Thank you! I rummaged through some shops here, but they have few books for recorders. The classicsl Mönkemeyer (1&2) are my base. I love the “Irish Melodies for soprano recorder “ by Joachim Johow: 16 pieces that go from slow and easy to fast & complex (ed. De Haske). And from Schott I have the “Easy Folk recordet” by Swan&Dyer: probably similar to the ones on Irish folk music you showed, but with pieces from around the world.
Hey regarding books in wrong language: Google translate app for smart phone lets you point at text, and it's magically translated on the screen- no typing required. I can vouch for the fact that it does not work well on Russian text, nor on old Swedish, but hey- modern Dutch can't be so hard. Worth a try!
Hi Sarah, really useful. I didn't realize there are so many methods and you didn't even mention my personal favourites: The School Recorder Books 1 and 2 by Priestley and Fowler. Don't be put off by the title, suitable for everyone, cheap, clear and concise. Basic Recorder Lessons by Zeitlin. Lots of music all of it in really big print. Not basic by the end. This is newly published; The descant recorder: a comprehensive new method by Aldo Bova. Everything you'd expect from TH-cam's other great recorder teacher. Generous, witty, encouraging, challenging, expert.
+Jacqui Gough - Thanks for sharing. Another great book from which to learn to play the recorder and read music is by Sandy Feldstein titled "Yamaha Recorder Student." It too comes, as does the book Sarah recommends, with two octave notes and fingering chart for the soprano recorder. It's an absolutely great step by step starter book for anyone learning to play not just the recorder - but any treble clef instrument! It comes with many songs in the keys of C, G, D, and F major. The only thing the student will need is a supplemental fingering chart(s) for the other instrument(s). 😊 🎼 ♫
Thank you for mentioning Basic Recorder Lessons by Zeitlin. I'm using the Omnibus Edition and am now working through the third book. It's been a great experience. I began my recorder playing last Fall and believe this book gave me a good foundation on which I can build. My only wish is that it had CDs to use with it.
Due to your recommendation I bought the Blockflötenbox ( Blockfluitkoffer) in German Number 2,3 and 4 and I am blown away how very beautifully they made these books. LOVELY tunes even in a stadium where your variety of notes is still limited. And the CD is also wonderful. It really makes me stay with the single tunes and practice. And I am shy with practicing as I live in a house with many neighbours. Thanks a ton for recommending this book, and for your tips to warm up the recorder before playing. My breath seems to be far too moist and the recorder sounded always horrible within minutes. Book 3 and 4 are still far away, but gosh I am looking forward to playing Klezmer and Irish tunes or renaissance music. For now I am pleased I am not forced to play "Hänschen Klein" or "Fuchs du hast die Gans gestohlen".
Just found you last week and have been binge watching your videos! Haven’t played the alto in decades but am starting over but this time, partly because of your enthusiasm (and a friend in a Renaissance Faire musical group near me) will be learning the soprano and tenor as well. Thank you for all your recommendations... wish I could buy them all!
I have started with only my childhood experience from elementary school and german fingering. I got Hugh Orr, finished the first volume and have just started the second one. I found the explanations very helpful and liked the music. Even the most basic exercises are already musical, based on mostly baroque music and some traditional tunes. Had a lot of fun from the first pages on. Found it helpful to retrain baroque fingering and an engrained fault (using my thumb wrongly) while enjoying very much to play the simple music. The english explanations are not too difficult for non native speakers.
I have the Hugh Orr for soprano, both volumes and it’s brilliant. It’s very thorough and excellent for learning the notes from low to high and lots of finger exercises, scales and arpeggios.
Sarah, you released this on Thursday and today (Sunday) is the sixth time I've watched (plus rewatching the one for Alto/Bass and four rewatchings of How to Practice....) - and I will be watching it more in the future! Really wonderful. And I think Bgetroekmans & van Poppel should include a Team Recorder check box, so they can track how many of us place orders because of YOUR recommendations! (and maybe work out that after they sell X books checked with TeamRecorder that you get a Y amount for book purchases through them... so you can make more videos about (hopefully) great books. Thank you!
