CYNTHIA COZETTE LEE
Sep 1, 2026
The article gives helpful suggestions on how to decide the performance difficulty level of flute music for beginners, intermediate and advanced flutists.
T.I.P. - TIPS IN PERFORMING -
ONNOTES 4 MUSIC LLC FREE NEWSLETTER
Fall 2026 ISSUE 2
Welcome to the Fall 2026 Issue 2 of “T.I.P – Tips In Performing” newsletter from OnNotes 4 Music LLC! T.I.P. is a free quarterly newsletter that will discuss helpful music practices and topics of interest for flutists, instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, arrangers, transcribers, music librarians, historians and music industry specialists.
This issue features the article “How to Decide on the Difficulty Level in Performing Flute Music” written by me, Cynthia Cozette Lee, founder and director of OnNotes 4 Music LLC. The article gives helpful suggestions on how to decide the performance difficulty level of flute music for beginners, intermediate and advanced flutists. This is an opinion. Please seek additional professional guidance for further information and aid.
I am an award-winning Black American contemporary classical music woman composer. Please feel free to browse and shop for my lyrical music scores in my online store at www.cynthiacozettelee.com While there, please sign up for OnNotes 4 Music email list in order to receive free the latest news events.
OnNotes 4 Music, Offering Distinctive Sounds of Award-Winning Composer
Cynthia Cozette Lee – Founder & Director
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HOW TO DECIDE ON THE DIFFICULTY LEVEL IN PERFORMING FLUTE MUSIC
By Cynthia Cozette Lee
September 1, 2026 Philadelphia, PA USA
I remember as a child learning an excerpt of the “Flight of the Bumblebee” on flute from Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan Act I, Scene 3. I recall being frustrated because I could only play this famous orchestra excerpt interlude at a slow moderate tempo on my flute. This music interlude was composed to mimic the buzzing of a bumblebee and is often played by instrumentalists to demonstrate their agility at a fast accelerando tempo. Obviously, the difficulty level of performance for “Flight of the Bumblebee” is very advanced because of its rapid chromatic passages and the high agility skills required of the instrumentalist performing this music. Looking back at my childhood growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I realize my first flute teacher, Mr. Alois Hrabak (1884-1978), who was a retired Pittsburgh Symphony member, was introducing me to an advanced flute piece. By learning “Flight of the Bumblebee” as an advanced beginner flutist, I could aspire to becoming proficient in developing the agility and skills of a professional or advanced flute player.
As a publisher, composer of contemporary music, flutist and pianist, I decided to categorize my music for OnNotes 4 Music LLC in three different categories in reference to difficulty levels based on the musician’s range, skills and ability. Because I am composing music for all instruments and voice in my Details and Descriptions of music scores I decided to use the Scientific Pitch Notation (SPN) also known as the American Standard Pitch Notation (ASPN) or the International Pitch Notation (IPN) where what is known as middle C on the piano keyboard would be numbered C4. With SPN, ASPN or IPN regardless of the instrument or voice playing middle C is always C4 in the register, and C4 is never any note but middle C. However, please be aware that many theorists, teachers and practicians prefer to call low C on the flute C1 because this is the first and lowest note on the standard transverse C flute. OnNotes 4 Music LLC prefers to use the SPN, ASPN or IPN description of note register system because regardless of the instrument or voice playing, all musicians and vocalists are using the same system of reference.
The three categories of difficulty levels used in OnNotes 4 Music LLC score descriptions and details are:
I. Beginner
II. Intermediate
III. Advanced
I. Beginner Flute Level – the flutist can play at least one octave of flute music from the piano middle C to the octave above middle C on the piano, or can comfortably play music from International Pitch Notation (IPN) register C4 to C5.
II. Intermediate Flute Level – the flutist who can comfortably play 3 octaves on the flute beginning with the piano middle C or starting from low B below middle C to 3 octaves on the flute above the piano middle C, or comfortably can play in the flute from International Pitch Notation (IPN) register B3 to C7. Intermediate level flutist can also play special fingering or effects including harmonics, flutter tonguing and other contemporary flute techniques.
III. Advanced Flute Level – the flutist who can comfortably play all 3 octaves on the flute above the piano middle C, or can comfortably play notes in the International Pitch Notation (IPN) register B3 to C7. Advanced level flutist can also play special fingering or effects including harmonics, flutter tonguing and other contemporary flute techniques or create their own special fingering or flute playing effects throughout the music, including improvisation.
Other Systems:
There are other systems of categorizing difficulty levels in music. I am listing some of these categories below. This article is intended to start the flutist thinking about performance choices, agility levels and skills needed for playing flute music. There is nothing wrong with choosing a flute piece out of your category range or choosing a work for your flute student out of their category range because how will the flutist grow if they do not choose to learn a more advanced flute repertoire as a player?
Flute World has listed online a sheet music grading system from Easy to Extremely Difficult.
The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.
Jen Cuff, Canadian Flutist and Teacher, Chart has a flute levels, grades and skills chart starting from Beginner to University to Semi-professional level.
Theodore Presser Company ten level Standard Grading System for piano.
Selected Flute Repertoire and Studies: A Graded Guide. from The National Flute Association (NFA) repertoire classification system uses an 11-level grading scale from A (beginner) to K (advanced).
Repertoire List of collegiate flutist and pedagogue, Dr. Leonard Garrison, maps these difficulty categories directly to academic proficiency stages.
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Contact: Dr. Cynthia Cozette Lee with questions at Email: OnNotes4@gmail.com
Website: www.cynthiacozettelee.com/
© Copyright, Cynthia Cozette Lee, Philadelphia, PA USA August 1, 2026
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