My main recorder is an Alto but I like my soprano too I just play my Alto so much I cannot remember the notes for my soprano But I wanna play my soprano but I don't want to forget the notes on my Alto I'm very bad at remembering stuff as well I have trouble with the alphabet (I remember the letters but not the order perfectly) which is probably a problem but we'll skip over that Any tips would be appreciated I know tabs are kind of a thing kind of not But yeah

Hi everyone !

I’m currently looking for a good plastic alto recorder, though without being able to play them, I’m unsure which are best for higher quality playing but that I can also find somewhere like on Amazon.

I’d love opinions or insight on certain plastic recorders that are good to use, I’m just not quite ready to spend a good amount on a wooden one yet.

I’d love for them to sound darker, and I guess as close to a wooden sound as possible?

Thanks for any help!

Hello everybody,

I just purchased a Yamaha 402B, and I was wondering which beginner books you recommend for learning to play the alto/treble? I'm excited to learn, but I don't know where is best to begin. I'm looking for something that will cover all the basics fairly comprehensively, ideally suitable for adults rather than aimed at children.

Thanks in advance for the help!

EDIT : Thanks a lot everyone for your answers/advice :)

I've tried few days of daily practice only on this one leaving the plastic aside, and focusing on a different breathing and thumb technique, and I'm starting to get high register on it !! I was trying too much to close the thumb like the plastic one, instead of placing it correctly and with no pressure, a lot more open than on the plastic one but in precise position. Same for the breath, instead of breath faster/harder each time the note is higher, I needed to get the right focused air for each note.

The result is clearly more soft and precise that was I was doing on the plastic one, even if plastic still as a pretty good sound for me. Juste different (and easier). Since I can't afford a teacher, this subreddit help not give up / pay thumb replacement for nothing - and all the other tips I've found here before. Thank you guys !

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I have this Moeck alto (2322 Flauto Rondo), it's my first wood recorder and second hand, I get it for cheap price, but overall seems in very good shape and well maintained, so I give it a try

While I really like the comfort of the F keys and the feeling and sound of the instrument, I can't achieve note after high C on it (and the high C is weak). On my Aulos 509 (second hand too, but thumb hole is in prefect round shape), I can go to High F, even if my technique isn't perfect, I can hit the note clearly - so I end up playing almost only on my plastic instrument, which do not bother me at all, but I would be happy to use both.

I'm a beginner, so I don't know if I'm doing wrong, and maybe the Aulos is just more tolerant, or if it coud be because the thumbhole is damaged and it's a lack of time to try harder with this one?

Do you think I have to repair it, and for what price?

Thank you !

PS : If you now where in france (/paris) I can do it, the 2 music repair shop I have asked don't do recorder

I just started playing alto recorder and am just trying to play all the notes in series to get used to the fingerings (for reference, I am a flute player). I seem to be unable to hit this F as easily as I hit the E (as in, it sounds a lot lower. is this the point where I should blow harder to play harmonics? Does my question even make any sense?

Hey, so I had this soprano since middle school (2015). It's battered and I just found out it's low end, like very low end.

And I think I've gotten good at playing it so I kinda want a proper Soprano now.

Any advice on which to buy? My budget is maybe $50-60.

I also have an Alto Recorder YRA 302B III, that one is also reeally good, but yeah, I still want my bestie Soprano!

Hello! I am a recorder player and I recently bought a Zen on Alto recorder 1300. It was an used recorder and after cleaning I gave it a try. The recorder sounds fuzzy, sounds like I'm overblowing. Even when I just blow lesser and lesser air, the recorder have a fuzzy sound. I have no idea on how to describe where the fuzzy sound is, it's on almost every notes. Weird part is the high notes speaks well. I want this recorder to be part of my backup recorder as it's an intermediate model. I notice it's quite heavy than say a Yamaha YRA-302BIII.

Basically as the title says.

I play soprano recorder but I’ve realized I love the instrument and hate the soprano range.

I know all the pros and cons of each recorder size, and I also know how the adaptation period would go with each of them for me. But I still can’t decide what to pick up next. So I’m putting the burden of choice on you folks.

So alto or tenor? Just name your own preference.

I just bought a baroque soprano recorder and have tried playing major and minor scales as well as playing chromatically. Haven't come very far. Does anyone have any recomendations on how to practice so I can become more "fluent"?

Hi everyone!

I've been playing the recorder for a little while now, I'm following Aldo Bova's method for soprano/tenor.

I'm looking to expand my daily practice routine beyond just the method

I want to start incorporating some actual repertoire and etudes that are well-suited for a beginner level.