That's so nice to hear Susanne, I'm happy my videos are helping you! Haha, I'm indeed curious to know how many people have bought book at Broekmans &vP after watching my video - but I'm happy to support them as a small business! :)
As someone who is currently struggling a bit reading music (me) - I would like to recommend either Noteflight (online) or Forte home or premium (program) notation software. Or something similar, but I haven't tried others. I ended up using Noteflight more because Forte doesn't always play the note when I press the key. And I had trouble getting a midi keyboard to work, nor do I know the piano, so I don't input music that way. I really like the hand/ear/eye/brain combination. Select an instrument, Select the clef, Select the tempo say a slow 60 bpm, Type in a note, hear it hoot, see it on the score, change it to the right duration (quarter note, half note, etc) , next note, repeat till done. Save for later. Export as necessary. You can put in the words, you can put in the note names. (forte will do it for you too) Then you have something you can play along with and you can adjust the tempo. All good fun. I then can try to read some new music, then if I am unsure if I did it right, I can let the program play it for me. Then speed it up, slow it down. In a way it is a cheat because you then are playing by ear and by sight, however in a way I think it really reinforces learning. The only small drawback is both programs play so machine-like. They do not stress a beat in a measure (that I can find so far), and the timing is spot on, not lyrical, so sometimes a song ends up sounding really strange. In that case, so far TH-cam has come to the rescue and many have played or sung it before.
Thanks for the video, Sarah. After seeing this we bought the Razzamajazz books. It would be useful for recorder players to know the pieces in the book are written mainly with the piano playing the tune and the recorder's line being pretty basic and pointless if there's no piano player.
Thaks for pointing out the “Koffer”: Hellbach is Swiss and I first was pointed to his publications by a piano teacher. I believe the original is in German (BlockfloetenBox). Thanks for this review of recorder literature!
I'm using a mix of Bonsor's "Enjoy the Recorder" book 1 for treble/soprano and a book not mentioned here called "Recorder for Beginners: An Easy Beginning Method" by Susan Lowenkron. Honestly, as I have NO background in music whatsoever, sometimes even figuring out the Bonsor book by myself (no tutor) feels like a chore, so I like the easier Lowenkron book. I recognize that the Bonsor method will ultimately take me further (especially as there's a book 2 for soprano and the soprano to alto transition books, should I decide to start alto) but as a newbie recorder player, I like having my hand held a little bit. Thanks for this list, Sarah, I will pick up some of the other books mentioned like the anthologies and folk tunes books when I feel I'm at a high enough level to enjoy them (probably when doing Bonsor bk 2).
Sarah; I love your friendly accessible manner! I have been watching your videos for a few years now. I have learnt so much that I have able to apply to my hobby of learning to play the tin whistle. Thankyou so much! 💟
Your video mentioned the book by Charles P. Fischer. I took a few months of lessons from him when I was living in the Bay Area and he used his book, of course. He was a great recorder player and a great teacher. I agree that neither the music style nor the book's approach are suitable for children, but I do think they are great for adults. I started from zero and made great progress (on the alto) in just a spring. Unfortunately Charles decided to move to Bloomington, IN, by the summer, and that was the end of it. I definitely recommend his book, although they may be challenging without a teacher. Some of the rhythms were certainly very challenging for me. But the music was far more interesting than what you find in the typical method. they are all duets, BTW, so you are indeed supposed to play them with a teacher. BTW: Amazon lists the book at $199 (!!!), but the book is available for about 1/10 that on Charles's site: www.buyrecorders.com/RFZ_Vol1.htm
In French this one was (still is) very nice for me but for the alto : « J'apprends la Flûte a Bec Alto » de Jean-Claude Veilhan. It's full of easy baroque pieces and no childish tunes. It takes you slowly towards more difficult fingerings. I recommend it +++ for adults. It's a good first step before the « Solo baroque » book that you often refer to. I hope this will help someone...
I'm 66 years of age and am learning to play the soprano recorder. This is the first instrument I have ever played and I do NOT know how to read music. Would "Fun and Games @3:47 and Razzamajazz @4:43 be a good start for me? I love how you added the time to the books you showed if your other video. It makes it so easy to follow. Thank you so much in advance.
Hi Sarah, nice overview :) I also like that you go a bit beyond the method book at the end of the video :) Last year, when i was looking for a method book, my local music shop let me browse their collection at my leisure and gave me some general information about the various methods they had. I went home with "ik en mijn blokfluit". Even for adults quite attractive and with help of the cd you can get your rithm in order ;)
I'm making my way through The School Recorder book 1. Its a basic introduction to soprano recorder, going through note by note. I'm playing through it with my tenor now
@LarryShone So nice to see "The School Recorder Book 1" mentioned here. I'm from the UK and I learnt to play the recorder at school, using both books 1 and 2. I'm now 55 and I still have my School Recorder books. I'm going to off my old tenor and start playing again. Thank you for the inspiration. 🎼😊🎶
I have the Hugh Orr book for the alto recorder. It's great for things like how to hold the instrument! But it doesn't give you much help with learning to read music, and I got confused by things like rhythm. Still, it helped me a lot! EDIT I took piano lessons as a kid, but I didn't get very far. Orr was a refresher of a very rusty skill.
