Recorder Methods and Materials

[The following information is taken from an editorial published in Chrestologia, Vol. XIX, Vol. 1 (February, 1994) by ASW director David H. Green. It has been considerably revised and expanded since that time and is presented here in order to provide some guidance for the aspiring adult recorder player through the plethora of recorder methods, studies, and core solo and ensemble music that are presently available.]

Introduction

My own experience as a recorder teacher extends back some fifty years and, in retrospect, seems to have covered the entire gamut of young to old, beginning to advanced, and amateur to professional students, including every stage in between. I have taught extremely precocious kids of five to six years of age and given class recorder instruction to public and private elementary school youngsters with varying degrees of interest and ability. I have taught college-level music majors with a serious interest in early music as well as liberal arts students with backgrounds in music ranging from extensive to non-existent, given crash courses to music education majors seeking a useful classroom tool, lectured at adult recorder workshops and conventions where the object was to get across as much useful information as possible in a very limited amount of time, and coached senior citizen groups who would get together more to socialize than to achieve musical progress.

I can attest that all of these various situations can provide a satisfying and fulfilling experience for both teacher and students, but I will confess that not all of my teaching experiences have been totally positive. I vividly recall one particular elementary school recorder class that was discontinued after one year because it was too successful. The music educators who had intended the recorder class as a "pre-band" instrumental experience for second and third grade students were greatly chagrined to find out that, after one year of recorder classes, the great majority of students had no interest whatsoever in transferring to a modern band instrument and, loudly supported by their parents, wanted to continue playing recorder. Needless to say, the subversive recorder program was quickly quashed by the music ed establishment.

Admittedly, I have developed over the years a number of very different approaches to the instrument, depending upon the age, background, interests, and abilities of my students. In retrospect, however, there have been a few paramount concerns which I have emphasized to all of my students, whatever their level of interest and ability: a primary emphasis on musical values and expression rather than on the mechanics of playing the instrument, and a secondary emphasis on learning to read music at sight accurately and with great facility, therefore allowing the student to assimilate and progress through large amounts of music very quickly. In other words, I have always felt that developing a basic and universal musicianship through the medium of the recorder was infinitely preferable to simply teaching the recorder as an end in itself and hoping that some musicianship would eventually follow by a process of osmosis.

It is perhaps no great secret that the general level of recorder teaching in this country is abysmally poor. I am constantly amazed when self-proclaimed authorities and recorder teachers show up at our workshop or come by one of our convention exhibits to select instruments for themselves or their students and it becomes immediately apparent that they haven't the slightest notion how to blow into a wind instrument properly nor even use the correct fingerings.

It is little wonder that many beginning adult players, either by circumstances or by choice, begin the study of the recorder by themselves. Some have a substantial musical background in piano or perhaps a modern wind instrument, others have had no previous musical experience but simply want to play a musical instrument that is reasonably easy and forgiving, at least at the beginning stages, and enables them to achieve some satisfying musical results within the limitations of their time, energy, and budget. The recorder is an ideal choice for such prospective adult autodidacts, but then I suspect that I am preaching to the already converted in that regard.

Unfortunately for most aspiring recorder players, local music stores usually offer little or nothing in the way of decent beginning instruments and methods. I sometimes wonder how many prospective recorder players have been discouraged by the poor results achieved with inferior instruments and substandard instructional materials. Those players who are diligent enough to persist eventually find out that their best source for instruments and self-teaching materials is not their local music shop but a mail-order specialist such as ourselves who offers a wide variety of custom-serviced quality instruments in all price ranges, a decent selection of good instructional materials, and, perhaps most important, the time and willingness to share his expertise and experience and help customers make informed decisions in selecting instruments and materials that are best suited to their needs, tastes, and budget.

It seems that, for the past twenty years, one of the most frequently asked questions from our customers is, "Can you recommend a good recorder method?" Since I seem to answer this question several times a day on the telephone in considerable detail, it would seem that some suggestions on this topic in Chrestologia are perhaps long overdue. The great majority of our customers are adult amateur musicians and many if not most are wholly or in large measure self-taught. While the autodidact can and in fact sometimes does get into some bad playing habits, self-teaching is not as bad as popular opinion (and recorder teachers with patently vested interests) would have one believe. A good recorder method, one which is pedagogically, musically, and historically sound, will get any reasonably diligent and motivated adult student off to a good start. Indeed, a decent recorder method is, all things considered, probably more satisfactory than a poor private teacher or substandard class instruction – and a good deal cheaper as well.

A quick glance through music publishers' catalogues shows that there exists a substantial number of recorder methods in print – that is the good news. The bad news is that the great bulk of them are deficient in one major aspect or another, and a good number of them are simply not worth the paper they are printed on. In particular, those methods intended for classroom use are by and large an undistinguished lot, usually written by somebody trying to make a fast buck in the educational market who has little or no understanding of recorder technique and pedagogy, no knowledge of the instrument's historical literature, and no grounding in music theory and composition sufficient to write musically interesting exercises nor make arrangements of pre-existing materials that are musically sound and stylistically appropriate.

Unfortunately, it is simply not possible to present in this limited space a comprehensive overview of the vast sea of instructional materials available on today's market, even if one includes just those that have some genuine musical and pedagogical merit and utility. All I can hope to accomplish here is to present a very short list, albeit a heavily annotated one, of some methods and supplementary materials that I have found to be highly useful in my own teaching experience, together with some suggestions as to how each of these might be useful to the self-teaching adult student.

