How do you play the recorder?

[faulty_damper]

I have a plastic Yamaha recorder, the one they made us play in elementary school.  I can't seem to be able to play in any other key besides C major.  How do I go about playing something in another key?

I had a dream last night about the recorder.  In it, some little person, I forget either boy or girl, was playing a recorder.  It was really beautiful and made of this deep colored wood and it was larger than the recorder I have.  It had a huge bulge, like an garlic, at the mouth piece with holes in it, too.  Anyway, the person was playing it by covering the holes on the instrument and also only half covering the holes.  Is this how to change keys on the recorder, by half covering the holes on it?

Also, there are holes with two holes in them.  How does that work?  And also, what's the purpose of the hole on the bottom of the recorder, intended for the thumb to use.  And is the instrument only capable of playing one octave?

I don't know much about this instrument but would like to know how to play it other than some really simplistic tunes like Row Your Boat.

That recorder in my dream was really nice.  Absolutely a thing of beauty.

[JK]

The hole at the back is for the thumb and you should cover it with your thumb all the time. To play in a higher octave you have to move yoyr thumb so that the hole is only half covered, this enables you to paly higher notes. The holes with two holes are for semitones for the lower notes such as C# and D#. As for how to change key, I don't know exactly cos I haven't played the recorder for about 10 years! It's got something to do with fingering I think. Are you thinking of chucking in the piano and becoming a full time recorder player then..?

[bernhard]

That recorder in my dream was really nice.  Absolutely a thing of beauty.

Definitely a phallic dream…

Anyway, the recorder is a beautiful instrument, much maligned because of its widespread (mis)use by children in schools.

If you are serious about learning it, you will be amply rewarded: it takes a very short time to play it really well. Also listen to recordings of Michala Petri (arguably the Franz Liszt of the recorder), Marion Verbruggen and the Amsterdan Loeki Stardust quartet to have an idea of the heights the instrument can reach in the right hands.

The recorder has many strange peculiarities. It is the instrument with the least amount of overtones, so the pitch is the purest. Hence it s use in the Baroque to elicit “heavenly” music. Also there is no repertory for the recorder after 1750 (when it was superseded by the transverse flute). It fell in total obscurity, so much so, that when it was rediscovered in the 1900s, the player who rediscovered it, closed the thumb hole with plaster since he had no idea what it was for. After 1930, however, it caught the imagination of many composers, so that the recorder has one of the most varied and exciting modern repertory amongst all instruments.

Moreover, the piano parts are wonderful, so even if you do not want to take up the recorder yourself, it may be an attractive idea to accompany a recorder player.

Most of the repertory is for treble recorder, so I suggest you learn this one first (eventually you will learn all of them). The reason children are taught the soprano first is simply because of their hand size. The treble recorder has a much mellower, creamy sound, and to my taste, one of the most beautiful amongst wind instruments.

The normal range of the recorder (it can be increased with special techniques) is two octaves, and it can play all notes within its range (that is, you can play a two octave chromatic scale on any recorder. The soprano, tenor and great bass in C all go from C to C, and the sopranino, treble and bass go from F to F). To change keys is therefore not a problem, all you need is a fingering chart to tell you the different notes.

The best tutors in my opinion are:

Anthony Rowland-Jones - Introduction to the recorder
-      Recorder technique
-      Playing recorder sonatas

all published by Oxford University Press

and the indispensable Walter Van Hawer – The Modern recorder player (Schott). You don’t really need any other books, and at the same time you cannot do without them; although there are other nice ones out there.

Also have a look at this site:

https://members.iinet.net.au/~nickl/recorder.html

I hope this helps.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[Tash]

i hate recorders they're the most annoying instrument on the planet. however that could just have to do with the fact that the only people who i ever hear play it are little kids who play jingle bells and continuously repeat the rhythm of 'jinlge bells jingle bells...' and drives me insane! the only other place i've heard thhem is the piece in diagon alley in the harry potter movies and i like that it's really cute.

my sister was once in a recorder ensemble at school when she was like 9 or soemthing and she had this full huge wooden recorder and tthey had all these different sized ones- it was nuts! so i guess there is more to recorders than most people first think. damn sschools forcing kids to play them and ruin their reputation