Free Flute Sheet Music

Tune of the Day: Affettuoso by Blavet

This is the third movement of a Sonata in E minor written for two flutes by Michel Blavet. It was first published in 1728.

Tune of the Day: Study in F-sharp minor by Köhler

This étude in F-sharp minor is taken from the second book of Twenty Easy Melodic Progressive Studies by Italian composer Ernesto Köhler.

Tune of the Day: For Ireland I Won’t Say Her Name

This gorgeous 3/4-time slow air comes from Ireland. There's a song attached to the air, relating the tale of a beautiful maiden who appeared for a short time to a Gaelic poet, resisted his advances and then disappeared forever, leaving him heartbroken. Another version has it that the protagonist falls secretly in love with a maid, although he is too poor to support her and too shy to propose. He goes abroad to seek his fortune, and once made and emboldened he returns home to claim his beloved, only to discover she has married his brother. Brokenhearted, he composes this song, though for obvious reasons he refuses to reveal the name of his beloved.

Thanks to Jess for suggesting this tune!

Tune of the Day: Adagio in B minor by Albinoni

This Adagio in B minor is the third movement of the seventh Sonata from the Trattenimenti armonici collection by Italian Baroque composer Tomaso Albinoni.

Tune of the Day: Allegro by Stamitz

This Allegro is the opening movement of the fourth duet from a collection of duets for flute or violin written by German classical composer Carl Stamitz in the second half of the 18th century, and published as Opus 27.

Tune of the Day: Study in G-flat major by Andersen

Here is another étude by Danish flutist Joachim Andersen. This 3/4-time Pastorale in G-flat major is study No. 13 from his Twenty-Four Etudes for Flute, Op. 21.

Thanks to Elizabeth for suggesting this piece!

Tune of the Day: The Laird o’ Drumblair

This tune was composed by Scots dancing master James Scott Skinner for his friend and benefactor William F. McHardy of Drumblair, who gave Skinner use of a rent‑free cottage for many years to support his art. In his autobiography, Skinner wrote that McHardy, the Laird, was so impressed with the composition that for the remaining 15 years of his life he sent Skinner a thank-you check at Christmas-time.

The tune is considered one of the finest and most famous of Skinner's 600 compositions, and appears in his Harp and Claymore collection. It was also one of the tunes included by him later in his career in the romantically entitled 1921 concert set Warblings From the Hills. Here is how Skinner described his inspiration for the tune:

Suddenly [one night] a tune, 'pat' and complete, flashed into my head in his honour. I jumped out of bed [looking for music manuscript paper]...but a search produced nothing better than a piece of soap paper, and on this I promptly dashed off “The Laird o' Drumblair”. And the tune was dispatched as it had been written.

Thanks to Ronald for suggesting this tune!

Tune of the Day: Minuetto by Wanhal

This minuet and its four accompanying variations constitute the fourth and final movement of a Sonata in G major for flute or violin written by Czech composer Johann Baptist Wanhal in the 18th century.

Tune of the Day: La Traviata, Nº 2

Today we propose a transcription for flute duet of some favorite melodies from Verdi's opera La traviata. This fantasy was written by Italian flutist Raffaele Galli, a contemporary of Verdi.

Thanks to Joyce Kai for contributing this piece!

Tune of the Day: Study in B-flat major by Karg-Elert

This is the fifteenth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo. It is marked “mosso e leggerissimo”, which translates as “agitated and very light”.

Tune of the Day: Bonnie Banchory

This melody was composed by dancing master and fiddler James Scott Skinner for his birthplace in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was first published in his Hirn Collection.

Tune of the Day: Allegro by John Ranish

This binary-form Allegro is the second movement of Sonata No. 10 in D major from John Ranish's XII Solos for the German Flute, Op. 2, first published in London in 1744.

Tune of the Day: Allegro assai by Blavet

This is the fourth and final movement of a Sonata in E minor for two flutes by French Baroque composer Michel Blavet. It was first published in 1728.

Tune of the Day: The Swallows

This is étude No. 10 from Ernesto Köhler's 25 Romantic Studies, Op. 66. It alternates a 2/4-time Allegro in G major and a light Waltz in D major.

