Dr. Little’s Favorites Vol. 1
I often get asked about my recommendations for music, accessories, and instruments for beginner and intermediate students. Many parents have questions about these types of things because their young flutist might be the first musician in the family! Also, once you jump down the Google rabbit hole, you’ll find that there are A TON of companies out there trying to sell you flutes, music, and accessories. It can help to have a professional provide some direction.
So I’m going to give you a list of my favorites in three categories spread out over the next few weeks. This week, I’m going to talk music for beginner and intermediate flutists! In the next couple weeks I’ll also talk about flutes for beginners and step-up instruments and my favorite accessories and flute care items. I’ll go into my favorites for Advanced players too, so be on the lookout for new blogs!
So let’s talk MUSIC!
Finding music that is enjoyable for students, while also challenging them just enough to keep improving without feeling too daunting is a constant battle. What works for one student may not work for another. So, I am constantly on the lookout for new music, new etudes, and new fundamentals books for my beginner and intermediate students. I have a couple beginner students working through the same fundamentals book right now, but are in completely different repertoire books. I love the challenge of finding music that each of my students are going to love to play! So here are some books that I have had great success with for my beginning and intermediate students.
Since I live in Arkansas, I’m going to start with the All-Region etudes that are located in the Rubank Advanced Method Vol. I. Every year, Arkansas, and some surrounding states, choose a set of three etudes and some technical exercises from this book. It will help, IMMENSELY, if students have this book and work through it with a teacher. The All-Region etudes won’t feel scary if students regularly play them AND etudes that are probably even more difficult. I find that a great way to make audition material FEEL easier is if you’re working to be a better player year round. If you’re always improving your skills, the audition material starts to feel easier and easier. How great is that!?
If you’re not yet working towards All-Region etudes, or are a very beginner flutist, I highly, HIGHLY recommend Flute 101: Mastering the Basics by Patricia George and Phyllis Louke. This book teaches all the basics of playing this instrument while also instilling a way to understand musicality, and allowing for students to express themselves creatively. They’ll get to play solos and duets, and with regular practice, will improve their flute skills very quickly! You can also grow with Ms. George and Ms. Louke with their Flute 101.5, Flute 102, Flute 103, The Flute Scale Book, The Art of Chunking, and some of their solo works and pieces for flute choir!
For repertoire, I have used Louis Moyse’s Forty Little Pieces in Progressive Order for Beginner Flutists for many years. (I have been teaching flute for 25 years! Isn’t that insane!?) It has a so many fantastic little pieces for students to start working on, and this repertoire can easily be performed on recitals or for friends and family. As an added bonus, many of the pieces have a fairly easy piano part that I can actually play! I love when I get to accompany my students during their lesson! They get to learn to play collaboratively with the piano and work on the special intonation issues that come with that just by going through this book with me!
I will admit though, that the Moyse Forty Little Pieces has a significant lack of diversity. I’m currently on the hunt for pieces of music, for beginner and intermediate students, that celebrate the diversity of composers. I have found that Overtones: A Comprehensive Flute Series by the Royal Conservatory Development Program does a pretty nice job with offering more diversity in their repertoire. Each book has 2-3 pieces by women and 2-3 pieces by living composers. It’s nice to see! It is also a series of books that are progressively more challenging, so there is something for nearly every level of player.
My current favorite piece for the intermediate flutist is Legends by Valerie Coleman. This is a 4-movement work that is within an excellent note range for the intermediate player. It has some challenging, and very fun, syncopations and it just sounds beautiful too! Valerie Coleman is a Grammy nominated flutist, a composer, and an entrepreneur, and I LOVE that my younger students can play some of her music with this piece! Please go check out her website and read all about her! She is brilliant!
So there are some of my favorite books and pieces for Beginner and Intermediate Flutists! Each of the images, except the Valerie Coleman piece, can be found on Amazon and are linked if you are interested in purchasing any of this music. You can purchase Valerie Coleman’s piece through her website or though a company like Flute World or Flutistry Boston. I’ll have more recommendations in the next few weeks! Please check back if you’d like to see some of my high school and more advanced recommendations!
Have a beautiful week and keep fluting!
💕Dr. Little