The Flute Blog
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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…
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5 Great Flute Ensemble Pieces for a Summer Concert
Inspire your flute choir with these gorgeous arrangements designed to capture the essence of Summer.
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Starting Your Child on Flute: How Young is Too Young?
Playing a musical instrument is amazing. It develops so many skills, and not just musical ones: it can build confidence, patience and self-reliance and can enhance verbal memory, spatial reasoning and literacy skills. It goes without saying that we want the best for our children, and certainly the experience of playing an instrument is an…
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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…
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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…
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Melt the Winter Blues Away with Heart-Warming Romanticism
These delightful pieces will get you playing from the heart. Lothar Kempter: Ballade for Flute and Piano If you have ever wished that Brahms had written something for flute and piano, you may enjoy this beautiful piece. It is proper, passionate “heart-on-your-sleeve” Romantic music – full of drama and colour, it ebbs and flows towards…
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New Year, New You
January is the ideal time to hone your skills and try out new ideas. Try these recommended books to set you on your way. Wil Offermans: Improvisation Calendar for Flute Presented in the form of a calendar, these 52 graphic scores (one for each week) consist of drawings that range from something as simple as…