Tune of the Day: The Hawk That Swoops On High

This piece was composed by Pipe Major John MacKay (1860–1925) as a 3/4-time retreat march, based on the old Gaelic song “Creag Ghuanach”. Retreat “marches” are traditionally gentle, lilting tunes to be played at the end of the military day.

Tune of the Day: Sacame una película, gordito

Here is a new arrangement for flute and guitar of a tango by A.G. Villoldo. The gordito (‛fat man’) of the title was Mario Gallo, an Italian-born Argentinian film director of the 1900s and 1910s and one of the earliest directors in the cinema of Argentina.

Thanks to Joyce Kai for contributing this piece!

Tune of the Day: Minuet in D major by Fernando Sor

This is the fifth of twelve minuets written by Spanish classical guitarist and composer Fernando Sor as part of his Deux Thèmes variés et 12 Menuets.

Thanks to Luis Bonvin for contributing this arrangement!

Tune of the Day: Study in G minor by Karg-Elert

This 11/8-time étude is the seventh piece from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo. The marking “Un poco mosso, umoristico” means “A little agitated, with humor”.

Tune of the Day: Babby's Fancy

This country dance tune in G minor was published in 1799 by Thomas Calvert, a musician from Kelso, Scotland.

Tune of the Day: Lentement by Naudot

Today we propose the opening movement of a flute sonata in A major by Jean-Christophe Naudot, a French composer and flutist of the early 18th century.

Tune of the Day: Romance by Stamitz

This Romance is the second movement of the fourth duet from a collection of duets for flute or violin written by German classical composer Carl Stamitz in the second half of the 18th century, and published as Opus 27.

Tune of the Day: Farewell

This is étude No. 13 from Ernesto Köhler's 25 Romantic Studies, Op. 66. It alternates a 6/8-time Moderato in D minor and a 3/4-time Allegretto in D major.

Tune of the Day: Brodie House

In his Kinrara collection, appeared in 1800, William Marshall attributes this tune to Alexander, 4th Duke of Gordon.

Brodie House is a castle in Moray, Scotland, dating from around 1560. The building has been part of the Scottish National Trust since the 1970s and is thus open to the public.

Tune of the Day: Largo by Vivaldi

This is the central movement of a Concerto in D minor for Flute, Violin, Bassoon and Continuo, probably composed by Vivaldi in the 1720s. It can also be played as a flute duet, with the second flute playing the violin part (right hand of the piano arrangement).

Thanks to AJ for suggesting this piece!

Tune of the Day: Adagio by Blavet

This Adagio is the opening movement of a Sonata for two flutes in A minor by French Baroque composer Michel Blavet. It was first published in 1728.

Tune of the Day: Study in A-flat major by Karg-Elert

This is the seventeenth étude from Sigfried Karg-Elert's 30 Caprices: a “Gradus ad Parnassum” of the modern technique for flute solo. It is marked “Leggero veloce, giocoso”, which translates as “Light, fast and playful”.

Tune of the Day: Jenny of the Green

This country dance tune first appeared in print in John Hinton’s Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure (London, 1757), followed by John Johnson’s 200 Favourite Country Dances, vol. 8 (London, 1758). It also appears as “Janey on the Green” in the 1770 music manuscript collection of Northumbrian musician William Vickers.

Tune of the Day: Allegro by Albinoni

The Allegro in D major we present today is the fourth and final movement of the seventh Sonata from the Trattenimenti armonici collection by Italian Baroque composer Tomaso Albinoni.

Tune of the Day: Un poco presto by Stamitz

This is the third movement of the fourth duet from a collection of duets for flute or violin written by German classical composer Carl Stamitz in the second half of the 18th century, and published as Opus 27.

Tune of the Day: Double Tonguing

This is étude No. 14 from Ernesto Köhler's 25 Romantic Studies, Op. 66. As the title suggests, it is intended to be a study in double tonguing, a fairly advanced technique which enables flutists to repeat the same note rapidly, but may take a lot of practice to master.

Tune of the Day: The Moon Beams

This very simple reel appears in the music manuscript copybook of English fiddler John Burks, dated 1821.