Play the Treble Recorder

There is a vast array of music written for both solo treble (or alto) recorder and for the instrument as part of an ensemble. It forms a key part of the recorder quartet and recorder orchestra, and is often seen as the de facto recorder size among recorder players.

Steps

  1. Remind yourself and the people who are playing it with you that you're playing a totally different instrument from a descant (soprano) recorder. You'll only get confused if you try to compare the two.
  2. Choose a recorder. There are treble recorders for any budget, both plastic and wooden. A wooden one will have much nicer tone, but it will cost a lot more money. If you're starting out, it's probably best to buy a plastic one, in case you decide at a later date that you don't like it. An additional concern when buying is that a plastic one will remain to be useful when you upgrade (it's very good for practicing on), whereas a cheaper wooden one will not. It's always best to buy the best you can afford, but a good plastic will be a better option than a cheap wooden one.
  3. Assemble the recorder. Unlike the descant (soprano) recorder, the treble will invariably come disassembled in a case. It comes in three parts: the the head joint (into which you blow), the body (which contains most of the fingering holes), and the foot joint. Ensure that the foot joint is skewed slightly to the right, so that when your fingers cover all of the holes, your little finger rests easily over the final hole.
  4. Hold your recorder. Your left thumb should cover the hole on the underside of the body and your middle three fingers should cover the holes on top. Your little finger should be free. The thumb of your right hand should balance the recorder and the remaining fingers should cover the remaining holes.
  5. Play the note E. Place your left forefinger and thumb on their holes and blow. This is the note E. Try getting someone to play that note on the piano. If you're higher than the piano, you're blowing too hard and if you're lower then you're blowing too softly. Experiment until you find the right amount to blow.
  6. Learn to tongue. Before playing any note, pronounce a "doo" sound, so that your tongue touches the roof of your mouth. This produces a much clearer note.
  7. Play the note D. Play an E, then put your middle finger on its hole as well. Once again, check if you're blowing the right amount by testing the note on a piano.
  8. Play the note C. Play a D, then put your ring finger on its hole as well. Check if you're blowing the right amount by testing the note on a piano again, but you should be starting to get a feel for the amount you need to blow to play a note in tune.
  9. Play the note A. Play a C, then put the forefinger and middle finger of your right hand on their holes. You should have 5 holes (and the underneath hole) covered.
  10. Play the note G. Play an A, then add your ring finger. This note requires less air pressure than previous notes, so make sure that you don't blow too hard.
  11. Play the note F. Play a G, then add your little finger, on the foot joint. This note requires still less air pressure than G, so make sure that you don't blow too hard. This is the lowest note on the treble recorder.
  12. Play the note High F. Play a D, then remove your forefinger. Moving from E to F (as is common) takes some getting used to, and is quite difficult to get smooth. Practice it. You will learn an alternative fingering for E later to accommodate this, but if possible, always try to use the E fingering above. High F is also known as F' .
  13. Play the note B flat (Bb). You may have wondered why B was missed out earlier. This is because Bb makes up the F major scale, and is therefore taught before B (since the treble recorder is an "F" recorder). Further, it is more difficult because it is a "forked note", meaning the middle finger is off the hole, but the forefinger and ring finger are on the holes. So, play a low F and remove the middle finger of your right hand.
  14. So, you can now play an F major scale. Simply play F, G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F' and then back down.
  15. Play the note High G. Play High F, then remove your thumb from the hole below. This will take some practice to make sure that the recorder is properly balanced and that you get a nice even tone. Try playing it against the piano, to check tuning. High G is also known as G' .
  16. Play the note High F sharp (F#). Play a High G and then add your forefinger, remembering to keep your thumb off its hole. A very common trill is F# to G, and on recorder, this is exceptionally easy. Just quickly take your forefinger off the hole and put it back, without tonguing each time. High F# is also known as F#' .
  17. Play the note B. Play a note G and remove the forefinger of your right hand. You can trill between C and B really easily by just pulling your middle and ring fingers up and down quickly without tonguing.
  18. You can now play a G major scale. Simply play G, A, B, C, D, E, F#', G' and then back down.
  19. Play the note E flat (Eb). Play a note E and add the middle finger of your left hand and the forefinger of your right hand.
  20. You can now play a G minor scale. Play G, A, Bb, C, D, E, F#', G' going up and G', F', Eb, D, C, Bb, A, G going down.
  21. Learn to play pinched notes. To get high notes, one must employ a technique called "pinching", which involves your thumb. Simply slip the tip of your thumb inside the thumb hole. Practice moving your thumb in this way, between pinched and non-pinched, because you will have to do this a lot.
  22. Play the note High A. Play an A, but instead of covering the hole with your thumb, pinch it, as explained above. It should sound an octave higher than the lower A. Practice moving between A and High A (A'), remembering to tongue every time. Check your tuning on the piano.
  23. Play the note High G#. Play a G but remove your thumb and the forefinger of your left hand. This note is quite difficult, but necessary for the next two scales.
  24. You can now play an A minor scale. Play A, B, C, D, E, F#', G#', A' going up, then A', G', F', E, D, C, B, A going down.
  25. Play the note C#. Play an A and remove the ring finger of your left hand. Then, notice that there are two holes under the ring finger of your right hand. Cover the rightmost one of these. This will take some practice. Try moving from C# to D. Check your tuning on a piano.
  26. You can now play an A major scale. Play A, B, C#, D, E, F#', G#', A' and then back down again.
  27. Play the note High Bb. Play a High A, remove the middle finger of your right hand and add your right hand's ring finger. Remember not to add your right hand's little finger as you did with regular Bb.
  28. You can now play a Bb major scale. Play Bb, C, D, Eb, F', G', A', Bb' and then back down again.

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