 The Fingering Forum
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Author: tom
Date: 1999-09-06 18:43
I have always been iterested in woodwind instruments and have picked up lots of differant things while traveling abroad. One instrument I think is a recorder. It is a Hohner and is labeled "made in germany" (where I got it). So a couple of questions...
1. Are recorders used as serious instruments for performance? I like the woody sound it makes as compared to my Alto and C flutes...
2. Not a lot of blowing required to start the low notes and it isn't very loud. Is that normal?
3. Some of the fingering charts talk about covering something on the mouthpiece? I don't understand.
4. This recorder even though it says made in Germany has two holes on the 6 and 7 keys which makes it more like an English model. Any thoughts.
5. Any finally, I think this is a Soprano recorder, because it starts on C? So I could find another that starts on F?
Thanks for the thoughts
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Author: Eoin
Date: 1999-09-07 07:39
1. The recorder is a serious musical instrument
used in early music up to about the time of Bach and Vivaldi. Vivaldi wrote many recorder concertos. One of
Bach's Brandenburg Concertos uses recorders. Many flute pieces were actually written for recorder.
2. The recorder is a quiet instrument. In Italian it is called the "soft flute". There is not much you can do to
make it play louder, so recorder players usually use
articulation such as legato and staccato to make it
appear soft or loud.
3. There is only one note that requires you to cover the window in the mouthpiece. This is a very high G which is never used in normal recorder music. You needn't worry about this. (I can't do it either!)
4. Standard fingering on the recorder is called English fingering or Baroque fingering. All recorders made outside Germany use this. In Germany, some manufacturers make "German Fingering" and some make English fingering. German
fingering seems to have designed to make playing in the key of C easier. It doesn't make playing in any other key easier and has a number of intonation problems so it is considered by non-Germans to be a failed experiment.
Both English and German fingering recorders may have two holes at the 6 and 7 positions. The way to tell an English from a German is to play C D E F. The fingerings are the same for C, D and E but different for F:
English fingering F: T 123 | 4-67
German fingering F: T 123 | 4---
You should be able to hear which sounds right.
5. If your recorder is about 30cm long and plays a C when all the holes are covered, then it is indeed a Soprano. An
Alto recorder is about 50% longer and plays the note F below the C of the Soprano. Alto recorders made in plastic
are not expensive. A wooden one, however, might cost quite
a lot.
Good luck with your playing,
Eoin
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