Early flutes were made from cane or bamboo, where available.   In areas that
cane didn’t grow they used soft-centered branches and stems of local plants
which could be easily hollowed.  As the art of flutemaking evolved, denser
woods were chosen for their beauty, durability and symbolic significance.

Throughout the world, ancient indigenous cultures made similar instruments.
And with the flute’s development, each of these groups discovered the pentatonic
(five note) musical scale in one form or another.  Indeed, there is a common thread
running through all of humanity which ties us to the flute and pentatonic music.
It is intriguing to realize that cultures separated by oceans, mountains and
deserts - cultures which had no contact with one another - were independently
drawn to the same musical Truths.  This was a global human experience.
Many of us do not accept “coincidence” as a viable explanation for such a
universal phenomenon.  Our Ancestors have told us that the flute was
given to us by The Creator.  Each culture has it’s own story of how this gift
was given.  Each is a beautiful tale.

Since our introduction to the earliest singing tubes, we’ve devised many types
of flutes, and quite a variety of musical scales.  The most familiar in western
cultures is the modern classical (Boehm style) flute, with it’s complex array of
keys, levers and pads.  It is capable of playing in all keys of the western
musical scales, has beautiful tone and a remarkably extended range.  It is
extremely well suited to playing the rather involved Euro-based western musical
styles.  In contrast, much of the appeal of simple, five and six hole flutes is found
in their lack of complexity.  Although their range is limited, this is more than
compensated for by the fact that you don’t need technical knowledge or musical
virtuosity to  play them.  In fact, they’re quite easy to learn to play. Unlike
transverse (side blown) flutes which require developing what for many is rather
difficult embouchure technique (mouth and tongue, muscle control) in order to
play a note, Native American flutes use an ingenious sound producing
mechanism which enables you to create beautiful tones by simply blowing
into the mouthpiece.  Their “woody” timbre invokes what might be termed
a more “fundamental” musical experience than we get from the tones
produced by metal instruments.  And there are playing techniques which
can be learned on these flutes which bring to life extremely expressive
and emotional effects, virtually impossible to achieve on their more
elaborate cousins.

People of all walks of life are stirred by the hypnotic sound of the simple flute.
And it doesn’t require a time machine for the experience. To this day we can
travel the globe and still hear five and six hole flutes playing the beautiful,
haunting melodies of pentatonic music.