Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: Tambourin

A tambourin (literally “small drum” in French) is a piece of music that imitates a drum. French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote many of them as parts of his operas. The most famous one is the Tambourin in E Minor from his second collection of pieces for the harpsichord, titled Pièces de clavessin (1724), which also appears in his 1739 opera Les fêtes d'Hébé. With its driving melody full of trills and accents, this piece is unforgettable. In order to make it playable in its entirety on the flute, the tune was transposed to G minor.

Tune of the Day: A Whack at the Whigs

One of the earliest appearances of this tune is in P.M. Haverty's One Hundred Irish Airs, published in New York in 1858, under the title “Leather the Wig” (meaning to thresh, or thin out, a wig). The hairpiece, however, symbolizes the (now defunct) British party of the Whigs, as is made apparent in the more recent, playful title “A Whack at the Whigs”, first found in O'Neill's The Dance Music of Ireland (Chicago, 1907).

Tune of the Day: Study in G major by Kummer

This is the second study from German flutist and composer Caspar Kummer's 32 Etudes amusantes et instructives, Op. 129, first published in 1858.

Tune of the Day: Menuet by Scherer

This minuet, along with its Trio in E major, constitutes the fourth and last movement of the second Sonata for three flutes by Johann Scherer.

Thanks to Joyce Kai for contributing this piece!

Tune of the Day: Adagio by Platti

Today we propose the opening movement of a Sonata for flute and basso continuo in D major, penned by Italian Baroque composer Giovanni Platti around 1743.

Thanks to Doug for suggesting this piece!

Tune of the Day: The Boys of Ballysadare

The earliest appearance of this slip jig is in Chicago Police captain Francis O'Neill's collection The Dance Music of Ireland, published in 1907.

Ballysadare (Baile Easa Dara in Irish, meaning “town of the waterfall of the oak”), also known as Ballisodare, is a town in County Sligo, in the north of the Republic of Ireland.

Tune of the Day: Study in F-sharp major by Karg-Elert

This “very fast, sparkling” piece is the twenty-ninth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo.