10 easy flute songs for beginners to learn

New to the flute and looking for some material to play? You’ve come to the right place.  Below you’ll find a list of ten songs perfectly suited to a player in your shoes.

These ten pieces have been selected for their stylistic and technical variety. Learning them involves rising to a range of demands that all beginner flautists should aim to familiarise themselves with..

So it’s best to think of these ten first songs as your ten first lessons. By working your way through each one, you’ll give yourself a solid foundation on which you can develop your skills in a rounded and efficient way.
 

Easy flute songs for beginners
 

1. The Banks of the Danube by Béla Bartók
2. Memories by Karen Street
3. ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’ by Bette Midler
4. Humming Song by Robert Schumann
5. ‘Don’t Tell Me’ by Madonna
6. Chanson de la Naissance by Ástor Piazzolla
7. Air by Henry Purcell
8. ‘I’m Your Man’ by George Michael
9. Cowkeeper’s Song by Edvard Grieg
10. Largo in B minor by Johann Joachim Quantz

1. The Banks of the Danube by Béla Bartók

When it comes to music appropriate for beginners, Béla Bartók probably isn’t the first name that springs to mind. As one of the most adventurous composers of the 20th century, he’s renowned for writing technically challenging music. He did, however, compose a number of works that are both easy and intriguing to play. 

Many of these are compiled in the Bartók for Flute title published by Boosey & Hawkes. The Banks of the Danube, transcribed for flute from the original piano composition, is one of them. Its evocative melody depicts a vista over the Danube, the great river that winds its way through Bartók’s native Hungary.

This piece is such a good one to start with because of its colourful expressive demands. You need to negotiate with lyrical slurs, syncopation, tenuto and varied dynamics. Find out more about what all these entail and require in the article on how to read flute sheet music. The key signature will also help you to practise accidental fingerings right away. 

2. Memories by Karen Street

Although Karen Street specialises in music for accordion and saxophone, she’s published a must-have title for beginner flautists - the aptly named playbook Easy Street. In it she presents a range of simple, diverse pieces designed to encourage a well-rounded playing ability.

Memories is one of the most accessible tunes of the lot, composed in a really slow 3/4 time. It features a sighing motif that repeats and unfolds into a series of phrases. The piece has a really distinctive colour, stemming from its use of the Phrygian mode - a type of scale with different pitch relationships to the major and minor ones you may know. 

Breath control is really important here - that’ll help you to sustain the long, held notes cleanly and for their full duration. Like the rest of the pieces in the selection, Memories is actually composed for flute and piano. It’s helpful to practise with an accompanist, but it’s fine to go without - the piece works just as well as a solo. 

3. ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’ by Bette Midler

Moving into the world of popular music, we reach Bette Midler’s anthem, ‘The Wind Beneath My Wings’. Written by songwriting duo Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley, it had been interpreted several times in the early 1980s when Midler made it a classic, recording it for the soundtrack of the 1988 film Beaches.

An ode to the selfless support of a loved one, the song’s wistful but ultimately uplifting lyrics resonate powerfully with the tone of the film. Be grateful that you won’t have to hear them time and again when practising your wordless performance - there are few songs out that tug at the heartstrings ;like this one.

Originally a vocal ballad, this tune wasn’t composed with the flute in mind. Even so, the song’s soaring melody and lyrical subject matter perfectly match the instrument’s airy, delicate timbre. There are some wide leaps which can be difficult to execute in fast rhythms, so take it slowly and don’t rush - just as the tempo marking instructs.

4. Humming Song by Robert Schumann

Robert Schumann is without a doubt one of the most important musicians of the Romantic era. One of his great strengths as a composer was his ability to write short and simple works that still boast captivating musicality. The Humming Song definitely falls into this category.

Originally composed for piano solo, the work appeared in the Album für die Jugend, a collection of 43 piano miniatures designed for young musicians. As its title suggests, it’s a pretty hummable tune. You’ll find a transcription for flute in Learn as You Play, another publication from Boosey & Hawkes, compiled by Peter Wastall. 

The melody’s steady, slow-moving rhythms make it really easy to work through. Pay careful attention to the slurs though, which are of different lengths and don’t always start and end where you might expect them to.

5. ‘Don’t Tell Me’ by Madonna

That she’s frequently referred to as the ‘Queen of Pop’ says just about everything that you need to know about Madonna. For over four decades, she has been a cultural icon, writing and recording some of the most popular and acclaimed music in the world.

‘Don’t Tell Me’ is among her finest tunes, first appearing on her 2000 album Music and transcribed here for flute by Faber. One of the most distinctive things about the melody in this flute transcription is the repeating B-flat, not found in the C-major key. It invokes the Mixolydian mode, with a flattened seventh - make sure you hit it confidently. 

Another thing you should really try to bring out in performance is the song’s characteristic stuttering rhythms. They aren’t necessarily reflected in the notation, but if you can somehow reproduce that feel of Madonna’s performance, then it’d give your performance an extra dimension, and extra authenticity.

