Recorder Notes With Letters

To understand what Recorder Notes With letters are, then you need to know what a recorder is, what are notes and and letters and the fingering of them on the recorder.

What Is A Recorder?

The recorder is a musical instrument made of wood ( see photo above ) or plastic. It is basically a hollow tube in two or three sections, with a mouth piece at one end, an opening at the other end and holes. They come in different sizes ranging from small, high sounding ones to larger, lower sounding ones. Each recorder is either in the key of C or key of F, which means that the letters for each hole will be different between the two keys. For example the lowest note for recorders in the key of C is C and the lowest note for recorders in F is F. Both are fingered the same. Read about the sopranino recorder and other types here.

What Are The Notes And Letters?

“Notes” refers to the different sounds which are produced on an instrument, in this case the recorder. They are represented by symbols. Examples of notes are seen in the picture below.

“Letters” refer to the names of the notes. These are the first seven letters of the alphabet,A B C D E F G. These note names are often referred to as is The Musical Alphabet. 

There are other note names related to each of these seven letters. They are sharp notes ( # ) and flat notes( b ). Each musical alphabet letter has a sharp and flat note associated with it,that is, A# B# C# D# E# F# G# and Ab Bb Cb Db Eb Fb Gb.

Sharp notes raise a note by a semitone and a flat note lowers a note by a semitone. A semitone is the closest interval of sound. If you can visualise a piano with the white and black keys, then a semitone is the closest key to the right or left of a key.  On a recorder you just have to know the fingering but the sound of a semitone is universal. 

Take a look at a picture of 8 white keys on the piano from C to the next C up with sharps and flats.

Please be aware that there are sharp notes that sound the same as flat notes,for example, an A# sound is the same as a Bb sound. 

A complete range of notes in an octave could go like the following two examples or the picture example above.  

Ab A Bb B C Db D Eb E F Gb G         or        G# A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G

Each note name is a semitone away from the next note name. For example: Ab to A is a semitone and so on.

The musical alphabet repeats itself over and over again to the range of the musical instrument. The recorder family have a range of around two octaves. It can vary depending on recorder type.

What Is The Fingering Of The Notes On The Recorder?

“Fingering” refers to the pressing of finger tips or pads down on the recorder holes in varying configurations.  When a musician wants to play a note or “letter” and hence a variation in pitch, then there is a fingering for that note. The recorder will have over two octaves of fingerings to represent each note name.

Please note that a recorder player produces  a sound by blowing through the mouthpiece to create a vibration of air down the recorder.

What Is The Fingering On The  Recorder For Each Note Name? 

When you play any wind instrument the left hand goes at the top.
A recorder has a thumb hole underneath and 5 single holes plus 2 double holes on top.

The holes will be called the following:

Th = left hand thumb

1 2 3 ( for left hand 2nd 3rd 4th fingers )

4 5 ( single holes for right hand 2nd 3rd fingers )

6 7 (double holes for right hand 4th 5th fingers )

Here is the fingering for the recorders in the key of C.

B:   Th 1
A:   Th 1 2
G:   Th 1 2 3
E:   Th 1 2 3 4 5
C2: Th 2
D2: 2
D1:  Th 1 2 3 4 5 6
F#: Th 1 2 3 5 6

C1: Th 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ie all holes covered for a lowest sound on the instrument.

Look here for the visual fingering of some recorder notes.

Recorders in the key of F have F1 as the lowest note, with all holes covered; equivalent to C1. So basically fingerings are the same for each key but the note name changes.

The first octave in the key of C is  C D E F   G A B 
The first octave in the key of F is  F G A Bb C D E

The Learning Process 

People start learning the notes B  A  G  first and play a variety of B A G pieces and exercises to help the process of remembering the fingering and reading the notes on sheet music. As the learning process continues then more notes/letters and fingerings are learnt. When you learn to produce second octave sounds the left hand thumb covers half a hole, like in the picture below.

A finger chart is available in tutor books as well as separate fingerings on pages throughout in the step by step learning process. To help you remember fingerings you need to Play Play Play with guidance of a teacher, tutor book or both.

With a knowledge of what a recorder is and what notes,letters and fingering are, you are on your way to playing great tunes.

 Go Forth

and

 Enjoy A Musical Experience On The Recorder

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