Top 5 Amazing Flute Videos

When most people think of flutes, they imagine this dainty instrument playing outdated orchestral music. But these five amazing flute videos are here to set the record straight. While the flute is an important member of the symphony orchestra, as you’ll see in the videos, that’s not the only trick that flutists have up their sleeves. Sit back, relax, and get prepared to be wowed by some of the most amazing flute videos floating around the Internet today.

#5: The World-Famous Beatboxing Flutist

This video has been around since 2006. With over 23 million views on Youtube it is easily one of the most famous amazing flute videos ever made. In it, flutist Greg Pattillo beatboxes his way through the iconic theme song from the Super Mario Brothers franchise. For those unfamiliar with the term, beatboxing is traditionally a vocal percussive technique that makes the voice sound like drum beats. However, Pattillo deftly demonstrates that this trick is not just for singers anymore. While much of his performance has to do with manipulating the position of his tongue and air stream, Pattillo also employs some more familiar extended techniques like jet whistles. All in all, this amazing flute video is a great example of the diverse range of sounds that a flute is capable of producing and continues to amaze audiences even years after its debut.

#4: This Teenager Shows Off Her Beatboxing Skills as Well

Encouraged by the popularity of Greg Pattillo’s beatboxing flute videos, many other flutists have taken to Youtube to display their talents as well — including 15 year old Annie Wu, who has produced her own amazing flute video. In it, Wu performs the piece Three Beats for Beatbox Flutes, which was interestingly enough composed by Greg Pattillo himself. This piece, which was commissioned by the National Flute Association in 2011, is a three movement study of all the fantastic beatboxing techniques that made Pattillo famous. The piece has been performed numerous times both on Youtube and in live performances. However, not many performances can top Wu’s stylish and fun interpretation — complete with a crooked baseball cap and aviator sunglasses. What’s more impressive though is that Wu, who is only a teenager, performs this piece with the grace and confidence of someone who’s been playing the flute for decades. She’s definitely a player that we can expect more amazing flute videos from in the future. [magicactionbox]

#3: Rhonda Larson Takes Multitasking to a Whole New Level

This next amazing flute video features a woman who is not only an amazing flute player but also an amazing flute composer as well! Her composition, titled Be Still My Soul, is a beautiful arrangement of a famous melody from Jean Sibelius’s symphonic poem, Finlandia. This melody would later go on to be arranged as a hymn under the same name as Larson’s composition. In her piece, Larson capitalizes on the fact that it is possible to sing and play the flute at the same time. The results of this happy coincidence are both beautiful and haunting. What’s more amazing though, is that Larson manages to sing completely different pitches than the ones she’s playing. In essence, the flute acts like a “bass line” accompaniment to the melodic vocal line. This amazing flute video is a great example of the emotional range that good flutists are capable of creating on their instruments.

#2: This Teenager Plays Circles Around the Competition

Within the orchestral world, it’s common for different instrument families to “borrow” repertoire from one another—a cello piece might be performed by an oboist, or a saxophone might take a shot at a clarinet concerto. However, none do it with as much raw talent as the performer in this next amazing flute video. In it, 13 year old Emma Resmini performs the notoriously difficult violin classic, Zigeunerweisen (sometimes translated as Gypsy Airs) by Spanish composers Pablo de Sarasate. This piece, which is broken up into equally difficult slow and fast sections, confounds even the most experienced violin players. But Resmini performs the piece in style (and from memory, no less!) without even breaking a sweat. While it’s easy for us to write off talented, young musicians as merely lucky or genetically blessed, there’s no doubt that Resmini spent countless hours studying and practicing this piece—which a performance at her level almost demands. And just so there’s no question of whether or not she’s a one trick pony, Resmini has an entire Youtube channel full of her amazing flute videos that are just as impressive as this one.

#1: A Master’s Take on a Classic Piece

While the previous videos demonstrated that flutes and flute players have an impressive range of capabilities in this world, it’s also important to remember the place where the flute feels most at home—the orchestra. In our final amazing flute video, world-class flutist Emmanuel Pahud peforms the famous “Entr’acte” (music played between scenes) from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet with the Berlin Philharmonic. This performance is a literal tour-de-force of orchestral powerhouses—Pahud has toured worldwide as a soloist and is currently the principal flutist for the Berlin Philharmonic, which is world-famous in its own respect. To top it all off, the piece is conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuela’s most beloved and energetic composer. The Entr’acte is a short, but moving, slow piece that is great for displaying the lyric capabilities of the instrument. When it’s being performed by a master like Pahud, you’re all but guaranteed an amazing flute video.