A talented musician is shaking the world of classical music up – by beatboxing on her FLUTE.
Claire Holdich, 37, uses an unusual technique which enables her to combine the normal flute sound with drum noises from her mouth.
Brilliant video clips show her doing covers of songs by modern artists such as Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber, Coldplay and Taylor Swift.
Claire began playing the flute as a child 26 years ago and has been practising beatboxing at the same time for the last five years.
She works as a teacher and has already begun sharing her expertise with students, as well as posting tutorials on YouTube.
Claire, who’s from Hull, East Yorks., said: “I think you have to be a bit mad to do this – it’s quite a weird thing to get into.
“It’s a huge amount of fun though, it’s a new and fresh style of music – which I absolutely love.
“I think the sound is really unique and different too.”
She added: “I enjoy the fact it breaks down the boundaries of classical, I personally think you should be able to blend all styles of music.
“This style is new and it’s fresh – I like that.”
Claire first became aware of beatboxing while playing the flute five years ago at a demonstration.
She said: “I thought it was amazing and decided to give it a go.
“Learning a new element to the instrument I have loved for years has been a brilliant experience.
“It is quite difficult though – I feel like a beginner again.”
Claire explained how she makes the ‘b’ sound, like that of a drum, by bringing her lips together and “exploding” the air tomorrow.
She then uses a similar technique to make the ‘k’ sound, which is similar to the snare drum, and adds the flute sound over the top.
Claire said: “It’s not easy to do well and I’m still learning.
“I think the longer you play like this the better you will get, I’m definitely going to keep at it in the future.”
It is thought beatboxing while playing the flute originated in the United States in the mid 2000s.
Claire said there is a handful of people doing it in the UK but she hopes to see a surge in young flautists beatboxing.
Claire said: “There are traditionalists out there who think what I am doing is not the ‘done thing’.
“Some people think the flute should be used only for classical music, which clearly I disagree with.”
One day Claire would also like to perform the unusual type of music in front of a crowd, although she’s not sure whether the traditionalists are quite ready.
She added: “Never say never.”
Claire graduated from the University of Hull with a first class degree in Music in 2004.
She has been teaching singing, flute and music theory privately and in schools for over 12 years.