Thanks Sarah. Comment: At the moment my ability to read score and play the recorder is "pretty basic." I find I can remember and play children's songs and I can now sight read some of them - and I can entertain a family and their small children on the recorder. They can sing. So, to improve on the recorder I bought some of the method books Sarah suggested and they are great. However I wanted some children's songs too. So here is a Small plug for some collections of easy Children's songs that I found recently. "Tin Whistle for Children volume 1 " by Stephen Ducke (has downloads for all songs) and "Children's songs & Nursery rhymes for recorder" by Tomen Alcover . Of course there are many more collections.
A couple of us bought all 3 volumes of Recorder from Zero a few months ago. It is now in quite readable form, and there are 2 volumes for Sop/Ten and one for Alto. Most are duets, so the Sop/Ten one has an alto part, and the Alto volume has Sop/Tenor part. It gets into modes and the music is wonderful.
Thanks for the kind mention. The first several lessons of each volume are available for free download and printing so you can try before you buy. There is minimal text because the pieces are mostly designed to be played as duets, with the teacher playing the bottom line. The website is www.buyrecorders.com
MsBettyR. Two versions, for soprano and tenor and for sopranino and alto recorders. Same same method same pieces, only transcribed for each pair of instruments.
Hello Sarah, this was useful. I'm currently trying with the alto and I use --- Barbara Hintermeier / Birgit Baude Altblockfloetenschule --- published by Schott (them, once again) but I fully intend to learn to play the soprano as well and I think the Bonsor could be the one for me.
Hi Sarah, thanks for posting this video. I bought the 'Teach Yourself to Play Recorder' book and spent 40 days reading through and practicing songs in this book. I really enjoyed it. I also got your "My Favourite Melodies" book and I can play the first song "Dear Irish Boy". Then I realized all other songs in your book are too difficult for me. My question is how to close the gap between these two books. What should I go next after my first recorder book 'Teach Yourself to Play Recorder'. Any suggestions? Thanks!!!
Thank you so much miss Sarah for your recommendation! You have no idea how highly i appreciate it. By the way, after the video I end up buying Teach Yourself to Play Recorder - Morty Manus
Hi Sarah! Could you recommend books for learning the base recorder? (in English, German or Dutch). I just came home from a week's course and promised I would play on the (f-)base next year. This and past years I have enjoyed playing the tenor and c-base, but have now started learning the alto. Thanks to you! I would like to surprise the teacher at next years course and want to start practicing the base now! Maybe you could make a video about learning the base.I would appreciate it! Thank you for your inspiring videos. I really enjoy them and learn lots. And have started practicing more!
Will the renaissance and baroque anthologies sound ok if I transpose the recorder part to treble? (If I play the descant fingerings on the treble my brain will get confused 😅)
Broekman & van Poppel is no longer in Amsterdam, but in Badhoevedorp. I believe they’re also in Utrecht but I’m not 100% sure if this. Better google them first before flying to Amsterdam to buy the lovely books. Badhoevedorp is not far from Amsterdam though.
It's super easy to get too! Just a bus ride from Amsterdam, line 195 ;) (or tram 2, but it takes a little longer) And once you're there it's really worth it, I always spend hours and far too much of my pocket money there...
Have you made a video discussing how to, and what kind of oil to oil a recorder with? We have watched your video on daily maintenance and use of a sock on a stick for absorbing internal moisture, and we have seen other videos about oiling, but we'd like to follow YOUR instructions, but can't seem to find the right video:(
Monkemeyer? It has a dry layout, but I think for adults is ok. Also: Aldo Bova has just published his soprano / tenor recorder method he has been working on for 25 years: th-cam.com/video/mZeSybgvg-w/w-d-xo.html
I am an adult pianist so can read music and understand the theory etc.... but have just bought a tenor recorder. Which method book would you recommend?
Pleeeease show us how to correctly properly play the Intro from "Wisdom of the kings" pleaaase will u? It's easy so u will figure it out fast I believe...
A lot of these methods have multiple volumes, so you can start with the first and go on to the last... When you've got a bunch of notes under your fingers you can play simple pieces alongside (like the book of baroque and classical pieces, for example) Does that help? What have other people found helpful?
Sarah Jeffery / Team Recorder I think you've helped me. So i just choose one of these method (the one i like the most) and go through all volumes and use the music pieces from the ones that have it? any of them will make me a great player? i play violin and don't mind to go with the most complex but "boring" (i.e. without images, just technical stuff) method to be a really good player.
ok 3 years later and I'm finishing sweet pipes book 2 and monkemeyer book 1, and with brazilian book "minha doce flauta doce" vol. 1 and krahmer's "100" studies. I dont have much time to practice, so I'm going slowly, but i'm playing great songs today! now I'm starting to playing more baroque / classical pieces and soon will start on alto recorder to tackle monkemeyer book 2 and modern record player book.
