Author: Chris Hankin

  • The Five Best Christmas Playalongs for Flute

    The Five Best Christmas Playalongs for Flute

    Playalongs are great at Christmas as they make good presents and are fun to play. There’s something for everyone in this fabulous selection. Complilation: Play Happy Christmas for Flute and Piano This lovely book is pitched at just the right level for all those young players who started the flute in September. The most popular…

  • Five Great Works for Flute by Black Composers

    Five Great Works for Flute by Black Composers

    Celebrate Black History Month by playing these special works by ground-breaking composers! Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Danse Negre for Flute Choir The opening of this sparkling work is instantly engaging with it’s swirling run-up and rhythmic energy. Sped along by a driving bass, articulated semiquaver passages and a catchy melody, this excellent arrangement holds the ensemble together…

  • Christmas Flute Choir Music Hidden Gems

    Christmas Flute Choir Music Hidden Gems

    There is now so much choice of Christmas music available for flute choirs that it’s difficult to know where to start. In this post I’ve selected some of my favourites which I can really recommend.

  • The Best Flute Tutor Books for Young Beginners

    The Best Flute Tutor Books for Young Beginners

    This blog was first written in September 2018 and has been updated for 2022. September is such an exciting time for flute teachers with new young beginners raring to go. Here are our top picks of the books to help them on their way. Kathryn Blocki: Flute Zoo Book 1 The Flute Zoo series of…

  • Five Great Play-Along Books for Flute

    Five Great Play-Along Books for Flute

    Play-along books are great fun, and these five fantastic books feature excellent arrangements and stunning backing tracks. Otto M Schwarz: Playing with the Orchestra, Vol 1 This great book will take you to the heart of the large orchestral whirlwind sound of film music. There’s a fantastic list of pieces and a full orchestral track,…

  • Top Five Books on Extended Technique

    Top Five Books on Extended Technique

    In need of a project? Try something completely new with our pick of these inspirational books. Rogier de Pijper: Flute Colors This is the definitive book on getting started with contemporary techniques. With something this exciting, it’s great to have a book that sets everything out in logical and easy to follow steps. This series…

  • NFA New Music Competition: Selection of Flute and Piano Winners

    NFA New Music Competition: Selection of Flute and Piano Winners

    Enjoy these five astonishingly good pieces and expand your horizons. Stephane Vande Ginste: Sonata This Sonata is worth the cover price for the second movement alone which is a beautiful mix of enigmatic melody and jazz-like harmonies. The outer movements are good too, with an opening scherzando full of syncopated energy and angular phrases, and…

  • 5 Great Flute Ensemble Pieces for a Summer Concert

    5 Great Flute Ensemble Pieces for a Summer Concert

    Inspire your flute choir with these gorgeous arrangements designed to capture the essence of Summer.

  • Striking Music for Flute, Cello and Piano

    Striking Music for Flute, Cello and Piano

    Flute, cello and piano together make a highly effective trio, and it doesn’t have to be all Baroque. Try these remarkable contemporary works which show what this combination is capable of. Nikolai Kapustin: Trio Op 86 for Flute, Cello and Piano This is an unusual work for this very classical combination. The opening is striking…

  • It’s International Women’s Day!

    It’s International Women’s Day!

    In our annual post we celebrate great flute music by wonderful female composers (the arrangers are good too)! Cecile Chaminade arranged Dana Joras: Three Pieces for Flute and Piano If you love the music of Chaminade try these three delightful arrangements. Dano Joras is a flute player herself which means that the melodic lines are…