Alto Flute

As Printed on a Score

Labels the alto flute in English-language scores, abbreviated A. Fl. or Alto Fl., usually with its key (Alto Flute in G). The part is written in treble clef a perfect fourth above the sound. In older British scores the same instrument is called bass flute, as in Holst’s The Planets, so read the key rather than the name.

Abbreviations: A. Fl., Alto Fl.

How Composers Use It

The flute in G, a fourth below the concert flute, with a dark, breathy low octave that is beautiful but soft. Use it in quiet textures — strings, harp, a few winds — for nocturnal or veiled lines; film composers reach for it often. In its upper register it sounds much like an ordinary flute and loses its point, and a flutist usually doubles, so allow time to change.

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