Hello there,

I just happened to bought a recorder because I'm curious, and found out that it says: YAMAHA - SOPRANO/DESCANT RECORDER....

Well, then in the manual book, it says that the recorder can be blown as soprano or alto.

I'm very confused. Which one should I blow? Please advise.

And will the examiners in ABRSM allow plastic recorders for test?

Soprano recorder is just a synonym for descant recorder. Descant recorder seems to be a term that is not used outside the UK. I don't know what you mean by "can be blown as sporano or alto". A soprano recorder is a soprano recorder, not an alto recorder.

Of course you can use a plastic recorder for the exam. I did grade 8 on a plastic Aulos recorder.

Liz

Maybe the manual just includes a fingering chart for both soprano and alto recorder (that happens very often) But as liz said, soprano and descant is the same and should be played as a soprano.

It may be on about breath pressure as the descnat and the treble have similar breath pressures needed where as the others are either less or more....if you know what i mean!

I think the confusion comes from the fact that they are using one manual for both types of recorders. For your instrument you just have to learn the fingering chart for the descant/soprano. Just ignore the fingering chart for alto for now. Hope this helps!

And I noticed that there are two or more fingerings on a particular note(s)...

They said German or Baroque system.

Which one should I follow?

And, uh... I know there's lotsa starter pieces of recorder, but I even noticed that there are transcriptions of one of Bach's Lute Suites, I think it's the BWV997...

Am I correct?

There are many fingerings.....you get the German and the Baroque then you get them mixed together...to create soft notes and loud notes....if you know what i mean. I can not remember which is the style of fingering that is standard, but I THINK it is German, as the Baroqe finering is for recorder without double holes, as recorders were originally all single holes, and as you can imagine G# would not have been that easy!!!!!!!!
There are many transcripts....BWV 997 is a gorgeous piece....The first movement is great fun...I have played it many many times! There are a few recorder pieces which are transcriptions from flute pieces, and violin pieces (I think the Corelli sonatas are transcribed from violin)

No, Ruth, you're wrong there. The two fingering systems - and the two types of recorder - are quite different. The German fingering was an invention for the purpose of making certain notes easier. All it achieved was to make other notes a lot harder - a plain stupid idea - but it is still used in germany for some purposes. Alternative fingerings used for trills and dynamic contrast are something completely different.

If the recorder has double holes then it's baroque. Just to complicate matters, it is still just possible that you may come across and old baroque fingered recorder with single holes, but I don't think anyone even makes those now.

Liz

I would automatically use the Baroque fingerings, particularly on that Yamaha descant in question (I have 2 of them). The German fingerings tend to be horribly out of tune (especially F!). Not to say that German fingerings are invariably out of tune but most recorders are designed for baroque fingerings.

My boyfriend (obnoxious violinist, he's doing his AMusA this year ) like to grab my recorders and play them with the German fingerings because it annoys me so much!

Having double holes or not has nothing to do with whether the instrument is built with German or Baroque fingering, and the fingering used depends on the particular recorder, not to what one feels like using.

An easy way to see if the recorder is one with German or Baroque fingering is to check the sizes of holes 4 and 5. If hole 5 is larger than hole 4, it is Baroque. If hole 4 is larger than hole 5, it is German.

I hope your instrument is indeed built with the Baroque fingering, because the German fingering is nothing more than a futile attempt to make the recorder easier to play. It has no application beyond that.

Now I'm trying to blow it. Well, is playing slurred notes can be done on a recorder? Let's say I blow A to B, I continue blowing A then press B without stopping when blowing A. Is that a slur?

Now, where can I listen to recorder pieces? I want to listen to them...

You can do anything on a recorder that you can do on another wind instrument. At least, I think you can anyway.

Dynamic contrast seems harder to pull off, though. Recorder players, is this a recorder thing or just bad technique?

Bit of both - recorders don't have as large a dynamic range as most other woodwinds, and keeping them in tune at the extremes of the dynamic range can be challenging!

But I suppose at one time the other woodwinds would have still been at the stage recorders still are?

Or is something inherent in the recorder, in the bore or something?

I've found playing mezzo-staccato helps make it sound softer, is that a good idea or is it cheating?

I've found playing mezzo-staccato helps make it sound softer, is that a good idea or is it cheating?

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maybe cheating - but I use the same technique

Disclaimer: not a recorder player

Playing mezzo-staccato is an accepted technique on Harpsichord when playing relatively fast-flowing contrapuntal music to de-emphasise certain parts. It's one of the few tricks one can use to fake dynamics, along with ornamentation, doubling of notes etc.

I'd guess at least some of this would apply to recorder playing, especially if it's of period music.

And if anyone has issues with dynamics, it's harpsichordists, hey?

Ingy O' Nghan - I think the plastic Yamaha descant is a decent recorder. Takes a bit more to get a good sound out of it but if you're keen then you'll get there soon enough!

It is hard to get dymanics on the recorder, but you can use different fingerings......ones that are slightly flat so you have to blow louder (forte fingerings) and ones that are slightly sharp so you have to blow less (piano fingerings) but it is impossible to go through them quickly!!
Also for dymanics you can alter your articulation....staccato is generally piano and largato is generall forte, but there are exceptions.
There are other ways the contribute to dynamics...but I can not think of them off the top of my head!

So I can play legato or staccato on a recorder?

[quote=CJB,Sep 2 2005, 12:38 PM]
I've found playing mezzo-staccato helps make it sound softer, is that a good idea or is it cheating?

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maybe cheating - but I use the same technique

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there are no rules you can play mezzo-staccato if you want no one can stop you.