I’ll be putting these in the following order:
Tone
Scales
Technique
Methods
Etudes
Repertoire
When possible, I will include both links for paid and free items. I know some people prefer to print things out themselves, and others prefer to have a book that’s printed by a publisher. Both have their perks, I won’t tell you which one to do.
The links to the publishers are affiliate links. You will not pay more, but I will get a small commission.
Tone
The first book I’ll mention is Trevor Wye Practice Book for the Flute book on tone. It’s designed for most levels, except absolute beginner. If you’ve never worked on tone, this book is life-changing.
De La Sonorite by Moyse is designed to be learned after the Trevor Wye book. Trevor Wye heard someone practicing from this book and realized that it needs an explanation. This book may be expensive, but worth it. The level is late high school through the end of time. 😉
Scales
I haven’t really found a good beginner’s book on scales, but I’ve noticed that the scales in the lesson books are really good for the levels that they teach.
There are several free options for scales in this link. It’s mostly high school level, maybe late middle school.
Pares Scales by Gabriel Pares is a really good value, but don’t buy it if you already have the Rubank Advanced books. It’s the same thing. This book is designed for high school level and beyond. It does a good job at ironing out the inconsistencies that we make in our fingerings.
The Trevor Wye Omnibus has scales in it and more. It also has the tone book (above) and a ton of technique. It can be started at the high school level, and can be used through college.
Technique
I like to use the method books for technique until intermediate level. At that point, I allow them to choose between the Trevor Wye Omnibus or the Rubank Advanced.
Another good book which is intermediate level is free. It’s 7 Exercices Journaliers Pour la Flute by Reichert. The link for the free printable is here. If you wish to get it through a publisher, I have a different link here.
No flute technique list would be complete without good old T&G (short for Taffanel and Gaubert, the authors). The actual name of the book is 17 Exercices Journaliers De Mecanisme Pour Flute Traversiere. Quite the mouthful, huh? That’s why everyone just calls it T&G. It will be by your side for the rest of your life. I would put this book at the beginning of college level, but you might be able to get away with it if you’re a very advanced high schooler.
Method Books
Brand-New Beginners – If you’re in a band program, you will get the band method book that comes with the band program. Those are fine – that’s how I started, too. A while back, though, Trevor Wye, the best flute teacher in the world, wrote a beginner method book. There are two things that I love about it – it works on tone from the beginning and there are a ton of duets. It’s called A Beginner’s Book for the Flute Part One. I have students use part two, also, then go on to the intermediate options.
Second-Chance Beginners – These next two books go through the information very quickly, which is why it’s ideal for people who used to play the flute but it’s been so long that they have to start over. They also work well for people who are looking to double on the flute from another wind instrument (sorry, strings and percussion, you need to go the long way around to develop your lung capacity).
A free method book is here. It’s a method book written by Paul Taffanel, one of the best flute teachers of the 19th century. As I said before, it moves really fast, and it’s very comprehensive.
Another good method book that goes really fast is the Rubank Elementary. One thing I like about this one is that it has solos incorporated into the book, so it’s not all dry technique and scales. Afterwards, I move on to the Intermediate of the same series.
After the beginner book series, I give the student the choice between Rubank Advanced or the Trevor Wye Omnibus. The Rubank has everything built into it except for tone, and the Omnibus has everything built into it except for etudes. The Omnibus has more staying power – the student could conceivably use it through college and beyond. The Rubank is about a quarter of the price.
Etudes
This first book is dear to my heart. I remember falling in love with these etudes when I got to play one of them for Solo & Ensemble in 7th grade. They were at the very top of my ability, but my teacher saw how much I loved them and kept supplying them, using them more as repertoire than etudes. The Kohler 25 Romantic Etudes are free here. There is also a link to the publisher here.
One good, classic etude book for late novice/early intermediate is the Melodious and Progressive Studies Book, compiled by Robert Cavally. I really like that there are several books in this series, they should take you through the end of high school, and are relatively inexpensive.
I have been personally going through the Berbiguier etudes lately. They are super fun, especially when they’re played fast! The free, printable link is here. The link to a publisher is here. They’re late intermediate/early advanced level.
72 Studies for the Boehm Flute by Drouet is beautiful and fun to play, at the mid-to-upper intermediate level. I like how it goes through a large number of ornamentation from the Romantic time period. It also has harmonic work, which is great for tone. I couldn’t find this one in print, but here’s the free link.
Any flute list would not be complete without the Andersen Etudes. There are so many of them , and they start at the beginning of high school level all the way through professional level. You can download them all for free here or buy them here.
Andersen Etude Order of Study
Op. 41
Op. 37
Op. 33
Op. 21
Op. 30
Op. 15
Op. 63
Op. 60
Repertoire
Novice
40 Little Pieces in Progressive Order compiled by Louis Moyse takes you from Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star all the way through to Serenade by Haydn. I like to have all my beginners in this book, as soon as they start playing above the staff.
Intermediate
Suite in A Minor by Telemann is really fun. It has a soulful beginning, then it bops along in a pretty dance. It makes you want to dance along. It’s available free here or from the publisher here.
I really like Handel’s Sonatas. They’re fun to listen to and they fall off my fingers. I even played one of the slow movements for my uncle’s funeral. They’re available for free here (look under “F” for flute) or from the publisher here.
Both of Mozart’s Concertos fall off my fingers, and it’s nice to have a break from all this Baroque music. They are available for free here (look under “F” for flute), or from the publisher here.
A really good collection is the Concert and Contest book by Rubank. I absolutely love Bandinerie by Bach from that book. James Galloway called that piece a “little button” when I saw him in concert and he played it as an encore. It’s more of an early-to-mid intermediate book, but I still enjoy playing from it even today.
There’s something about Telemann. His music flows off my fingers and his dynamics feel natural to me. His Fantasies are a little on the hard side of intermediate, but they’re really fun to play. Here’s a link for free and the publisher link is here.
Syrinx by Debussy is one of those haunting pieces that always stays with me. There’s a saying in flute world – if you think you have Syrinx down, you don’t. It’s always a work-in-progress. They say the same thing about the Bach Sonatas, but that’s a different story.
Advanced
Flute Music by French Composers is considered some of the most advanced solo music available for the flute. Anything beyond that would be orchestral excerpts. I love the Chaminade and the Faure pieces from here and I play them very often.
Offertoire by Donjon is beautiful. It can even be played for church. 🙂 It’s on the easy side of Advanced, but the best part is the piano part is really easy!