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| Classification | |
|---|---|
| Playing range | |
| 1-2 octaves | |
| Related instruments | |
Zuffolo (also chiufolo, ciufolo) is an Italian fipple flute. First described in the 14th century, it has a rear thumb-hole, two front finger-holes, and a conical bore. It is approximately 8 cm in length and has a range of over two octaves, from B3 to C6 (Marcuse 1975c). A larger instrument of the same name, with a lowest note of C5 appeared in the early 17th century (Fuller-Maitland, Baines, and Térey-Smith 2001).
In Sicily, zuffolo refers to a longer beak flute of about 29 cm, with a wide bore and six equally spaced finger-holes (Marcuse 1975c).
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, it was also called the "flautino" (Lasocki 2001), flauto piccolo, and flautino piccolo, and is sometimes spelled zufolo.[citation needed]
Known as the Picco pipe and marketed as a toy until early in the 20th century, the instrument was popularized in London in 1856, either as a toy by a blind Italian musician named Picco (Marcuse 1975a), or by a blind Sardinian player at Covent Garden (Grove).
The zuffolo is the smallest form of ducted-flue tabor pipe or flute-a-bec, at 3½" long, with the windway taking up 1½". It has only three holes: two in front and a dorsal thumb hole. It has the same mouthpiece as a recorder. The bore end hole of the picco pipe has a small flare, and the lowest notes were played with a finger blocking this end. The range is from b to c3, using the slight frequency shift between registers to sound a full chromatic scale, like the tabor pipe (Dayton C. Miller Collection).