Beginning Recorder Methods

Hugh Orr: Basic Recorder Technique

For adults just beginning their study of the recorder, whether or not they have had prior musical experience, I most frequently tend to recommend Basic Recorder Technique by Canadian recorder player and teacher Hugh Orr. This method is published in two volumes, and each volume is available in two editions, one for C instruments (i.e., soprano and tenor recorders) and the other for F instruments (sopranino and alto instruments). The Orr method is generally sound pedagogically and technically. Throughout the method there is a great deal of textual information as well as many photographs which the self-teaching adult will find to be extremely helpful and informative. The first volume of the soprano method is now available with a CD recording as well, and piano accompaniments to the Bach chorales found in this method are available in Fourteen Bach Chorales from the same publisher. Three other methods for soprano recorder with a companion CD recording are available in the Music Minus One series, and these may be used as a supplement to the recommended Orr or Duschenes methods for additional play-along entertainment.

There is a minimal number of brief technical exercises but a wealth of good musical pieces: the large number of medieval, renaissance, and baroque songs and dances serve as an excellent introduction to early music literature in general and the rudiments of historical performance practice can be learned as well. There are relatively few folk tunes and a refreshing absence of the inane nursery tunes that make up the bulk of recorder methods aimed at the kiddie market.

The Orr method has one idiosyncrasy and one minor flaw which need to be made known to the prospective student. First, the materials in volume I employ only the bottom ninth of the recorder's range and thus avoid the use of the thumb "half-hole" and the problem of producing the overblown notes of the second octave. The premise here, and I think it is a valid one, is to equip the beginning student with a good basic technique and facility before confronting him/her with the problems of the overblown notes, which require good control of breath, articulation, and fingers, and can be highly discouraging if introduced too quickly to beginning students, particularly if they have an inferior instrument that doesn't play well in the upper register to begin with. Be that as it may, the player will have to purchase both volumes of the Orr method if he/she wants to learn the entire range of the instrument. We strongly recommend that beginning players order both volumes at the same time, in order to avoid additional shipping charges if the second volume is ordered later. However, there is a nice assortment of solo and ensemble music from Susato Press that is written within the basic range of a ninth and can therefore be readily played by those who have completed only Vol. I of the Orr method.

The one flaw is the author's explanation in Volume II of the use of the thumb half-hole, which is rather lengthy, faulty in its acoustical theory, and unnecessarily complicated. He seems to be advocating the use of the thumb nail, although a closer reading of the text and examination of the photographs indicate that he is not actually placing the thumbnail in the hole. For a much simpler and sounder explanation of this critical aspect of recorder technique, please refer to the "Playing Advice" section in our Recorder Care and Maintenance brochure, which we supply with every wooden recorder purchased from our workshop. We would also beg to differ with the author on the use of thumbrests on smaller recorders; this is not necessary if the instrument is being held correctly.

Mario Duschenes: Method for the Recorder

Another recorder method, one which I have used extensively with younger children but which can also be used by adults, is Method for the Recorder by another Canadian player and teacher, Mario Duschenes. This method, like the Orr method discussed above, is also in two volumes, with each volume also available for either C or F instruments. Unlike the Orr method, however, the entire range of the instrument is taught in the first volume, which can be used as a stand-alone method in and of itself. Indeed, I have found that the second volume is much too advanced both technically and musically for younger students and prefer to use just the first volume, following it up with other materials, such as the Giesbert Schule des Zusammenspiels described later.

The contents of the first volume is clearly aimed at younger students and consists primarily of American, British, and French folk tunes, together with a few nursery tunes. Among the most appealing musical items is a relatively large number of French-Canadian folk tunes, many of ancient modal construction, which are extremely lovely and haunting and not very well known, at least not in the United States. Volume I is also available with a CD of accompaniments to many of the tunes, which helps to mold intonation awareness and rhythmic accuracy. There is also a volume of arrangements of some of the tunes for Orff instruments, so the method can be absorbed into an Orff-Schulwerk program seamlessly. Three other methods for soprano recorder with a companion CD recording are available in the Music Minus One series, and these may be used as a supplement to the recommended Orr or Duschenes methods for additional play-along entertainment.

The second volume, however, is quite different: it does have the occasional folksong but offers a very substantial diet of baroque and classical period compositions that are both technically and musically challenging. Later on, pieces in very distant keys with many sharps and flats are introduced; while some purists might quibble that such keys are neither idiomatic to the recorder nor found in its literature, I feel that they are highly useful in developing independence of the fingers and good technical fluency. I usually recommend this volume to students who have completed both volumes of the Orr method (see above).

Toward the end of the volume, the author reproduces the solo recorder parts to the Second and Fourth Brandenburg Concerti of J. S. Bach, which should keep any aspiring recorder player busy for some time. The author's comment that modern flutes are usually substituted for recorders in these works because of the lack of competent players seems laughable today, but bear in mind that it was written almost fifty years ago, when such atrocities of performance practice were quite common.

Franz Giesbert: Method for the Treble [Alto] Recorder

There is another recorder method of considerably older vintage and very different origin that I have used extensively over the years but can recommend only with very clear reservations and admonitions. This method was written about sixty years ago in Germany by Franz J. Giesbert, who also published many pioneer editions of early music for recorders including the famous Susato dances. The Giesbert method was originally published with German text and distributed in this country as such; some years later an English language version appeared, and that is the one that is generally available for sale in the United States.

The Giesbert method, very little known or used in this country, is fortunately still available and has some very commendable and useful strengths and a few major drawbacks as well. This book is called Method for the Treble Recorder in its English language edition and, as one might expect from the title, is intended solely for the alto recorder. This method progresses very rapidly and is intended for students who already have a good grasp of music fundamentals and can read music reasonably well. It is therefore also suited as a primary method only for adult students with previous musical experience.

The unique feature of this method, however, is that it is a duet method: all of the musical examples are written for two alto recorders. At the beginning, the student plays the simpler upper line and the teacher the more complex lower line; later on, the parts are of equal difficulty and interchangeable. The brief exercises and most of the duet settings were written by the author (some of the latter are original, however), and they are of a consistently high musical level. Of course, the exercises and pieces can be played and enjoyed by the solitary recorder player as well but, as I used to point out to my college ear-training students when introducing duet materials, "what's fun for one is even more fun for two!"

