2020 has been nothing short of bizarre! But that doesn’t mean we have to stop being festive! Last week I looked at ways to keep your lessons festive online, be sure to check that out! Today I’m looking at my top 5 favourite Christmas flute books for this year. There are so many books on the market, sometimes it can be really overwhelming choosing which one to purchase. Here are five of my favourites!
1. 101 Christmas Songs for flute – Hal leonard LLC
This is a firm favourite of mine! I mean 101 Christmas songs?! What is not to like! There is something for everyone in this book and you are certain to find at least 10 songs every student knows and likes (this was the minimum number of songs one of my students knew)! It even includes ‘Do you want to build a Snowman’ from Frozen, always a sure winner!
The only downside I found with this book is that almost every piece includes a lot of flats! So, if you have lower grade students or simply those that struggle to remember flat key signatures then this may not be the book for you!
2. Flute time christmas – kathy and David Blackwell
I always enjoy using this book, it has many of the classic songs such as Jingle Bells, We wish you a merry Christmas, Deck the hall and many more! It also includes a couple of slightly less known pieces such as Christmas Calypso! I also really like the fact it includes a couple of simple duets. Obviously, I haven’t been able to use this element of the book this year but when I am live this is a great feature of this book!
You won’t find anywhere near as many Christmas songs as the first book but the songs it does have are carefully chosen and you will definitely recognise them! I also find this one is great for my beginner students, simple melodies and not so tricky notes.
3. guest spot – Christmas favourites play along for flute
This is another awesome series of books! And if your student owns the book, it is a great resource for this pandemic year. It comes with a CD that your student can play along with. I have really enjoyed using books like this throughout this year as it still encourages students to use accompaniment. Usually in my lessons I would play piano with the students so they get a picture of the complete piece. Unfortunately during this time we have not been able to do this, so having books that include an accompaniment CD or download is a must!
This book contains well known Christmas songs but more on the popular music side! Songs such as Baby it’s cold outside and Santa baby are included in this book! I have found that surprisingly lots of my students do not know these more popular music Christmas songs. So, check they know them before encouraging them to purchase the book!
The notes and rhythms in these pieces are reasonably tricky so I would only really recommend for Grade 3 and up.
4. A dozen a day – flute songbook: christmas
This is a great book if you have beginners! This book includes nice simple versions of classic Christmas songs such as Good King Wencelas and Silent Night. This book focuses on classic carols, which I really like. These are often much easier to play for the younger beginners. Sometimes I find that my younger students don’t know all of the songs but grab a Christmas CD and spend time listening! Listening games are great fun, particularly with Christmas songs!
This book also includes an accompaniment CD which as explained before is a great addition to 2020!
5. big book of christmas songs for flute – hal leonard
This is another book that includes many Christmas songs, much like 101 Christmas songs for flute! This one has a lot Christmas songs to choose from. I must admit I didn’t know all of them but it definitely has a good selection of some classics and some more popular music ones. I do think this is slightly easier to play than the 101 christmas songs which is something to consider if you have a lot of younger students that want to play the popular songs!
I hope that has helped you out a little bit! These are my top 5 favorite Christmas flute books, but there are so many more out there and I cannot wait to get back to live teaching so I can get the duet books out! And how amazing will it be to have a live ensemble again?!
Christmas Flute Books vs. Online Christmas Music
You may prefer to download some Christmas flute music rather than purchase a whole book. The website I recommend is flutetunes.com which has tons of Christmas songs for free!
Let us know what your favourite Christmas Flute Books are or your favourite Christmas pieces.
Need ways to get practice done one the holidays? We’ve got you covered with our guide to practice over the festive period.