| A member of the woodwind family, the | | | | be learnt on them that do not tax the young |
| recorder's history is not well known, although | | | | player too much, and therefore sheet music is |
| examples of it can be found in medieval paintings, | | | | much easier to read. Fourth, they are small and |
| and what appears to be a recognizable | | | | easy to carry about in a satchel or bag. And fifth, |
| recorder-type instrument dating back to the Iron | | | | they never need tuning as they are pre-tuned - |
| Age has been found - although it is made of | | | | there are no strings to slacken. |
| sheep bone rather than wood! The instrument, | | | | Unfortunately, rigidly observed school curricula |
| however, often gets a bad press, largely due to | | | | quite often meant that people with no interest in |
| people's recollections of struggling to learn the | | | | music were forced to learn the instrument, and |
| instrument in the classroom - or perhaps being | | | | those who were interested might not have been |
| unfortunate enough to have to teach the | | | | overenthusiastic about playing rounds of London's |
| instrument to several new classes each and | | | | Burning with the teacher doing a Toscanini at the |
| every year. | | | | front of the class. This could explain the humour |
| Considering the fact that it is so commonly used | | | | and scornful nostalgia associated with the |
| as a learning instrument, it is actually quite difficult | | | | instrument. In mitigation, however, nobody leaves |
| to get a smooth, warm tone out of a recorder, | | | | school without knowing that all cows eat grass |
| and very easy to end up with a screech or a | | | | and that every good boy deserves something |
| bending note. However, with practice, the | | | | beginning with an F, be it food, football, fudge or |
| recorder can be made to produce a beautiful | | | | fun - or should that be five-a-day? |
| sound, with its distinct warm, woody tones and | | | | Range and Fingering |
| even vibrato. The instrument was certainly taken | | | | A recorder has a range of just over two |
| seriously during the Renaissance; Bach, Purcell and | | | | octaves, with the lowest note being the tone |
| Vivaldi wrote music for it. | | | | produced when every hole is closed with the |
| School Use | | | | fingers. Since most learning instruments will be in |
| There are plenty of very good reasons why the | | | | the key of C, that will be the tone produced. |
| recorder has entrenched itself in the national | | | | Recorders do come in other keys, however. F is |
| psyche as a school instrument. First, it is relatively | | | | also a common key, and more specialist |
| cheap to make, consisting basically of a tube with | | | | instruments come in D, E flat and G. A little |
| holes and a mouthpiece - there are no moving | | | | known fact is that recorders are actually |
| parts. This is enhanced by the fact that they can | | | | chromatic - they can play all twelve tones in an |
| also be made of plastic and therefore | | | | octave including sharps and flats. This is done by |
| mass-produced. Second, they are durable, tough | | | | half-covering certain holes, but isn't required in |
| instruments that will withstand a bit of abuse. | | | | Frere Jacques. |
| Third, they are monophonic, so simple tunes can | | | | |