Author Topic: Question about learning to play the recorder (Read 4186 times)

MariaCatherine · « **on:** May 10, 2015, 03:13:46 PM »

Does anyone here have any advice for someone who thinks they might like to learn to play the recorder? I only know I like the sound, it's relatively simple to learn, it's lightweight and seems affordable. I can read music. I'm not ready to inquire at a music store yet (because I always feel obliged to buy something once a salesman has spent any time with me :surprised: ). I don't know how to distinguish a good youtube video from a bad one on something I know very little about. Thanks.

Graham · « **Reply #1 on:** May 10, 2015, 03:50:02 PM »

I recommend getting a soprano recorder made from wood. You should be able to find a student model for less than $100. Sure, you could buy a plastic one for $20, but they generally feel and sound a bit trashy, and if you like the recorder you will end up wanting a wooden one soon enough, in which case you'll have spent $20 more than you otherwise would have. A $100 Mollenhauer could suffice for your entire playing career, unless you get ambitious.

You might also consider an alto, especially if you like its lower and more sonorous sound, but it will cost more, and being in F (or G) might give it a steeper learning curve at the outset. I wouldn't recommend learning on a tenor since the larger stretch between holes could be frustrating for a beginner, especially for a woman.

If you already know something about music you can teach yourself from a method without difficulty. This one is pretty good - but then it's the only one I know - it has a lot of Renaissance tunes:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O87S66/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001O87S66&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwchanco-20

I don't know anything about what's available on Youtube.

It's relatively simple to learn, and a good instrument for accompanying or entertaining family and friends or just amusing yourself.

MariaCatherine · « **Reply #2 on:** May 10, 2015, 04:14:45 PM »

Thanks, Graham. I will take your advice.

PG · « **Reply #3 on:** May 10, 2015, 05:53:10 PM »

Mariacatherine - the recorder should be easy to learn on from the self taught angle. I play a wood flute, and the hurdle was learning how to blow properly. But, with a recorder, where you blow through a stationary mouth piece, you should be able to make a sound easily. And, that means it should be pretty easy to learn. Spent time on youtube viewing instructional videos about the recorder. I am sure there are many. And, take grahams advice about getting the wood soprano recorder from the start. They are very affordable, and you will want wood soon enough if not already. I almost bought a moeck affordable wood soprano a while back. Mullenhauer and moeck are big names that should lead you to the recorder for you.

Another good option is a wood irish whistle(6 holes, very simple). They don't have as many holes as a recorder, and are easier to play. There are endless possibilities with 6 hole(2 octaves) wind instruments.

MariaCatherine · « **Reply #4 on:** May 10, 2015, 07:59:23 PM »

Thanks, + PG + .

I wonder if notes can be slurred or bent on a recorder, the way they can on a penny whistle by half covering the hole. I would guess they cannot.

Marlelar · « **Reply #5 on:** May 10, 2015, 10:26:54 PM »

Sweet Pipes has great method books. link

Also look at children's "sing-along" books for extra practice material.

Cantarella · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2015, 10:46:30 PM »

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the main difference between a flute and a recorder?. As a child, I learnt how to play what I think as the "flute", but it turns out that it was actually a recorder. English is not my first language. :scratchchin:

Graham · « **Reply #7 on:** May 11, 2015, 04:20:44 AM »

Quote from: MariaCatherine

Thanks, + PG + .

I wonder if notes can be slurred or bent on a recorder, the way they can on a penny whistle by half covering the hole. I would guess they cannot.

You can do that by sliding a finger on or off the hole, or achieve something similar by closing a hand over the lip where the wind is split. You can perform a glissando up the entire scale if you want.

Graham · « **Reply #8 on:** May 11, 2015, 04:34:17 AM »

Quote from: Cantarella

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the main difference between a flute and a recorder?. As a child, I learnt how to play what I think as the "flute", but it turns out that it was actually a recorder. English is not my first language. :scratchchin:

In the largest sense a recorder probably is a kind of flute. Ordinarily though we would think of a recorder as an end blown instrument where the player blows directly into the mouthpiece, the air column then being split a little downstream. The flute is side blown or transverse, and the player blows across a hole which splits the air. The recorder has a 'harder' sound, but they are similar instruments.

Traditional Guy 20 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 11, 2015, 10:02:34 AM »

Quote from: MariaCatherine

Thanks, + PG + .

I wonder if notes can be slurred or bent on a recorder, the way they can on a penny whistle by half covering the hole. I would guess they cannot.

I can't really offer advice other than to say I commend you for choosing a perfectly feminine instrument to learn. We definitely need more modest females who can beautify the home with good music.

MariaCatherine · « **Reply #10 on:** May 11, 2015, 02:26:08 PM »

Quote from: Traditional Guy 20

I can't really offer advice other than to say I commend you for choosing a perfectly feminine instrument to learn. We definitely need more modest females who can beautify the home with good music.

What a sweet thing to say. Thank you.

Marlelar · « **Reply #11 on:** May 11, 2015, 02:45:45 PM »

Quote from: Cantarella

Pardon my ignorance, but what is the main difference between a flute and a recorder?. As a child, I learnt how to play what I think as the "flute", but it turns out that it was actually a recorder. English is not my first language. :scratchchin:

If you go to google and do an image search on each one you'll see the difference. The recorder is the great-grandfather to a transverse flute.

Marlelar · « **Reply #12 on:** May 11, 2015, 02:50:11 PM »

I have to give a plug to Bill Lazar at Lazar Early Music. I have been to his shop and he is incredibly knowledgeable. Has good prices too. So far I have bought three of my recorders from him.

Cantarella · « **Reply #13 on:** May 11, 2015, 06:21:53 PM »

Quote from: Traditional Guy 20

Quote from: MariaCatherine
Thanks, + PG + .

I wonder if notes can be slurred or bent on a recorder, the way they can on a penny whistle by half covering the hole. I would guess they cannot.

I can't really offer advice other than to say I commend you for choosing a perfectly feminine instrument to learn. We definitely need more modest females who can beautify the home with good music.

Besides the flute, what would you consider to be other "perfectly feminine" instruments to learn and teach daughters?

Graham · « **Reply #14 on:** May 11, 2015, 06:36:41 PM »

Quote from: Marlelar

The recorder is the great-grandfather to a transverse flute.

The timeline doesn't match that assertion.

Quote from: Ancient European Musical Instruments, Nicholas Bessaraboff

The first complete description of the recorder family ... was given in the Musica Getutscht (1511) by Sebastian Virdung. The recorder family, it can be safely conjectured, developed in the second half of the fifteenth century, or possibly earlier.

The recorder family appeared quite late. It's true that pipes and whistles of different sorts have been around much longer, but even then, there's no evidence that the transverse flute descended from any sort of instrument resembling a recorder.

Quote

The transverse flute, an instrument of respectable antiquity, came to Europe from the Orient at some period not yet definitely determined. There are reasons to believe that the transverse flute was known to the Greeks and Romans. The earliest Italo-Byzantine images on caskets of the ninth or tenth century are preserved in Florence, Italy. One of the most interesting objective proofs both of its Oriental origin and of the early period of its appearance in Europe is the fresco on the stairway wall of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev, Russia. This dates from the eleventh century ...