Woodwind & Brasswind Contributing Writer - Greg Vail

The Very Best of James Galway

The Very Best of James GalwayWhat an awesome book of Galway's work! This collection truly is the best of, with music transcribed from many of his popular recordings covering a few different genres. Many of the classical pieces could be purchased individually but I really like this package and variety.

My first thought as I looked thru this book was it is clearly not a beginning flute book. The level of difficulty on many of the selections is challenging for even college student and professionals. I attempted to play thru some of the material and found it initially challenging and a yet of fun. I would guess about 80% of the music is actually really hard. There are a few pop pieces that can easily be played while sight-reading, but that was not the case for the vast majority of the songs.

The range is extreme, full range, all over the flute. The rhythmic difficulty requires some extra time to sort out and many of these passages will take me a longtime practicing to even get close. I love a good challenge and this book certainly delivers!

If you are a professional, a college flute major or an advancing high school flute student; this collection of "The Very Best of James Galway" will definitely give you something to work on and work towards. I love it and hope to get thru it over the next few months.