catalonia, the Balearic islands and the Valencian Community. At these festivals, several ''colles castelleres'' (teams that build towers) attempt to build and dismantle a t ...

s performances. This is helpful for children and others as it is easier to play than the gralla, helping them learn skills that can be transferred to the gralla later. It is also useful for gralla players to practise at home or otherwise indoors where the loud sound of the gralla would disturb others.Benito Alemany, Paula
''Mètode de gralla.''
P. 22. Accessed September 9, 2021.

Flabiol fingering

The flabiol is a

transposing instrument A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which music notation is not written at concert pitch (concert pitch is the pitch on a non-transposing instrument such as the piano). For example, playing a written middle C on a transposing i ...

in the key of F, and the played notes sound an

eleventh In music or music theory, an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. The interval can be also described as a compound fourth, spanning an octave plus a f ...

(

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

and a

perfect fourth A fourth is a 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 interval from C to ...

) higher than those written. The Flabiol requires special playing skill, because it is generally played only with the left hand, using the thumb and the first three fingers, with the little finger able to play a tone hole under the instrument and providing the required stability. The four holes at the lower end are used as vent holes and for tuning with wax plugs. If any of the four lowest semitones are required, the thumb and one or two fingers of the right hand have to be used. Keyed versions have the key pads between the top 3 toneholes for fast play. The Flabiol is the original model for the modern

Tonette The stub-ended Swanson Tonette is a small (6" cavity), end-blown vessel flute made of plastic, which was once popular in American elementary music education. Though the Tonette has been superseded by the recorder in many areas, due to their pric ...

or Flutophone, popular with school children.

References

*Jeremy Montagu, ''Was the Tabor Pipe Always as We Know It?'', in ''Early Music'', Vol 9, No. 1. p 141 *Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, Richard Trillo, ''World Music: The Rough Guide'', Vol 1, p 108 *Walter Aaron Clark, ''

Isaac Albéniz Isaac Manuel Francisco Albéniz y Pascual (; 29 May 1860 – 18 May 1909) was a Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and conductor. He is one of the foremost composers of the Post-Romantic era who also had a significant influence on his conte ...

: Portrait of a Romantic'', Oxford University Press, 2002 p 197

External links

El Flabiol
- Flabiol web site (in Catalan)
El testament n'Amèlia
Video of a performance of this sardana (composer

Joan Lamote de Grignon Joan Lamote de Grignon i Bocquet (; 7 July 1872 – 11 March 1949) was a Catalan Spanish pianist, composer and orchestra director. Life Joan Lamote de Grignon was born and died in Barcelona, the son of parents of French descent, Lluis Lamote de ...

) by the cobla "Comptat d'Empúries" at the Castelló d'Empúries. The flabiol plays the theme tune as an extended introduction.
MIDI files of folk pieces for flabiol collected by Joan Tomàs and Joan Amades
atalan {{Authority control Aragonese musical instruments Balearic musical instruments Catalan musical instruments Internal fipple flutes Spanish musical instruments Sardana

Overview

Flabiol fingering

See also

References

External links