FLAGEOLET, in music, a kind of fli2te-h-bec with a new fingering, invented in France at the end of the 16th century, and in vogue in England from the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 19th cen tury. The flageolet differed from the recorder in that it had four finger-holes in front and two thumb-holes at the back instead of seven finger holes in front and one thumb-hole at the back. This fingering has survived in the French flageolet still used in the provinces of France in small orchestras and for dance music.