Hai Sarah I'm in one small confusion. Im in India and I have ordered 75 classical and baroque pieces book on online. But the conformation mail has came as in Dutch language. So I tired again for to get the mail in an English. But again it came as in Dutch language. And I'm surprised that the book has delivered as two books. How to resend that one one book? And I have send the mail to that book company. But there is no response. Help me what should I do..? Thank you
Hello, I'm not Sarah but I can answer your question: Dutch and German are sister languages (for a bunch of historical reasons it's too complicated to explain in a few lines). This means they are very, very similar in structure and share a lot of vocabulary. The phonology, though, it's very different and therefore words which are basically the same sound very different and are often written in a very different way. Dutch and German people usually don't understand each other if they speak but they might understand the gist of a written text. Dutch people often study German at school: if they do, they have zero problems in understanding German because the similarities help them a lot. The same goes for German people, of course, but Dutch is normally not taught in German schools. This means that Sarah, who is proficient in Dutch, could probably read a recorder method written in German because of the similarities of the two languages and because she knows the topic.
Hi Leena, as a person who speaks Dutch but not German, I can help you on that ;) I can understand some German (both spoken and written), so when muddling my way through a music book, it's usually fine. Everything idarote says below/above it true :)
idraote I can speak German and can understand about fifty percent of written Dutch and about twenty five percent of spoken Dutch. (as long as it isn't Flemish which I find a lot harder to follow) I have an online friend who I write to in German and she writes back in Dutch and we have no problem understanding each other.
Leena L.E. They both come from the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Old Norse developed into different dialects and eventually distinct languages such as Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic and Danish. This is the north germanic branch. The languages spread geographically due to invasions, exploration, trade or religious influences. In the west Germanic branch; Gothic and Old High German came earlier then Dutch developed from Frisian and Old English developed from Old high German and Old French as well as Latin. I hope that helps to explain it further. There is a lot of information online if you want to look at language maps. I love history and languages that's why I read about it. 💕
Thanks, that's very interesting. I am trying to learn German but it's harder than English for me. Once I feel confident enough, I'll try to look at some Dutsch written text and see how much (or if at all) I can understand :)
It depends if you have any musical background and would like help on that - if you already play music and don't need much explanation about theory, then definitely! If you really need taking through all the finer points of reading music and theory, then I would start with a different book. But who knows, maybe there will be an English translation one day!
6:40 “The Trapp Family Recorder Method starts at the very beginning.” A very good place to start ... when you read you begin ...
I have that one and yes it's an amazing resource if there is not teachers available in the area.
She's so enthusiastic ...makes me actually want to practice!
"I'm Sarah and I'm Ricardo Blair " - yt subtitles ^_^
Haaaa it's something different every video :D
Thank you! I rummaged through some shops here, but they have few books for recorders. The classicsl Mönkemeyer (1&2) are my base. I love the “Irish Melodies for soprano recorder “ by Joachim Johow: 16 pieces that go from slow and easy to fast & complex (ed. De Haske). And from Schott I have the “Easy Folk recordet” by Swan&Dyer: probably similar to the ones on Irish folk music you showed, but with pieces from around the world.
Thank you a lot for your interesting and verying recommendations!
My pleasure!
Hey regarding books in wrong language: Google translate app for smart phone lets you point at text, and it's magically translated on the screen- no typing required. I can vouch for the fact that it does not work well on Russian text, nor on old Swedish, but hey- modern Dutch can't be so hard. Worth a try!
Hi Sarah, really useful. I didn't realize there are so many methods and you didn't even mention my personal favourites: The School Recorder Books 1 and 2 by Priestley and Fowler. Don't be put off by the title, suitable for everyone, cheap, clear and concise.
Basic Recorder Lessons by Zeitlin. Lots of music all of it in really big print. Not basic by the end.
This is newly published; The descant recorder: a comprehensive new method by Aldo Bova. Everything you'd expect from TH-cam's other great recorder teacher. Generous, witty, encouraging, challenging, expert.
Jacqui Gough Thanks for sharing these!
I learnt from these as a child in the 1960s and yes, there's a lot in them.
+Jacqui Gough - Thanks for sharing. Another great book from which to learn to play the recorder and read music is by Sandy Feldstein titled "Yamaha Recorder Student." It too comes, as does the book Sarah recommends, with two octave notes and fingering chart for the soprano recorder. It's an absolutely great step by step starter book for anyone learning to play not just the recorder - but any treble clef instrument! It comes with many songs in the keys of C, G, D, and F major. The only thing the student will need is a supplemental fingering chart(s) for the other instrument(s). 😊 🎼 ♫
thanks for sharing aldo bova's book. I'll check it out
Thank you for mentioning Basic Recorder Lessons by Zeitlin. I'm using the Omnibus Edition and am now working through the third book. It's been a great experience. I began my recorder playing last Fall and believe this book gave me a good foundation on which I can build. My only wish is that it had CDs to use with it.