6. Chanson de la Naissance by Ástor Piazzolla

As Madonna is the Queen of Pop, so composer and bandoneonist Ástor Piazzolla is the King of Tango. But although he’s closely associated with this national dance of hs native Argentina, he's in truth a hugely diverse musician whose work draws on a range of styles, not least jazz and classical music.

Reflecting this diversity, El viaje brings together a range of his works, each of which has been transcribed for flute. The Chanson de la Naissance, the final work in the collection, makes for a beautiful, thoughtful conclusion. It’s also a simpler finish, as the rest of the works in the set are harder to play. Think of Chanson as your gateway to Piazzolla.

It brings some of the same challenges we’ve seen already - sustained notes, irregular slurs and some quick rhythms. But there are some new ones too. Control the air flow carefully during the fast dynamic shifts that appear from bar 19, and make sure that you sound the triplet rhythms clearly and evenly.  

7. Air in D minor by Henry Purcell

One of the most important figures in the history of English music, Henry Purcell was a prominent and original composer of the Baroque era. His works are marked by a taste for rich counterpoint and colourful harmony, and the Air in D minor is no exception.

First written for keyboard, an arrangement for flute and piano can be found in the Learn as You Play title, alongside the Schumann we looked at above. Fortunately, a lot of the musical complexities remain in the piano accompaniment (shown above), allowing you, the flautist, to focus on the simpler melody at the top of the texture.

That doesn’t mean you’re home and dry though - there are still a few tricky aspects to navigate. You’ll need to take in a lot of breath for a couple of long, slurred phrases, and there are some wide leaps in the melody. This one forces you to take quick breaths as well - bar a long pause in the middle of the piece, there aren’t many rests.

8. ‘I’m Your Man’ by Wham!

Wham! released the single ‘I’m Your Man’ in 1985. A smash hit all over Europe, this great song captures what the dance-pop genre is all about - tunes that sound just as good on the radio as they do on the dancefloor. Few acts knew their way around dance pop like Wham!

Written and slickly produced by half of Wham!, the late popmaster George Michael, the song’s lyrics sound over a pulsating synthesised bassline and drum beat. It’s an acrobatic vocal performance from Michael, and it moves quickly too. You’ll have to practise hard to move from key to key in time. 

That said, this arrangement for flute solo doesn’t match his line note-for-note. Instead, it offers a counterpart that moves around the melody, anticipating and answering phrases. And for that reason, make sure you don’t follow Wham!’s recording too closely when learning this one - you’ll be on your own at times.

9. Cowkeeper’s Song by Edvard Grieg

A composer who always engaged deeply with the folk songs of his Norwegian homeland, Edvard Grieg stayed true to form in his Cowkeeper’s Song. It started life in 1895 as one of a pair of Nordic songs he wrote for string orchestra. Later transcribed by the composer himself for piano, it’s been transcribed again for flute and piano by Ann Starkey. 

The piece is written in a lilting 6/8 time, giving it that feel of a country song-and-dance. For the most part, the melody helpfully moves by step, smoothly working its way along and giving your fingers an easier time. The brief closing passage provides some contrast, however. It’ll be a little harder to get those slurs and leaps right.

Look out for the comma-like symbols above the stave. These are breath marks, and they mark the points where you should pause for a quick intake of air. Don’t be put off by the fact that there’s no rest in the music - you still have to breathe at some point, and these indicate when’s best.

10. Largo in B minor by Johann Joachim Quantz

As far as classical flute music is concerned, Johann Joachim Quantz is the man. A flautist and flute-maker himself, the vast majority of his compositional output revolves around the instrument, forming one of the most fundamental pillars of the flute repertoire. 

Although the Largo in B minor is one of his more approachable pieces - thanks in no small part to its very slow tempo - it’s still the most challenging piece on this list. But if you've seen off the previous nine hurdles then you’ll definitely have what it takes to handle the tenth and final.

It’s composed in a stately 3/4 in the key of D major - that’s two sharps, but more pop up in the piece. There are also a few ornaments that you have to look out for, specifically trills and grace notes. As these are common in Baroque music, you’ll have to make it your mission to master them if you plan to take on more period repertoire.

Your next steps for flute music
 

This is just a prelude. With these ten songs, you’ve only just scratched the surface - in nkoda’s library there may just be more flute sheet music than you will ever need. 

It might be overwhelming to dive straight in though, especially if you’re still in need of more accessible material. A better place to start might be the beginner flute music playlist, where you’ll find some of the titles we’ve looked at here and a range of similar content.

But if these ten pieces have left you wanting more - or just curious for what’s up ahead - then you should check out the intermediate flute music playlist. A few hints at what to expect: Ravel, Einaudi, Handel, and more of our man Quantz. Tonnes of beautiful classical melodies.

Download as many as you want to your personal space on the app, and let nkoda be by your side, wherever your flute-playing journey might take you.