Again, several serious admonitions concerning this alto method are in order. First, it is generally well to ignore the articulations. Although Giesbert does not lay on the slurs with as heavy a hand as in some of his other publications, they are still largely inappropriate when encountered. Cadential trill signs in the many baroque pieces are entirely missing (as indeed they usually are in the original sources), so some tutorial guidance as to elementary performance practice is definitely necessary. A cheap trill here and there always livens things up.

And now for the one big flaw in this method. The author advocates a spurious fingering system called Stützfingertechnik, which in English should be called "supporting finger technique" but is rather oddly translated as "buttress finger technique," which conjures up images of medieval cathedral architecture. This technique involves leaving the ring finger of the right hand down for as many notes as possible (the two octave a's being the obvious exceptions) in order to hold the instrument more securely. This is somewhat analogous to holding the E^b key open with the pinkie for most notes on the modern flute. The difference, however, is that the modern flute is designed to be in tune with this key open; the recorder is not designed to be in tune with the G hole closed most of the time and will in fact be substantially out of tune on most middle register notes if this is done! Needless to say, it is absolutely essential to ignore completely the fingering chart included with the Giesbert method and the fingerings as they are introduced in the text. Use a thumbrest if you must, but please don't try to use this eccentric, flawed fingering system. Use the custom fingering chart which we supply with each instrument from our workshop; it has the fingerings which are correct for your instrument.

In addition to some fifty-five pages of duets, this method also contains two appendices with highly valuable materials. The first section consists of 77 Daily Exercises by Giesbert, most of which are sequential patterns in running eighth or sixteenth notes; they are extremely useful for developing technical facility in bread-and-butter passage work similar to that found in baroque solo literature and, with the guidance of a expert teacher, can also be used to learn the conventions of baroque phrasing and articulation. The second section consists of fifteen original baroque solo compositions for unaccompanied recorder by a variety of mostly anonymous composers. (The attribution of the last piece to J. S. Bach is highly dubious.) These pieces are splendid polyphonic compositions similar in style to the Bach unaccompanied violin sonatas. They are quite difficult both technically and musically, and are both excellent study materials for the advanced player wishing to learn the late baroque style and solo pieces of great musical value which are highly suitable for recital performance. They alone are worth the price of the entire method.

Alan Davis: Treble [Alto] Recorder Technique

This spiral-bound, very substantial method for alto recorder is a bit difficult to classify; it could just as readily be listed among the intermediate or advanced materials below. It is an excellent, highly concentrated, soup-to-nuts course of study which moves along very quickly. There is not a great deal of material at the beginning stages, and it is therefore not suitable for a beginning player with no previous musical background. It is, however, extremely useful for a beginning or intermediate recorder player with well-developed music-reading ability and prior instrumental experience, preferably on a modern woodwind instrument.

The publication is divided into two parts: the first section moves quickly through basic technique and fingerings in less than 20 pages and then proceeds to address other issues such as articulation, vibrato, and alternate fingerings. It concludes with concentrated but highly useful sections of scale and chord studies and other technical etudes. A highly motivated and disciplined player will learn to play the alto recorder quickly and extremely well in less than 50 pages!

The second part, which consists of both explanatory text and copious musical examples, is highly useful to intermediate and advanced players seeking information and expert guidance on a number of specialized topics unique to the recorder. There is an excellent historical overview of repertoire and style, beginning with the Middle Ages and Renaissance, moving to the Baroque period, and concluding with a section on 20th century music. This is followed by extended essays on a number of essential topics for the advanced solo recorder player: historical fingering systems, renaissance and baroque articulation, improvisation and ornamentation, transposition and the French violin clef, and avant garde performance techniques.

This comprehensive alto recorder method really does cover all the bases in a very concise and authoritative manner and is highly recommended to experienced musicians wanting to get up to speed as solo alto recorder players as quickly as possible.

Johanna Kuhlbach and Arthur Nitka: The Recorder Guide

This method from the mid-sixties is vague of title and rather dated in its appearance, content, and pedagogy, but it does offer one very commendable, useful, and unique feature: it allows classes consisting of both soprano and alto recorders (or two individual soprano and alto players) to learn their instruments together and simultaneously using soprano/alto duet materials. Given the differences in range and fingering systems between soprano and alto recorders, this is not as easy as it might seem, which is why most other recorder methods are published in two versions, one for C recorders and another for F recorders.

The typography and layout are, in comparison to present-day standards, rather primitive and home-brew in appearance, and the content and pedagogy are similarly simplistic, reflecting an earlier era when unschooled amateur players could publish method books and represent themselves as recorder teachers. The format, however, is unusual and very useful for two people sharing one copy: it is spiral-bound, so as to lay flat on a music stand, and the landscape format is similar to that used in many publications of organ music. The book is quite thick, not so much because of rich content but rather because it is heavily padded with a lot of white space and primitive illustrations cribbed from public domain historical sources.

The musical materials, based almost wholly on an international selection of folk songs, will appeal to younger students or beginning adult players who are not particularly interested in renaissance and baroque music. The duet (and a small number of trio) arrangements are rather awkward and amateurish and were clearly written by individuals working largely by ear and lacking formal training in harmony and composition. Nevertheless, this integrated method serves its intended purpose of allowing soprano and alto recorder players to learn together. Seeing as it is somewhat less than comprehensive or authoritative from a pedagogical standpoint, it might best be used as a secondary and supplementary source of duet materials for a more thorough and sound primary recorder method such as those by Orr or Duschenes as discussed above.