Due to your recommendation I bought the Blockflötenbox ( Blockfluitkoffer) in German Number 2,3 and 4 and I am blown away how very beautifully they made these books. LOVELY tunes even in a stadium where your variety of notes is still limited. And the CD is also wonderful. It really makes me stay with the single tunes and practice. And I am shy with practicing as I live in a house with many neighbours. Thanks a ton for recommending this book, and for your tips to warm up the recorder before playing. My breath seems to be far too moist and the recorder sounded always horrible within minutes. Book 3 and 4 are still far away, but gosh I am looking forward to playing Klezmer and Irish tunes or renaissance music. For now I am pleased I am not forced to play "Hänschen Klein" or "Fuchs du hast die Gans gestohlen".
Just found you last week and have been binge watching your videos! Haven’t played the alto in decades but am starting over but this time, partly because of your enthusiasm (and a friend in a Renaissance Faire musical group near me) will be learning the soprano and tenor as well. Thank you for all your recommendations... wish I could buy them all!
"95 Dexterity Exercises and Dances for Recorder" is cheap and has a lot for beginners to practice. there are 2 versions in C and F
I have started with only my childhood experience from elementary school and german fingering. I got Hugh Orr, finished the first volume and have just started the second one. I found the explanations very helpful and liked the music. Even the most basic exercises are already musical, based on mostly baroque music and some traditional tunes. Had a lot of fun from the first pages on. Found it helpful to retrain baroque fingering and an engrained fault (using my thumb wrongly) while enjoying very much to play the simple music. The english explanations are not too difficult for non native speakers.
Great video, thank-you Sarah. I have been enjoying the 'English Folk Tunes' with my tenor, now I have to get the Irish one too.
I have the Hugh Orr for soprano, both volumes and it’s brilliant. It’s very thorough and excellent for learning the notes from low to high and lots of finger exercises, scales and arpeggios.
Sarah, you released this on Thursday and today (Sunday) is the sixth time I've watched (plus rewatching the one for Alto/Bass and four rewatchings of How to Practice....) - and I will be watching it more in the future! Really wonderful. And I think Bgetroekmans & van Poppel should include a Team Recorder check box, so they can track how many of us place orders because of YOUR recommendations! (and maybe work out that after they sell X books checked with TeamRecorder that you get a Y amount for book purchases through them... so you can make more videos about (hopefully) great books. Thank you!
That's so nice to hear Susanne, I'm happy my videos are helping you! Haha, I'm indeed curious to know how many people have bought book at Broekmans &vP after watching my video - but I'm happy to support them as a small business! :)
As someone who is currently struggling a bit reading music (me) - I would like to recommend either Noteflight (online) or Forte home or premium (program) notation software. Or something similar, but I haven't tried others. I ended up using Noteflight more because Forte doesn't always play the note when I press the key. And I had trouble getting a midi keyboard to work, nor do I know the piano, so I don't input music that way. I really like the hand/ear/eye/brain combination. Select an instrument, Select the clef, Select the tempo say a slow 60 bpm, Type in a note, hear it hoot, see it on the score, change it to the right duration (quarter note, half note, etc) , next note, repeat till done. Save for later. Export as necessary. You can put in the words, you can put in the note names. (forte will do it for you too) Then you have something you can play along with and you can adjust the tempo. All good fun. I then can try to read some new music, then if I am unsure if I did it right, I can let the program play it for me. Then speed it up, slow it down. In a way it is a cheat because you then are playing by ear and by sight, however in a way I think it really reinforces learning. The only small drawback is both programs play so machine-like. They do not stress a beat in a measure (that I can find so far), and the timing is spot on, not lyrical, so sometimes a song ends up sounding really strange. In that case, so far TH-cam has come to the rescue and many have played or sung it before.
Thanks for the video, Sarah. After seeing this we bought the Razzamajazz books. It would be useful for recorder players to know the pieces in the book are written mainly with the piano playing the tune and the recorder's line being pretty basic and pointless if there's no piano player.
Thaks for pointing out the “Koffer”: Hellbach is Swiss and I first was pointed to his publications by a piano teacher. I believe the original is in German (BlockfloetenBox). Thanks for this review of recorder literature!