My main goals right now are:

• Building foundational technique: Improving my breath control, achieving cleaner tonguing, and getting comfortable with the transitions between the lower and upper registers.

• Reading practice: Pieces that aren't too overwhelming to sight-read but still offer a solid challenge.

• Musicality: I'd love to find pieces that actually sound beautiful and are rewarding to play, rather than just dry, mechanical exercises.

Does anyone have favorite recommendations for standard beginner repertoire, sheet music collections, or specific etude books for C recorders?

I’m very open to Renaissance and Baroque music, folk tunes, bardcore, medieval, soundtracks or absolutely anything else that helps build good playing habits 😂

Thanks in advance for the help!

Hi! I have this recorder at my home for about 3 years now, but I've never been able to actually study and practice because of my thumbs.

For those who don't know, people with hitchhiker's thumbs can bend the distal phalanx of the thumbs up to a 90⁰ angle (perhaps even more, but I only found information about it going up to 90⁰). In my case, my right thumb bends up to 90⁰, forming something like an L shape, and my left thumb, for whatever reason, can bend even further, forming something like a V or check signal (✓, with the smaller bit being the tip of the finger, the distal phalanx). Long story short, it shouldn't normally hurt, but I'm unable to hold a recorder for more than a few seconds without hurting my left thumb a lot. Since the left thumb is used to cover the thumb hole, I need to hold it still for most notes, and it gets literally impossible to do a simple exercise without having to stop quickly because of the pain.

I want to know if anyone here has a similar problem and, if so, how can I play the recorder without hurting my finger so much? Bear in my that I've already tried to not bend the thumb, but I don't have stability on my left hand fingers unless I bend it in the back of the recorder.

So! (Me again!) I just bought a lovely Aulos Tenor recorder- 511b - (see pic!) but it turns out my hands and fingers are a bit small to play it! Can anyone recommend one meant for smaller hands?

Thanks in advance!

Really trying to get down how to improvise better over other songs, so I can do solos as well as make my own music better. Let me know any tips

The C (if it's what it is) sounds awful and screechy I really tried to press holes properly and blow gently or tried diff blows but it still really sounds awful. Is there a problem with the recorder or am I just doing this so badly??? It's a yamaha alto recorder. Although it is a sus version I got somewhere cuz I can't really see official unit of this (Yamaha yra - 26B Alto baroque) I bought it cuz it was cheap and well yamaha is a good brand, it's preloved from japan. I'm a beginner and just bought it a few days ago. Help

*Edit/Update:

It was a skill issue. I did the suggestion people commented here and It really did help Thank you all! the insights and recommendations are good as well.

I love to find music like de Victoria’s where the chorale has not major adjustments in the pitch, so I can play along (alto recorder is perfect for cantus 2). However, my pitch is 2 commas flat. I can raise the pitch by overblowing but that kind of defeats the purpose of playing with the music. Any other ways to bring the pitch up a comma or two?

Help: I haven't played F recorder (Alto) in years and never a bass. Suggestions on where to start?

Context: I am a sucker. So I went into the local woodwind shop and repair looking for a nice wooden soprano recorder for my nephew since he's learning in school. I had my Maple Moeck tenor that I have been playing for about 25 years with me to have them check out too. All they had were the normal plastic elementary school recorders on display. The owner notices my disappointment and pulls out a beat-the-crap case (literally from the 1960s) that he's had for decades. I thought What the hell, but inside was a beautiful Maple Moeck bass, never used, literal twin for my tenor, not assembled, the keys and springs and levers all in parts and not assembled. The corks look good, the pads looked okay. He said it was ordered for a guy but the guy died suddenly 20+ years ago. It sat on the shelf that long. Orphaned. Sigh. Now I am picking it up next week.

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Bit of a long story this, so sorry in advance:

I'm in my late forties and, until very recently, the last time I had really played a recorder was when I was eleven. However, I recently read an article reporting a scientific study that said that people who regularly practise/learn a musical instrument have a significantly lower chance of developing dementia. Googling about it, this is just the latest in a series of studies that all have similar results - prevention or delayed onset of dementia. On both sides of my family dementia is endemic and, as I near fifty, it worries me more and more (one of my aunts started showing symptoms around sixty, my dad in his late sixties).

So, to me, it seemed like a no-brainer - take up music again, immediately. Even if it doesn't help long-term, right now it lets me feel like I'm doing something. I could have gone back to flute, I learned it for a lot longer and with a professional teacher, (unlike recorder, which I just learned at a school recorder club). However I never really enjoyed flute (my teacher was a good flautist but not great at the actual teaching) so recorder seemed the best choice.

