I have a pupil aged 13 who would like to aim for Grade 6 recorder in 2010. She has Grade 5 descant with merit, Grade 3 treble with distinction and will be taking Grade 4 on the treble in June. She works hard and learns quickly. We are working towards Grade 5 theory.

I have just looked through the current syllabus and found to my horror that, having not taught recorder to this level before, I haven't got a single one of the books. As I live in the back of beyond there is no question of visiting a shop to browse - and I can't spend a fortune on buying blind umpteen possible scores

Please can anyone who has used this syllabus give me some guidance on what might be a sensible and balanced programme. The pupil would like to do one of the pieces on descant. She has fairly wide tastes and is quite an agile player.

I would also be glad if someone could suggest a good book on recorder technique for me to brush up a bit before I embark on the Grade 6 teaching.

You may find you have more luck with this in Viva Woodwind

Two ideas:

(1) have you tried googling and searching the web for them ? Sometimes the sheet music itself is available (for the more baroque/classical pieces usually) and, if not, quite often there are recordings/video clips of people playing the pieces (often posted by proud parents).
This way at least you can hear them and get an idea.

(2) Give your ABRSM representative a call - it really should be right up her street.

Good luck.

Yes, I've googled around a bit. Not found anything yet but will keep trying. And yes, I will ask our rep - I should have thought of that - but I'll wait until next month when I have to send our entries for June - she's always so busy I don't like to bother her so I'll do the two things at the same time.

Many thanks.

Alan Davies Treble Recorder Technique is quite useful, it was recommended by one of the Forum teachers to us a couple of years ago.

Emsoboe loved Mr Stewarts Strathmore Lilt from Danserye, it a scottish style piece, for Descant. One of the G8 pieces is in the same book. To be honest she played through quite a few pieces as they are quite modern so make a change.

If I remember rightly i think Handel is on 6, 7 and 8 so this might be a worthwhile investment.

I'm sure one of the Recorder Teachers will be able to give you better advice.

List A) I like Bach, Handel, Marcello & Telemann in F (especially the latter)
List B) The Bullard might be the best choice if you want a descant piece
List C) The Davis are all quite approachable.

Like notmusimum says, there's Handel sonatas on both grades 6 and 7, so that book's probably a good one to get. (I don't think there's one on the grade 8 list though).

For list B, I did the piece by Walter Leigh, which was really nice (but has one of the most difficult and unpianistic piano parts I've ever tried to play).

On the C list, the Linde study is good, or the Van Eyck. The Davis study would get ridiculously tedious after a couple of weeks.

Just a quick thank you for your help. I shall limit my expenditure to the books you have suggested and I think that will give me a wide enough choice.

Thanks again.