I'm using a mix of Bonsor's "Enjoy the Recorder" book 1 for treble/soprano and a book not mentioned here called "Recorder for Beginners: An Easy Beginning Method" by Susan Lowenkron. Honestly, as I have NO background in music whatsoever, sometimes even figuring out the Bonsor book by myself (no tutor) feels like a chore, so I like the easier Lowenkron book. I recognize that the Bonsor method will ultimately take me further (especially as there's a book 2 for soprano and the soprano to alto transition books, should I decide to start alto) but as a newbie recorder player, I like having my hand held a little bit.
Thanks for this list, Sarah, I will pick up some of the other books mentioned like the anthologies and folk tunes books when I feel I'm at a high enough level to enjoy them (probably when doing Bonsor bk 2).
Sarah; I love your friendly accessible manner! I have been watching your videos for a few years now. I have learnt so much that I have able to apply to my hobby of learning to play the tin whistle. Thankyou so much! 💟
You're welcome! :)
Sarah Jeffery / Team Recorder
My favourite of all time is: 'Ten types of recorder players' Hilarious! 💟💟💟
Your video mentioned the book by Charles P. Fischer. I took a few months of lessons from him when I was living in the Bay Area and he used his book, of course. He was a great recorder player and a great teacher. I agree that neither the music style nor the book's approach are suitable for children, but I do think they are great for adults. I started from zero and made great progress (on the alto) in just a spring. Unfortunately Charles decided to move to Bloomington, IN, by the summer, and that was the end of it. I definitely recommend his book, although they may be challenging without a teacher. Some of the rhythms were certainly very challenging for me. But the music was far more interesting than what you find in the typical method. they are all duets, BTW, so you are indeed supposed to play them with a teacher.
BTW: Amazon lists the book at $199 (!!!), but the book is available for about 1/10 that on Charles's site: www.buyrecorders.com/RFZ_Vol1.htm
I don't have a CD player in my apartment since years! Hope all publishers are putting them online too... Thanks Sarah as always great content
I hope so too! I use my laptop, but CD drives in laptop are dying out too..
Lots of thrift stores have old boomboxes and similar CD players!
In French this one was (still is) very nice for me but for the alto : « J'apprends la Flûte a Bec Alto » de Jean-Claude Veilhan. It's full of easy baroque pieces and no childish tunes. It takes you slowly towards more difficult fingerings. I recommend it +++ for adults. It's a good first step before the « Solo baroque » book that you often refer to. I hope this will help someone...
Also for the French student the Mario Duchenes books Sarah mentions - Method for the Recorder - is published in French.
Sarah, thank you for your lovely video's. Just starting my journey back into music and your channel is very helpful. All the best.
Fantastic video. I have a tenor recorder. I'm using Trapp and love it. But I like using other methods too. Thanks for all the information, Sarah.
Thank you so much for this. I'm between beginner and intermediate and had no idea how to proceed.
I'm 66 years of age and am learning to play the soprano recorder. This is the first instrument I have ever played and I do NOT know how to read music. Would "Fun and Games @3:47 and Razzamajazz @4:43 be a good start for me? I love how you added the time to the books you showed if your other video. It makes it so easy to follow. Thank you so much in advance.
Hi Sarah, nice overview :) I also like that you go a bit beyond the method book at the end of the video :)
Last year, when i was looking for a method book, my local music shop let me browse their collection at my leisure and gave me some general information about the various methods they had. I went home with "ik en mijn blokfluit". Even for adults quite attractive and with help of the cd you can get your rithm in order ;)
Yes, I've been using that one with my students too :)
I'm making my way through The School Recorder book 1. Its a basic introduction to soprano recorder, going through note by note. I'm playing through it with my tenor now
@LarryShone So nice to see "The School Recorder Book 1" mentioned here. I'm from the UK and I learnt to play the recorder at school, using both books 1 and 2. I'm now 55 and I still have my School Recorder books. I'm going to off my old tenor and start playing again. Thank you for the inspiration. 🎼😊🎶
I have the Hugh Orr book for the alto recorder. It's great for things like how to hold the instrument! But it doesn't give you much help with learning to read music, and I got confused by things like rhythm. Still, it helped me a lot!
EDIT I took piano lessons as a kid, but I didn't get very far. Orr was a refresher of a very rusty skill.
Thanks Sarah. Comment: At the moment my ability to read score and play the recorder is "pretty basic." I find I can remember and play children's songs and I can now sight read some of them - and I can entertain a family and their small children on the recorder. They can sing. So, to improve on the recorder I bought some of the method books Sarah suggested and they are great. However I wanted some children's songs too. So here is a Small plug for some collections of easy Children's songs that I found recently. "Tin Whistle for Children volume 1 " by Stephen Ducke (has downloads for all songs) and "Children's songs & Nursery rhymes for recorder" by Tomen Alcover . Of course there are many more collections.
Cool, thanks for the tips!