Beyond the Beginning Stage

The question remains as to what to do after one has completed one or another of these basic recorder methods. One very sound suggestion is to go back to the beginning and work through it a second time, albeit at a much faster pace. This will serve not just as a review but will also catch any basic technical problems that were not mastered the first time around. Students are generally amazed, after having struggled through the end of the method, to find how much easier some of the earlier materials have become in the interim; a period of consolidation and self-affirmation is probably a very sound premise, both educationally and psychologically.

The second volume of the Duschenes method (see above) offers a substantial amount of musical material useful to adults who have worked their way through both volumes of the Orr method. For those players who wish to progress beyond an intermediate level of accomplishment, the short list of Genuinely Useful Study Materials becomes even shorter, although there are a few real gems to be had.

Intermediate Methods and Studies for Soprano Recorder

G. Rooda: 95 Dexterity Exercises and Dances for Recorders in C

For lower intermediate players wanting to improve their technical facility, this Dutch publication provides short and relatively painless technical etudes interspersed with charming Dutch, German, and English 18th century dance tunes. The brief text headings are in both Dutch and English, and a companion volume is available for F recorders.

Mario Duschenes: Studies in Recorder Playing - Soprano
Mario Duschenes: 12 Etudes for Soprano Recorder

These two volumes by the author of the above-recommended recorder method provide excellent if traditional practice materials in the scale-and-chord-study genre for those soprano players who have completed a beginning method and want to improve their technical facility and develop accuracy, strength, and independence of finger movement. The use of a metronome with these studies is highly recommended.

Hans-Martin Linde: Sopranblockflötenschule für Fortgeschrittene

Hans-Martin Linde's Sopranblockflötenschule für Fortgeschrittene (Soprano Recorder School for Advanced Players) is an excellent collection of exercises, tunes, and duets. The intonation studies are particularly useful, such matters as articulation, ornamentation, elementary performance practice, and musical style which are usually ignored by other tutors are succinctly explained, and the removable fingering and trill chart is one of the few that is both comprehensive and accurate.

Hans-Martin Linde: Die Kleine Übung

The Linde advanced soprano method may also be supplemented by his Die Kleine Übung (The Little Etude), a tiny little volume of daily studies that treats a wide number of stylistic and technical problems, such as alternate fingerings and commonly out-of-tune notes. Like the method, the text is in German only, but there is very little explanatory material and even the most confirmed Deutschophobe can get through it easily with only occasional reference to a German-English dictionary. Once again, Schott should really consider publishing an alto transposition of these extremely useful, intelligently written, highly musical study materials.

Intermediate Methods and Studies for Alto Recorder

G. Rooda: 95 Dexterity Exercises and Dances for Recorders in F

For lower intermediate players wanting to improve their technical facility, this Dutch publication provides short and relatively painless technical etudes interspersed with charming Dutch, German, and English 18th century dance tunes. The brief text headings are in both Dutch and English, and a companion volume is available for C recorders.

Mario Duschenes: Studies in Recorder Playing - Alto
Mario Duschenes: 12 Etudes for Alto Recorder

These two volumes by the author of the above-recommended recorder method provide excellent if traditional practice materials in the scale-and-chord-study genre for those alto players who have completed a beginning method and want to improve their technical facility and develop accuracy, strength, and independence of finger movement. The use of a metronome with these studies is highly recommended.

Hans-Martin Linde: Die Kunst des Blockflötenspiels

For the alto recorder player wishing to progress beyond the intermediate level, there are a number of extremely useful materials written by Hans-Martin Linde. His Die Kunst des Blockflötenspiels (The Art of Recorder Playing) is a comprehensive assortment of intermediate and advanced level technical studies, succinct explanations of topics such as breathing, fingering, articulation, and vibrato, and a considerable number of carefully edited excerpts from baroque sonatas which serve as an excellent introduction to the early 18th century solo and ensemble literature for the alto recorder. The German text is considerably more extensive and integral to this work, although it is still a highly useful volume for those with little or no facility in the German language. There would be an enormous market for an English-language translation of this extremely useful volume.

Hans-Martin Linde: Neuzeitliche Übungsstücke für die Altblockflöte

Linde's Neuzeitliche Übungsstücke für die Altblockflöte (Contemporary Etudes for Alto Recorder) is an equally useful volume of 22 studies in a conservative 20th century neo-Hindemith style. Like the Chopin Etudes for piano, each of these pieces addresses a single particular technical or stylistic problem. Also like the Chopin Etudes, these pieces are highly musical and listenable in and of themselves; a select number of them would make a rewarding group of recital pieces for unaccompanied recorder. Even if you think you don't enjoy contemporary music, try it -- you'll like it!

Methods, Studies, and Solo Music for Bass Recorder

Edgar Hunt: The Bass Recorder

For those players wishing to branch out into playing bass recorder, a tiny little volume written by English recorder player, teacher, and collector Edgar Hunt, entitled appropriately enough The Bass Recorder, is a very useful general introduction to the instrument. The author treats a variety of topics, such as notation, playing position, instruments, fingering, repertory, style, and concludes with some useful information on the great bass, and historical renaissance and baroque bass recorders. Although one sometimes wishes that some of these topics had been treated in greater depth and detail, the author does manage to pack into fifteen pages of text a great deal of useful information.

Denis Bloodworth: The Bass Recorder Handbook

This newer volume is considerably more detailed and comprehensive than the Hunt book described above, although it covers some of the same ground and also provides a wealth of playing material as well. The first half consists of some useful information and words of advice about selecting and playing bass recorders, followed by a very detailed discussion of standard and suitable alternate fingerings for every note on the instrument, and concludes with a few comments about the greatbass and contrabass instruments. Clearly the author assumes that most players have instruments with many problem notes that need to be doctored or humored; perhaps a better solution would have been to advise his readers to buy an instrument from someone who can tune and adjust the instrument beforehand and thereby save the player a lot of grief.

