I've just been looking at the now complete recorder syllabus on the Trinity Guildhall website, and I confess to being a little disappointed.

The preliminary information given out earlier this year made it sound as though candidates would be able to choose whether to play the supporting tests on descant or treble, provided that the other instrument was used for some of the pieces. However, this is not the case for Grades 6-8, where the scales or alternatice study have to be played on treble, with the sight reading played on either descant or treble at the examiner's choice.

This means rather more work in preparation for the examination, if sight reading has to be practised on both instruments. It also means candidates will have to be very proficient at switching instruments to read unprepared material - a useful skill for a recorder player, but rather more than has been demanded so far.

What do others think?

It would at least go against the ideas being kicked around that TG are dumbing down...
I can see that it makes more work, but I do also think that switching ought to be part of a recorder player's skill-set...says she, who constantly makes bloops at this one! I haven't been able to persuade my pupil to try some descant-playing from time to time, either (she doesn't want to do exams anyway) and am frustrated that I can't introduce her to some of the gems I've enjoyed because they're for a C instrument. I'm too stretched otherwise to do a whole lot of transposing for her...I'm not a consort-minded player, but I should have thought for consort playing it would also make it much more interesting if everyone could swap around a bit, instead of sticking with the same instrument all the time.

I wonder if the sightreading will be pitched at an appropriate level of difficulty, to take account of the fact that candidates have to be able to switch?

We'll be able to see when the specimen tests are available - should be in the next few weeks.

My student who was thinking of doing Trinity is, like me, also a flautist. She switches pretty well, but finds scales and sight reading much easier on the descant (as do I ).

that's interesting - I did learn descant first, about 100 years ago at school, then the oboe , but once I'd learnt the treble, I found it much easier to sightread on treble. Learning scales is a bugbear for me on both, though I have little difficulty in reading them from the page...
However, when teaching fingerings, I'll sometimes call a D an A, as if I were still in descant mode! I was assuming that your preference for descant scales and sightreading comes because the flute is also in C - do you think that this might be the reason?

Yes. I don't have to think when I'm playing a C instrument. There';s always a bit of second-guessing that goes on with the treble. I spend so much more of my time playing a C instrument than I do an F instrument.

Interestingly I played the treble to around Grade 5 standard before I ever picked up a flute!

I think that by the time a pupil reaches grade six he or she should be reasonably fluent on both soprano and alto, and also be able to move music up or down an octave at sight. These are all basic skills that recorder players need , especially in consort work. The alto instrument is the most important for the baroque repertoire. The soprano was not used nearly as orten then as now. Players should be working towards fluency on both C and F instruments, and also towards getting the skills needed to play music of different periods on suitable period instruments too to become really proficient at recorder playing. Not always possible of course, but a nice challenge when it is.

I would agree with all of that. But fluency on F instruments is necessary for the AB recorder exams at the moment. Trinity Guildhall are introducing another level, in requiring sight reading to be on either instrument, chosen by the examiner. It';s just something else to be taken into consideration when choosing the exam board.