A couple of us bought all 3 volumes of Recorder from Zero a few months ago. It is now in quite readable form, and there are 2 volumes for Sop/Ten and one for Alto. Most are duets, so the Sop/Ten one has an alto part, and the Alto volume has Sop/Tenor part. It gets into modes and the music is wonderful.
Ah great to know! I must have found an early edition..
Thanks for the kind mention. The first several lessons of each volume are available for free download and printing so you can try before you buy. There is minimal text because the pieces are mostly designed to be played as duets, with the teacher playing the bottom line. The website is www.buyrecorders.com
Thanks Charles, that's great!
Great! Just what I was looking for!
Thank you so much for this video!! 😊
Thank you, Sarah! I was waiting for this video! 😄
But Sarah, Aren't you going to write one of your own?
Haha, everyone keeps asking me that!
I would definitely buy a copy.
If you wrote a recorder method aimed at adult beginning to intermediate level I would definitely buy it.
@@Team_Recorder do it!
really usefull your presentation and explanation, thanks.
Mario Duschenes method for the recorder vol1 & 2 great.
toavm Are those books for tenor too?
MsBettyR. Two versions, for soprano and tenor and for sopranino and alto recorders. Same same method same pieces, only transcribed for each pair of instruments.
That music shop is so cool!!! I almost want to go back to Amsterdam just to visit it again :-)
Hello Sarah, this was useful. I'm currently trying with the alto and I use --- Barbara Hintermeier / Birgit Baude Altblockfloetenschule --- published by Schott (them, once again) but I fully intend to learn to play the soprano as well and I think the Bonsor could be the one for me.
I used Mario Duschenes Metod for the recorder, and I liked it alot!
Hi Sarah, thanks for posting this video. I bought the 'Teach Yourself to Play Recorder' book and spent 40 days reading through and practicing songs in this book. I really enjoyed it. I also got your "My Favourite Melodies" book and I can play the first song "Dear Irish Boy". Then I realized all other songs in your book are too difficult for me. My question is how to close the gap between these two books. What should I go next after my first recorder book 'Teach Yourself to Play Recorder'. Any suggestions? Thanks!!!
Here are three songs after I "finished" this book 'Teach Yourself to Play Recorder' : th-cam.com/video/W0oMtObNDDI/w-d-xo.html
I LOVE MIUSIC
Thank you so much miss Sarah for your recommendation! You have no idea how highly i appreciate it. By the way, after the video I end up buying Teach Yourself to Play Recorder - Morty Manus
Thank you so much!!! :)
Hi, Sarah. Nice selection! Is there any book like Heyens' "Advanced Recorder Technique" for the soprano recorder?
Hi Sarah!
Could you recommend books for learning the base recorder? (in English, German or Dutch). I just came home from a week's course and promised I would play on the (f-)base next year. This and past years I have enjoyed playing the tenor and c-base, but have now started learning the alto. Thanks to you!
I would like to surprise the teacher at next years course and want to start practicing the base now! Maybe you could make a video about learning the base.I would appreciate it!
Thank you for your inspiring videos. I really enjoy them and learn lots. And have started practicing more!
Will the renaissance and baroque anthologies sound ok if I transpose the recorder part to treble? (If I play the descant fingerings on the treble my brain will get confused 😅)
Broekman & van Poppel is no longer in Amsterdam, but in Badhoevedorp. I believe they’re also in Utrecht but I’m not 100% sure if this. Better google them first before flying to Amsterdam to buy the lovely books. Badhoevedorp is not far from Amsterdam though.
It's super easy to get too! Just a bus ride from Amsterdam, line 195 ;) (or tram 2, but it takes a little longer) And once you're there it's really worth it, I always spend hours and far too much of my pocket money there...
Have you made a video discussing how to, and what kind of oil to oil a recorder with?
We have watched your video on daily maintenance and use of a sock on a stick for absorbing internal moisture, and we have seen other videos about oiling, but we'd like to follow YOUR instructions, but can't seem to find the right video:(
Sarah has a video on cleaning and oiling recorders: th-cam.com/video/FFZnSDieYkI/w-d-xo.html She uses sweet almond oil. You can also use bore oil.
VirtualPhobia Thank you so much for posting that link!!:)
Very much appreciated:)
What do you think would be best used on Ebony?
What do you think of The Charlton Method for the Recorder?
Monkemeyer? It has a dry layout, but I think for adults is ok. Also: Aldo Bova has just published his soprano / tenor recorder method he has been working on for 25 years:
th-cam.com/video/mZeSybgvg-w/w-d-xo.html
When are you writing *your* method books?
I am an adult pianist so can read music and understand the theory etc.... but have just bought a tenor recorder. Which method book would you recommend?
Hi, what books would you recommend for kids? Thank you
i see almost all of that is for baroque recorder. any suggestion for soprano german recorder?