The second half of this publication consists of a well-chosen selection of complete pieces and sonata movements, some quite extensive, from the baroque repertoire: some are bass lines, others are solo alto parts transposed for bass, and the last work is a complete three-movement Telemann duet for two bass recorders. These are ordered roughly by degree of difficulty from lower intermediate to advanced and provide a progressive course of study for the aspiring bass player. Players should be warned, however, that an optimally designed and adjusted instrument is absolutely essential to playing these pieces well and up to speed. Poor instruments will simply not be up to the task.

Walter Bergman: Bass Album

This album provides a well-chosen selection of relatively easy pieces for bass recorder with piano accompaniment. Those players who think that the bass recorder is only useful for ensemble playing will be pleasantly surprised to find that there is also a modest but very rewarding amount of solo music for bass recorder as well. This group of pieces, well edited and arranged by Walter Bergman, will serve as an excellent introduction to that solo literature for aspiring bass recorder players.

Carl Dolmetsch: A Set of English Pieces

The late Carl Dometsch arranged this excellent selection of 16th and 17th century English pieces, mostly adapted from Elizabethan and Jacobean keyboard music, for bass recorder with piano accompaniment. A substitute solo part for alto recorder is included as well, allowing the F recorder player a choice of instruments. These tuneful pieces are only slightly more challenging than those in the Bergman anthology mentioned above and are an enjoyable sequel to those pieces for the advancing bass recorder player.

Methods and Studies for Advanced Recorder Players

Adam Perlmutter: Perfect Pitch Method -- A Musician's Guide to Recognizing Pitches by Ear

Some fifty years ago, I had a Ford Foundation grant to pioneer the use of programmed instructional materials in teaching ear training to college-level undergraduate music majors and have maintained a continuing interest in the subject ever since. The concept of perfect pitch is often mentioned and frequently misunderstood by both professional and amateur musicians; in point of fact, it is nothing more nor less than acute pitch memory. Far from being a special "gift" given only to a few privileged individuals, it is a highly useful aural skill that can be acquired by all musicians, given a proper course of instruction and investment of the necessary time and effort. We are now able to offer an extremely well-written such course feaaturing a self-instructional method book, three CDs, and additional on-line resources as well. Consisting of forty-nine progressive daily lessons, diligent professional or amateur musicians can develop and greatly improve their sense of pitch perception in just seven weeks – I like to think of it as boot camp for musicians. We highly recommend this inexpensive course of instruction to all beginning, intermediate, and advanced players.

Gudrun Heyens/Peter Bowman: Advanced Recorder Technique - The Art of Playing the Recorder
Volume 1 - Finger and Tongue Technique
Volume 2 - Breathing and Sound Production

These two new volumes, written by German recorder teacher Gudrun Heyens and published in this excellent English translation by Peter Bowman, are recommended only to those advanced recorder players who aspire to the highest technical and musical levels of achievement. The demanding technical studies in the first volume, if pursued methodically and diligently, will enable the player to achieve a virtuoso level of proficiency on the instrument, whereas the second volume explores the interface between the physical aspects of breathing and tone production and the musical issues of phrasing, vibrato, and interpretation. These volumes offer an extremely high level of pedagogical insight and teaching experience from which sufficiently advanced students can greatly benefit.

János Bali: Introduction to the Avant-Garde for Recorder Players

This new for 2013 publication by the noted Hungarian player and teacher János Bali presents a substantial number of 20th and 21st century compositions by the author and ten others which incorporate contemporary performance techniques. Each piece includes detailed commentary and explanation, photos, and graphics which are invaluable for the advanced recorder wanting to expand his/her musical horizons into the contemporary literature for the recorder.

Walter von Hauwe: The Modern Recorder Player

This comprehensive three-volume recorder method by a former student of Frans Brüggen provides a complete and exhaustive course of study for the advanced alto recorder player. There is extensive textual explanation of every conceivable aspect of playing technique as well as very original technical exercises intended to implement the myriad aspects of technique ranging from entry-level basics to a highly advanced virtuoso level of accomplishment. This soup-to-nuts approach to recorder playing may well be highly daunting to some more casual amateur players, but it is highly recommended to those advanced players diligent enough to want to improve their playing to the highest possible level of achievement.

Hans-Martin Linde: Kleine Anleitung zum Verzieren Alter Musik

Another Linde work which is actually a slim, highly compact book in sheet music format, is his Kleine Anleitung zum Verzieren Alter Musik (Short Introduction to the Ornamentation of Early Music), the first half of which consists of text with interspersed brief musical examples, and the second half of which has extended musical examples of both composer-specified and improvised ornamentation, concluding with a number of complete sonata and ensemble movements edited and ornamented by the author. Without a doubt this is the single most useful, comprehensive, yet compact treatment of this essential topic in early music performance. It is a great shame that this work is available only in German; although the English reader can gain a great deal just from studying the musical examples, the full value of this work can be realized only by reading the complete text, which is knowledgeable, concise, and gets across a maximum amount of information in a very limited amount of space. This book may be the best incentive for an early musician to take a crash course in the German language.

János Bali: A Baroque Ornamentation Tutor

This new and extremely valuable work by János Bali, a leading Hungarian recorder player, teacher, and scholar, is a concise yet thorough introduction to 17th and 18th century performance practice. It includes an authoritative and concise introductory essay in four languages (English, German, French, and Hungarian) and forty compositions with written-out period ornamentation; a separate removable keyboard part allows all of these works to be readily performed. In addition, three generous appendices contain extremely useful information on renaissance ornamentation and performance practice, medieval basse dance tenors, baroque ostinato basses, and Quantz's profuse tables of ornaments. This superb publication is a must-have for every serious recorder player.

Music for Unaccompanied Solo Recorder

Graham Coles, ed.: Medieval Songs and Dances

This inexpensive volume offers a well-chosen selection of medieval monophonic music, including both songs and instrumental dance pieces, from the French, German, Spanish, Italian, and English repertories. Although nominally for soprano/tenor range instruments, many of these pieces may be played on sopranino or alto recorder as well. When combined with the two-part and three-part collections from the same editor listed below, this anthology provides an excellent introduction to the late medieval repertoire of the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries.

