Closely linked to the very evolution of the musical instruments and the experimentations on their handling, the extended techniques involve the use of instrumental and vocal resources that are unusual in a given historical, esthetical and cultural context. In the paper, we present examples that demonstrate the exploration of extended techniques in musical pieces ranging from the seventeenth century to today. Finally, we sketch briefly the current state of the composition with new technical resources, and present the possibilities of using electronic and computing tools in the musical creation, leading so to a redefinition of the "extended techniques".1121135