What Instruments Should Accompany the Flute?

What instruments should accompany the flute?

There are so many instruments that sound great with the flute. My favorites are the guitar, piano, harpsicord, harp, organ, and many percussion instruments.
I have even played an entire polka accompanied solely by a tuba!

All of those instruments lend themselves well to the rhythm section. And depending on the piece, many more instruments back up a flutist as well.

I especially like when a flutist can play a solo well accompanied by bongos or some sort of percussion.

I’ve included a couple of examples of different accompaniment instruments below. You can listen and see what you think of each.

You don’t want to rule out the idea of other ‘wind’ instruments playing a duet with a flutist also. Let me explain:

When I was in Junior High I sat directly in front of the whole entire saxophone section. It was painful if you can imagine. For many years I assumed flutes and saxophones were not a good combination.  BUT, then I did some traveling and had an awesome opportunity to work with a professional saxophonist. HOLY COW. My life changed.

Wow! I never thought that was possible.

This saxophonist was so proficient and perfectly on tune. His tone was so smooth, and suddenly I wanted to play with other instruments more and more. This time my idea was to search for the most proficient musician as possible. Then, life was good. 🙂

In my home town I knew a man who was a excellent Oboe player. Wow, never thought that was possible. Yet, he and I could play and play and play together. Soooo nice.

I encourage you in your travels as a budding flutist to keep your eye out for other musicians who are at the stage where they are playing pretty-well on tune and have nice, smooth tone. You’ll enjoy their company when you find them. And probably in more than one way.

Musicians have a way of connecting. We all understand what it takes to get to the level desired. We’re kind of a rare breed. And, we’re awesome.