Jacob van Eyck: Der Fluyten Lust-hof

The amount of good-quality music for solo soprano recorder for the advancing player is unfortunately relatively slight. Among the few real gems to be had is the sizeable collection of pieces entitled Der Fluyten Lust-hof by the Dutch composer Jacob van Eyck which contains one hundred and thirty-four works. Each of these pieces is a set of variations on well-known sacred and secular tunes of the early 17th century in the Netherlands. Some of the variations are relatively easy and of use to the lower intermediate player, but many of the others are quite difficult both musically and technically. Rather than purchasing the entire collection, we recommend getting the excellent selection edited by Hans-Martin Linde of the best of these works. These pieces can be delved into for suitable study and performance materials as one advances in playing ability, and many of them are equally well-suited to tenor recorder as well. For hard-core van Eyck fans, we also have the complete Der Fluyten Lust-hof collection available in three volumes,

Hans-Martin Linde: 14 Miniatures

If the amount of good-quality music for solo soprano recorder for the advancing player is relatively slight, the amount of contemporary solo music is sadly almost non-existent. These recently-published, excellent 14 short pieces for unaccompanied soprano recorder are an outstanding, highly welcome exception to that generalization. Written like much of the composer's works in a conservative 20th century neo-Hindemithian style, they are readily accessible for upper intermediate level players. As highly suitable material for a solo recital, they may be played either completely from start to finish or else a specific subset of them may be selected for performance; a single one makes an excellent encore. We highly recommend these fine pieces to literature-starved soprano recorder players.

János Bali, ed.: Repertoire for the Recorder

The four volumes of Repertoire for the Recorder contain an enormous wealth of music for one and two recorders from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, with a few Classical and contemporary works for good measure, more than 150 pieces in all. Vols. 1A and 2A contain music without keyboard accompaniment. This set will serve as a very comprehensive introduction to the literature for the recorder and early music in general; it should provide any one or two recorderists with enough material to keep them busy for several years. We highly recommended this anthology to all intermediate and advanced players.

Linde Höffer von Winterfeld, ed.: Blockflötenstudien, Heft 1-4

Heft 1: Die Blockflöte in den Kantaten Joh. Seb. Bachs [for one alto recorder]
Heft 2: Aus den Kantaten Joh. Seb. Bachs [for two alto recorders]
Heft 3: Aus den Kantaten G. Ph. Telemanns [for alto recorder]
Heft 4: Aus den Opern u. Oratorien G. F. Hăndels [for alto and sopranino recorder]

With so much emphasis being placed on the recorder as a solo and ensemble instrument during the late baroque period, it is easy to overlook the fact that it was also widely used as an orchestral instrument. These four highly useful volumes of orchestral studies, edited by Linde Höffer von Winterfeld, bring together the most important solo passages for one or more recorders from the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Philipp Telemann. The fourth volume containing excerpts from the operas and oratorios of George Frederick Handel was long out of print but is once again available as well.

Music for Recorder and Keyboard

Sally Adams, ed.: First Book of Descant [Soprano] Recorder Solos
Walter Bergmann, ed.: First Book of Treble [Alto] Recorder Solos

For the beginning recorder player wanting to make an initial foray into the extensive literature for solo recorder with keyboard accompaniment, these two anthologies, each containing a totally different selection of music, provide a broad assortment of well-chosen, musically-interesting, and intelligently-edited pieces suitable for study and performance at the same time one is working one's way through a beginning recorder method, such as Vol I and II of the Orr method mentioned above. The recorder parts are arranged in progressive order of difficulty, and the first few pieces, which use only two or three notes, can be played from the very first few days of study. The piano parts are also extremely simple technically but are effectively written.

Walter Bergmann, ed.: Second Book of Descant [Soprano] Recorder Solos
Walter Bergmann, ed.: Second Book of Treble [Alto] Recorder Solos

These two volumes, as evident from the titles, are intended by the editor as logical sequels to the above two beginning anthologies. Aimed at the player who has progressed from the beginning to the lower intermediate level, they can be profitably used after one has completed a beginning record method and is pursuing intermediate level study materials, such as the second volume of the Duschenes method. Each volume contains an entirely different selection of music chosen with the character of the intended instrument in mind.

Gudrun Heyens, ed.: Concerto - Easy Concert Pieces for Descant [Soprano} Recorder and Piano

This new if oddly-named collection does not in fact have anything to do with concertos, recorder or otherwise, but it does provide an excellent selection of easy renaissance and baroque pieces suitable for the advancing beginner and lower intermediate level soprano recorder player. The keyboard parts are also relatively easy, the editing is light and tasteful, and a number of pieces are provided with a few simple suggestions for ornamentation which will give a beginning player a gentle nudge in the direction of historical performance practice.

Bowman & Heyens, ed.: Baroque Recorder Anthology 1 (Soprano)
Bowman & Heyens, ed.: Baroque Recorder Anthology 2 (Soprano)
Bowman & Heyens, ed.: Baroque Recorder Anthology 3 (Alto)
Bowman & Heyens, ed.: Baroque Recorder Anthology 4 (Alto)

These four new publications, the first two for soprano and the latter two for alto recorder, each contain an excellent and different selection of short baroque solo pieces. Volumes 1 & 3 are suitable for lower and upper intermediate level players, whereas volumes 2 & 4 are suitable for upper intermediate and advanced players. Each volume contains the solo part and a well-written keyboard accompaniment (with guitar chord symbols in the latter as well), as well as a companion CD with two recordings of each piece: one play-along track with just the accompaniment and the other a finished performance with both solo and accompaniment. Each piece is complemented by extensive, useful, and well-informed performance suggestions in English, French, and German. These volumes provide a comprehensive, well thought-out educational package at a bargain price that provides a good introduction to and overview of baroque repertoire, style, and performance practice. They are highly recommended for self-teaching recorder players who do not have access to an experienced artist-teacher.

