Open up a whole new world to inspire young and enthusiastic flute players with this eclectic selection of books.
Zoe Booth: Dinosaurs for Solo Flute with Piano
This is such a fun book for younger players! Aimed at the beginner to the slightly more experienced, the short melodies are packed with scary goodies. For example, Stegosaurus Stomp features low note tonguing, Brontosaurus Boogie is in 5/4 and Voracious Velociraptors has tricky syncopation and a wider range of notes. The number of dinosaur prints (Rex Rating) indicates the level of difficulty. All work really well for flute alone as well as with the piano, and there is a separate version for 2 flutes. The young (and also perhaps the not-so-young) will probably enjoy colouring in the wonderful illustrations too. Well done Zoe Booth – a triumph! Difficulty guide: 1-4
Amanda and Jemima Oosthuizen: Little Demon Studies for Flute
This is a very good book for young beginners which tackles the basics of posture, articulation and breath control in easy bite-size pieces. There are no frills here but each piece has a line drawing to bring the music to life and a checklist of what to focus on. There are also words to help with rhythm and everything is in the low register. This is a solid book which is useful material for bridging the gap between tutor and simple repertoire and great as sight reading for the more advanced. Difficulty Guide: 1-2
James Rae: City Snapshots for Flute
As with all James Rae’s books, this one is full of good music and well thought out. Each piece works for one or two flutes with the parts printed on opposite pages which makes it easier to learn. The idea of travel is very appealing, the CD is excellent, duets are great for ensemble skills, and the book is progressive, making it a very good investment buy. Ideal for hard-pressed, teachers, parents and students alike! Difficulty Guide: 1-3
Yolanda Brown: Flute Collection
This book is full of famous songs ranging from reggae to jazz. The flute part keeps the melodies simple and there are performance directions for each one. The downloadable backing tracks are very good and use different instruments to reflect the style of each piece. It’s easy to operate too. As a bonus, ‘I wish I knew how it would be feel to be free’ is currently set for ABRSM grade 2. Difficulty Guide: 2-7
Joss Campbell: Flute Warm-Ups Grade 2
This book is packed full of exercises tackling the important issues of sound, posture and breathing head on. All are in the keys set for grade 2 level making it very exam friendly and there is also work to develop tonguing. The practice directions given for each exercise are really helpful and willl foster good habits that should last way beyond the lifetime of the book! Difficulty guide: 2