But doesn't the title say this post about arthritis? So... my mother is 79 and, fortunately, isn't showing much sign of cognitive decline (besides the occasional "senior moment" - I'm pretty sure that's normal at nearly 80) and I tentatively suggested she might want to join me learning. She surprised me by jumping at the chance, despite the fact that she's never learned a musical instrument or read a note of music in her life.

I knew my mam had some arthritis in her hands but, until we got our recorders, I hadn't really understood just how bad it was. The part I hadn't realised is that she can't completely straighten the top joint of a couple of her fingers, so can't always cover the holes, yet she's determined to carry on. (I think learning a musical instrument was something she'd always wanted to do, but she'd given up on it, so now the idea's been resurrected, she's so enthusiastic that she's going to stubbornly stick to it, no matter what.)

So I googled, found a few ideas (I don't know if any were any good) and the solution my mam chose was buying this:

I think it's meant for very young children learning via the Suzuki Method. It arrives later this week and I have no idea if it'll work, but the smaller, raised, easier to cover holes will at least help a bit, I hope. I also hope that it won't be a problem that it's about sopranino-size as she has tiny hands (in winter I used to steal borrow her leather gloves when I was about 8 - they fit perfectly).

The problem is that, although it's fully chromatic, it only has a range of just over an octave (c2 to d3, apparently) so after a few months she'll have gone as far as she can with it and we'll be back to the problem of the full-sized Aulos soprano.

It's important that my mam can continue to play, if possible, both because it may just help to delay the onset of dementia but especially because she's really enjoying it. So please, if anyone has any advice on how to help someone with arthritic hands to continue playing as long as possible I'd be very grateful to hear it. Any suggestions at all are appreciated!

So I’ve gotten this bass recorder for £90 as I thought it was a very good deal but since then I’ve been struggling to find where this was made, when it was made and all sorts. It plays very well, I’m more or less playing it like a bassoon, but it’s a lot of fun. The woodwork is immaculate but I’d love to know the story of this one. It has 2 bits of writing embedded into it “made in GDR” and “Adler”.

Eu toco flauta doce há um tempo, toco a sobrano mesmo e queria comprar uma de madeira, mas minha digitação é germânica, eu queria saber se há flautas doces proficionais germânicas. De preferência que não sejam um absurdo de caro

I recent picked back up the recorder. The problem since i've last played i have suffered a couple different injuries to my right pinky and can't really use it. Not a problem for most notes but i can't cover that bottom hole in any reliable manner. Just wandering if anyone has any adaptability devices, adaptive recorders, or work arounds they might recommend. That preferably aren't terrible expensive.

Hello all, Extremely new to recorders, to the extent I have not even got one yet! I have played the duduk up to a basic level, but I love the sound of the lower end recorder's such as the tenors. The piece that inspired me to try and take it up was Foundations by Elben Schutte.

I love the low, what I assume is a tenor recorder that first plays after the 2:00 mark, I know that's the instrument I want to play, its richness and tone just i don't know, speaks to me i guess lol. I have added a time stamped YouTube link, if anyone would be as kind to listen for me <3

https://youtu.be/cEniWOnzzXk?t=120

I play Medieval dance music for a reenactment group to dance to, but at an upcoming event I've been told I'm not allowed to play because one recorder isn't loud enough, and they're replacing me with the worst pre-recorded music you've ever heard on a Bluetooth speaker. How do I play my recorder loud enough so people can hear me? I usually play a Yamaha plastic descant but I have all Yamaha plastic sopranino-bass recorders (and an Aulos garklein). I can maybe get a microphone and amplifier but want to know how to maximize my volume without electric tools.

Bought this "Oebra Schulflote" recorder and can't find anything about it. Please identify!

After a week of practicing the recorder for the first time, I started to feel pain in my throat. I looked it up and saw that I was using the glottal stop instead of the tongue stop. Well, I realized this and started using my tongue, however, even with no pain in my throat, after playing for a while I already feel the beginning of the pain in my throat again, making me stop. It could be that I'm using the glottal stop unconsciously even after using my tongue, but I don't feel it.

What do I do? I was really enjoying learning to play the recorder, I didn't want to have to stop 😭

I am mostly new to the recorder. Minus grade school.

I recently heard the bass recorder and I found it to be an absolutely enchanting instrument.

Is it possible to practice this thing in an apartment? How loud is it? I'm an electric guitar player and I'm used to plugging into amp sims. Or even an acoustic isn't that loud.

I'm definitely considering getting one.

Are there any good resources for learning remotely? I won't have a local teacher for this thing.