Bennetts & Bowman, ed.: Renaissance Recorder Anthology 1 (Soprano)
Bennetts & Bowman, ed.: Renaissance Recorder Anthology 2 (Soprano)
Bennetts & Bowman, ed.: Renaissance Recorder Anthology 3 (Alto)
Bennetts & Bowman, ed.: Renaissance Recorder Anthology 4 (Alto)

The above four publications of baroque music with accompanying CD recording have just recently been supplemented by four companion volumes of renaissance music for recorder with CD. The format is identical to the previous releases: each volume contains 32 well-chosen pieces for soprano or alto recorder complemented by pedagogically and historically sound performance practice suggestions in three languages, and the CD provides recordings of both just the keyboard accompaniment and a complete finished performance by solo instrument and keyboard. These volumes provide a substantial amount of music and excellent professional instruction at the same bargain price as the earlier four releases. They are a must-have for all intermediate level soprano and alto recorder players, but especially for those who do not have access to or cannot afford a professional artist-teacher.

Láslo Czidra, ed.: Recorder Music for Beginners, Vol. 1
Malina & Bloch, ed.: Recorder Music for Beginners, Vol. 2

These two valuable and useful anthologies of music for recorder and keyboard are suitable for lower intermediate players wishing to venture into some accessible solo repertoire from the renaissance and baroque periods, although a bit of classical and contemporary music is also included. Vol. 1 is for soprano recorder and keyboard, whereas Vol. 2 is for alto recorder and keyboard. The two volumes contain completely different music, well-chosen for its suitability to the particular instrument.

János Bali, ed.: Repertoire for the Recorder

The four volumes of Repertoire for the Recorder contain an enormous wealth of music for one and two recorders from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, with a few Classical and contemporary works for good measure, more than 150 pieces in all. Vols. 1B and 2B contain music with keyboard accompaniment, and separate keyboard and bass parts are provided. This set will serve as a very comprehensive introduction to the literature for the recorder and early music in general; it should provide any one or two recorderists and a keyboard-playing friend with enough material to keep them busy for several years. We highly recommended this anthology to all intermediate and advanced players.

John Camden & Peter Devereux, ed.: Solos for the Alto Recorder Player

This excellent, yet inexpensive anthology offers a wide variety of useful pieces for study and performance. It is clearly intended for upper intermediate to more advanced players and contains a broad chronological assortment of music from the renaissance through the 19th centuries, but the primary emphasis is on solo works from the baroque period, including complete full-length sonatas by Vivaldi, Bach, Handel, and Barsanti.

George Frederick Handel: Complete Recorder Sonatas, with concordances and critical commentary
Telemann: Complete Recorder Sonatas, with concordances and critical commentary

There is a great wealth of excellent music for alto recorder and keyboard from the late baroque period from which advanced players may choose. The two sets of pieces that should be in every advancing player's library, however, are the magnificent sonatas by George Frederick Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann. There are numerous editions of both sets of works to be had, but the best, most authoritative, and most cost-effective edition of the six original Handel sonatas is that by David Lasocki and Walter Bergmann, whereas the best Urtext edition of the original Telemann sonatas is that by János Malina.

Francesco Barsanti: Three Recorder Sonatas
Valentine: Twelve Sonatas for Recorder and Basso Continuo

If the Handel and Telemann sonatas are thrice-familiar to you and you would like some baroque solo sonatas of high quality that are off the beaten path and haven't been played to death, we suggest that you have a look at the sonatas by Francesco Barsanti, three of which are published by Schott, and the twelve sonatas by Robert Valentine available in a complete set from EMB. These fine works should bring a welcome breath of fresh air to even the most jaded of experienced recorder players.

Beginning Recorder Ensemble Music

One of the many reasons why the recorder is an ideal instrument for amateur players of every ability level is that, unlike modern woodwind and brass instruments, it has a vast repertoire of readily accessible ensemble music suitable for every level of accomplishment from beginner through intermediate to advanced. Beginning players find it very rewarding and gratifying to be able to play simple duets and trios with their teachers or fellow beginners almost from the very start of their study of the instrument.

Duschenes, ed.: First Duets for Soprano Recorders
Duschenes, ed.: Easy Duets for Soprano and Alto Recorders
Duschenes, ed.: Easy Trios for Recorders

These three excellent anthologies for beginning players were edited by Mario Duschenes, the author of the beginning recorder method discussed above: a volume of simple duets for two sopranos, another volume of duets for soprano and alto, and a volume of trios for two sopranos and alto, also playable on soprano, alto, and tenor. These provide an excellent way of developing ensemble skills and basic musicianship.

Udo Kasemets, ed.: Twelve [Very] Easy Duets
Udo Kasemets, ed.: Twenty Easy Duets for Soprano Recorders, Vol. 1
Udo Kasemets, ed.: Twenty Easy Duets for Soprano Recorders, Vol. 2

The above anthologies for beginning players edited by Udo Kasemets are intended for specific age groups: his Twelve [Very] Easy Duets, based mostly on folksongs and children's tunes, are intended for younger players and offer the unusual advantage of being playable either by two sopranos or by soprano and alto recorder. His two-volume anthology, Twenty Easy Duets for Soprano Recorders, on the other hand, will appeal to teen-age or adult players, consisting as it does of pieces by well-known baroque, classical, and romantic composers.

