Play Ballads for Flute: Flute & Piano Book

Kember has curated a collection that takes ballad playing seriously without treating it as a stepping stone to "real" repertoire. Pairing beloved standards from Elton John, Lionel Richie, and Burt Bacharach with original compositions keeps students invested and builds genuine interpretive skills through music they actually want to play.

Playing these ballads feels like singing through your flute. Each phrase invites you to breathe naturally, shape dynamics with intention, and discover how much emotion lives in a simple, sustained note. The piano provides warmth and harmonic grounding that makes the flute's voice feel supported and essential.

Flute students in upper elementary through early high school who are ready to explore expressive, song-like playing without advanced technical demands. These pieces reward genuine musicianship and breath control rather than rapid fingerwork, making them ideal for developing artistry alongside fundamentals.

• Shape the phrase as a vocalist would, finding the lyrical peak and settling into the resolution rather than playing metronomically from note to note.
• Experiment with subtle vibrato placement: reserve it for sustained tones and moments of emotional weight, and ease off during faster scalar passages.
• Listen closely to the piano accompaniment for harmonic context; ballad playing lives in the interplay between melody and harmony, not in isolation.

Feature one of these pieces in a winter or spring recital alongside more technically driven selections to showcase the full range of flute musicianship. You might also pair Kember's originals with the standards to demonstrate how different composers approach the ballad form, giving students perspective on style and arrangement.

• Sustained phrase shaping and vocal approach to wind playing
• Expressive vibrato control and placement
• Breath management over long melodic lines
• Harmonic listening and accompaniment awareness
• Interpretation of popular song standards