Solo for Flute

This is a piece I wrote on Wednesday, as part of my continuous goal to understand each instrument better. There were a few things I learned from writing this, namely that tremelos on the lower notes are difficult. I know pretty much any involving the low b are bad, but C-E can be difficult, as is D-F#, due to fingerings.

Also, flutter tonguing really sounds better when a whole group does it, or higher in the register.

Most of this piece is in the lower register, which wasn't totally planned by me; the music just happened like that.

Comments are welcome.

Solo for Flute.pdf

Solo for Flute.mid

Good stuff. I have never written a solo piece for anything but piano, so my ability to help/critique in this area is limited. I found your material was well developed, but not didactic or boring. My only real thoughts are these:

- Make it longer, since performers would probably want something more to dig into.

- Replace exact tempo markings with approximate ones, when the tempo changes. Piu mosso allows more expressive freedom than an exact tempo marking. The performer is liable to get spend time trying to play it at exactly 77, instead of creating her own interpretation.

Hey this is quite good ;)

I agree that the length is a bit short, and it would be nice to see it made longer. :thumbsup:

I had a go at playing it and it doesnt seem too bad fingering wise, only bit I struggled with was playing bars 27 and 28 (you were right about those middle C's and E's!)

Good piece i enjoyed it :)

Ferret,

This is a piece I wrote on Wednesday, as part of my continuous goal to understand each instrument better. There were a few things I learned from writing this, namely that tremelos on the lower notes are difficult. I know pretty much any involving the low b are bad, but C-E can be difficult, as is D-F#, due to fingerings.

Also, flutter tonguing really sounds better when a whole group does it, or higher in the register.

At m.10, is the trill to Bb or B-natural? Since you're not in a key and there's a Bb earlier in the measure, you need to specify the trill note.

I'm confused by your comment about flutter tonguing... you don't have any flutter tonguing indicated in the piece at all.

The harmonics you indicated in m.32-34 are fairly easy, though there is no harmonic fingering for F5 (or E5, for that matter - or F#5, unless the flute has a low B key); the performer would simply play it with the normal fingering.

Yeah, I used to have some flutter tonguing, but I didn't particularly like how it sounded, so I took it out.

About the harmonic fingering for the F, I found that out too, and I just had her take it up an octave, and while it changed the contour of line, I think it was overall improved by the change.

I agree that the length could be longer, though when I set out to write this, I wasn't concerned with a piece being created, so much as writing well for the flute.

Hands, I agree with you about the tempo markings as well. For a performance I would only have the q= 60 stated, I just added the others to make the midi better replicate the actual ebb and flow of the piece.

Many thanks guys, and any more comments are welcome!

This reminded me of the Berio Sequenza. It's definitely playable, I might give it a shot sometime. Good work and thanks for sharing.