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Alagoas pifano_rb1115.jpg
Pifano ( or pife / in English - fife ) player, Piaçabuçu city, Alagoas State, Northeastern Brazil. A fife is a small, high-pitched, transverse flute, that is similar to the piccolo, but louder and shriller due to its narrower bore. The fife originated in medieval Europe and is often used in military and marching bands. Someone who plays the fife is called a fifer. The word fife comes from the German Pfeife, or pipe, which comes from the Latin word pipare. In northeast Brazil, on the rural lands, people use a bamboo fife named Brazilian Fife (in Brazil it is called Pifano, Pife Nordestino or just Pife, and pronounces like Peef). This fife is a mix of Native American flute traditions with European fife traditions. The groups, that use this instrument, use only flute and percussive elements in their music, in a profusion of Native American, African and European traditions.