Could you use a soprano method book for tenor since they both are in key of C?
Agh, so helpful!!
Pleeeease show us how to correctly properly play the Intro from "Wisdom of the kings" pleaaase will u? It's easy so u will figure it out fast I believe...
Hi! can you suggest some kind of book order from the beginner to expert, where do i start and to which method do i go next?
A lot of these methods have multiple volumes, so you can start with the first and go on to the last... When you've got a bunch of notes under your fingers you can play simple pieces alongside (like the book of baroque and classical pieces, for example) Does that help? What have other people found helpful?
Sarah Jeffery / Team Recorder I think you've helped me. So i just choose one of these method (the one i like the most) and go through all volumes and use the music pieces from the ones that have it? any of them will make me a great player? i play violin and don't mind to go with the most complex but "boring" (i.e. without images, just technical stuff) method to be a really good player.
ok 3 years later and I'm finishing sweet pipes book 2 and monkemeyer book 1, and with brazilian book "minha doce flauta doce" vol. 1 and krahmer's "100" studies. I dont have much time to practice, so I'm going slowly, but i'm playing great songs today! now I'm starting to playing more baroque / classical pieces and soon will start on alto recorder to tackle monkemeyer book 2 and modern record player book.
What would you suggest for a clarinetist who wants to learn tenor recorder?
Please, send it for me in Brasil.lol, lol. Thanks a.lot, you are beautiful, and so good.
I need of a book who teach me Lauren, here it is difficult.
Please can I get an ebook rather? Since I don't know how to get a hard copy.
I'm chuffed to bits to find out the best stuff for recorder noobs is Dutch.. not that my English is lacking but it saves getting lost in translation..
Hi, is there some method for tenor recorder in the web to free download?
Do you have to use a different book between alto and tenor?
Hai Sarah
I'm in one small confusion. Im in India and I have ordered 75 classical and baroque pieces book on online. But the conformation mail has came as in Dutch language. So I tired again for to get the mail in an English. But again it came as in Dutch language.
And I'm surprised that the book has delivered as two books. How to resend that one one book? And I have send the mail to that book company. But there is no response. Help me what should I do..?
Thank you
How about alto though, if you'd like to start out on that?
She already made a video for that
I am curious, Sarah, is German so different from Dutsch? Do you, as a person who speaks Dutsch, understand German at liest a bit?
Hello, I'm not Sarah but I can answer your question: Dutch and German are sister languages (for a bunch of historical reasons it's too complicated to explain in a few lines). This means they are very, very similar in structure and share a lot of vocabulary. The phonology, though, it's very different and therefore words which are basically the same sound very different and are often written in a very different way.
Dutch and German people usually don't understand each other if they speak but they might understand the gist of a written text.
Dutch people often study German at school: if they do, they have zero problems in understanding German because the similarities help them a lot. The same goes for German people, of course, but Dutch is normally not taught in German schools.
This means that Sarah, who is proficient in Dutch, could probably read a recorder method written in German because of the similarities of the two languages and because she knows the topic.
Hi Leena, as a person who speaks Dutch but not German, I can help you on that ;) I can understand some German (both spoken and written), so when muddling my way through a music book, it's usually fine. Everything idarote says below/above it true :)
idraote I can speak German and can understand about fifty percent of written Dutch and about twenty five percent of spoken Dutch. (as long as it isn't Flemish which I find a lot harder to follow) I have an online friend who I write to in German and she writes back in Dutch and we have no problem understanding each other.
Leena L.E. They both come from the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Old Norse developed into different dialects and eventually distinct languages such as Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic and Danish. This is the north germanic branch. The languages spread geographically due to invasions, exploration, trade or religious influences. In the west Germanic branch; Gothic and Old High German came earlier then Dutch developed from Frisian and Old English developed from Old high German and Old French as well as Latin. I hope that helps to explain it further. There is a lot of information online if you want to look at language maps. I love history and languages that's why I read about it. 💕
Thanks, that's very interesting.
I am trying to learn German but it's harder than English for me. Once I feel confident enough, I'll try to look at some Dutsch written text and see how much (or if at all) I can understand :)
Do you recommend the Blokfluit Koffer for an English-only speaker?
It depends if you have any musical background and would like help on that - if you already play music and don't need much explanation about theory, then definitely! If you really need taking through all the finer points of reading music and theory, then I would start with a different book. But who knows, maybe there will be an English translation one day!
Can I have Chinese translation? please I need!
我可以有中文翻译吗？ 请我需要！
Ronald Last ....
So you can speak Dutch?
Dat kan ik 😌
@@Team_Recorder wauww. I never imagined. Leuk om iets erbij te leren over jou