Franz Giesbert: Schule des Zusammenspiels

Another excellent introduction to ensemble playing is to be had in the Giesbert Schule des Zusammenspiels, or School of Ensemble Playing, a series of 72 well-written and progressive pieces for soprano recorders in three parts. Although clearly intended for class soprano instructional use at the beginning through lower intermediate levels, these supplementary materials are great study pieces for a teacher and two students or even a solitary player, for that matter. Regrettably they are not available transposed for alto recorders, although one can always write them out for that purpose.

---

Intermediate Recorder Ensemble Music

János Bali, ed.: Chamber Music for Three Treble [Alto] Recorders

This volume nicely addresses the need for three-part music for alto recorders and is highly useful as an introduction to ensemble playing in intermediate level classes for alto recorders. In addition, the rich and well-chosen selection of music from the late Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods provides a good overview of the early music repertory for the advancing adult player.

Graham Coles, ed.: Medieval Duets
Graham Coles, ed.: Medieval Trios

These two inexpensive volumes offer a well-chosen selection of two- and three-part medieval music, including both vocal works and instrumental dance pieces, from the French, Italian, and English repertories. The duets may be played on SS or SA recorders, and the trios on SSA or SAT instruments. When combined with the monophonic collection from the same editor listed above, these publications provide an excellent introduction to the late medieval repertoire of the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries.

Erich Katz, ed.: Music of the Renaissance
Erich Katz, ed.: Music of the Baroque

These two extremely inexpensive little anthologies provide an excellent selection of three-part music from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Rococo eras suitable for beginning trio players. They may be played on SSA, SAA, or to best advantage on SAT instruments. Since the printed format is small, we recommend getting one copy for each player. At these incredibly low prices, three copies cost less than single copies of many recorder trio publications.

Helmut Mönkemeyer, ed.: Antiqua Chorbuch

This little-known ten-volume anthology is a veritable treasure-trove containing some 400 compositions of German renaissance and baroque music from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries; there are five volumes of sacred music and another five volumes of secular music, each of the two series being roughly in chronological order. All of the pieces are texted, allowing performance by vocal, instrumental, or mixed ensembles, as was the performance practice of the period. Most of the pieces are in four parts, although there are a few earlier three-part pieces and some later five- and six-part works as well. The technical level of all of the pieces is relatively simple, making them ideally suited for lower intermediate level recorder and mixed ensemble playing. The individual voice parts in some of the pieces do not exceed the range of a ninth to an eleventh, making them ideally suited for windcap instruments, gemshorns, and other instruments with restricted ranges.

Bernard Thomas, ed.: Recorder Consort Anthology

Another comprehensive and useful introduction to recorder ensemble music of the Renaissance and early Baroque is the handsome six-volume anthology edited by Bernard Thomas and published by Schott. Vol. 1 contains 15th century music, Vol. 4 contains dance music, and the remaining four volumes each contain music from specific countries: France and Spain, Italy, Germany and The Netherlands, and England. These six volumes can provide a well-selected and carefully-edited core repertoire for any intermediate and advanced recorder ensemble of four to six players.

Paul Hindemith: Trio from "Plöner Musiktag"

One of the regrettably little-played 20th century masterpieces for recorder ensemble is Hindemith's intermediate-level trio written for performance at a day-long music festival in the German town of Plön in 1932. Originally scored for alto recorder in a' and two tenor recorders in d', the present-day lack of instruments in these pitches has caused the work to be published and performed a minor 3rd higher, using soprano in c'' and two altos in f' (although the work is also playable by soprano, alto, and tenor). However, the work gains much in sonority and substance if it is played a step lower than the original pitches, using an alto in g' (or f') and two tenors in c', with the alto reading soprano fingerings and the two tenors reading alto fingerings. The work also gains in performance from reversing the order of the second (rondo) and third (slow) movements. Until just recently, the only edition has been a heavily-edited one from the mid-20th century by Walter Bergmann, but a new Urtext edition has just been published by Schott as part of the new Hindemith Complete Edition and is highly recommended. We stock both the older and new editions.

Hans-Martin Linde: Quartett-Übung für Blockflöten

For upper intermediate and advanced players wishing to sharpen their ensemble playing skills, another little known but excellent volume by Linde is his Quartett-Übung für Blockflöten (Quartet Study for Recorders).This is a series of fifteen challenging etudes for an SATB quartet of recorders, and may be used either by solo quartets or larger ensembles. Like his contemporary studies for solo alto mentioned earlier, these works are in a highly accessible conservative 20th century idiom. Each etude addresses a particular issue, such as unison playing, chords, imitation, etc. Again, these pieces are fine compositions in their own right and musically interesting enough to be played as concert pieces.

Books about the Recorder

Hans-Martin Linde: Recorder Player's Handbook
Handbuch des Blockflötenspiels

Of the modest number of books available on the recorder and its literature, Hans-Martin Linde's wonderful Handbuch des Blockflötenspiels [1962], later published in an English language translation as The Recorder Player's Handbook, [1974] stands head and shoulders above any other book on the subject. The general topics covered include the instrument itself (acoustics, materials, design, selection, care), the playing technique (breathing and tone production, playing position, fingering, technique, articulation, practicing, warmup, performing, methods, and studies), the historical recorder (medieval, renaissance, baroque, and contemporary instruments, literature, and performance practice), and an extensive bibliography and index.

The text is extremely concise, heavily footnoted and referenced, and in a modest 100 pages provides more genuinely useful and interesting information than any other several books on the subject. The first English edition suffered from very poor translation, but the current second edition, released in 1991, is appreciably better in this regard and the printing and cover are also of much higher quality as well. We also have the second German edition in stock, for those readers fluent in the original language. This book is by far and away the single most useful source of information on the recorder and its literature and should be in the library of every serious recorder player.

Copyright, Antique Sound Workshop, Ltd., 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2009, & 2017. All rights reserved.

Copyright, Antique Sound Workshop, Ltd., 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009, & 2023. All rights reserved.

Back to Top of Page

Go to Order Form

Back to ASW Home Page