I've been learning recorder for just over a year now. I have never actually played in any kind of ensemble (except for a couple of duets with my teacher in lessons). But this afternoon I am off to my teacher's for a few hours of consort playing with some of her advanced students. Not sure quite what to expect but am hoping it will be fun...

(Just thought I'd share that!)

Ooooh! Lucky you! I'm sure you will have a great time!

W

Sounds like fun - I love playing in ensembles on any instrument

How did it go? I'm sure you had fun - though it can be scary playing with an unknown ensemble for the first time. I hope you'll get plenty more opportunities.

It was really good, thanks. I got to play all my recorders (descant to bass). Need to get more fluent at switching between the F and C instruments but I guess it'll come in time. Oh, and also reading bass clef on recorder (though it wasn't quite as bad as I was fearing!).

Unfortunately a similar thing won't happen for a while as the other people are all off to uni. Ah well, at least I know what consort playing is like now! Hopefully I'll get more chances in the future...

I can identify with the F/C switching problem - it happens to me all the time. Hats off to you for the bass as well - although I can read bass clef no problem on a keyboard, the few times I've tried to play a recorder and read the notes in a bass clef have ended in chaos...
I'm sure more opportunities will come your way, too.

Glad you enjoyed the day. I've been trying to get back into bass reading this week as I'm off to the Ascot Early Music course today. I expect I'll be doing a lot of switching over the next few days.

One of the problems I find is that, because I sometimes transpose continuo parts up a couple of octaves so I can play them on the flute (as a duet line) I can read bass clef with C fingerings as well as bass clef with F fingerings, and that gives me yet another set of fingerings to attach to each blob on the stave. So far, the note on the middle line can be played as 01 (descant, tenor and flute); 0123-56 (treble); 012 (bass) or 0123456 (flute). Perhaps I ought to take up Great bass and utilise the C fingering/bass clef reading.

I ended up playing using my rather rusty viola skills in a quintet with 4 diploma level instrumentalists a while back. boy, did I improve quickly

What are you studying for your grade 8 benjaminja?

I am studying the following pieces (Trinity syllabus):

A. 3rd mvt of Bach A minor sonata
B. slow mvt of York Bowen sonatina
C. Davis technical study (descant)

Quite varied with a number of different challenges! Oh, and am meant to be learning the scales too...

Oh, scales. I did the Davis Aquilae Chrysaetos to get out of those
Trinity may ask for fewer scales, but the articulations requested are surprisingly off-putting - at any rate to me...

Ahh the York Bowen is gorgeous!!

I love the York Bowen flute Sonata - I take it the Sonatina is good too!