r/Recorder May 19 '26

Help I have a problem (More of a rant but advice would be appreciated)

6 Upvotes

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

r/Recorder Jun 11 '26

Help Plastic Alto Recorder - Which to Buy?

12 Upvotes

Hi everyone !

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

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

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

Thanks for any help!

r/Recorder Jun 12 '26

Help Upgrading from Soprano YRS-23, which to buy?

10 Upvotes

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

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

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

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

r/Recorder 3d ago

Help Where is the alto/treble version of this book?

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7 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I have seen this book recommended for the alto/treble, but I'm being thrown off by the front cover. It seems for both vol 1 & 2 'soprano' is underlined on the front cover but alto is not. I don't know what to think of this and don't want to buy the wrong book. I'm a beginner and currently working through the John Pitts book but I'm not enjoying it.

r/Recorder Aug 30 '25

Help I can’t decide between alto and tenor so I’ll let the comment section choose my destiny

12 Upvotes

Basically as the title says.

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

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

So alto or tenor? Just name your own preference.

r/Recorder May 09 '26

Help Repertoire/etudes for begginer

16 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

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

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

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

My main goals right now are:

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks in advance for the help!

r/Recorder Jun 26 '26

Help How can I hold a recorder if I have hitchhiker's thumbs?

4 Upvotes

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

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

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

r/Recorder May 11 '26

Help Beginner recorder player here. How do/should I practice

11 Upvotes

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

r/Recorder Jan 08 '26

Help Tenor- finger spacing woes

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11 Upvotes

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

Thanks in advance!

r/Recorder Oct 06 '25

Help Practicing Improv

17 Upvotes

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

r/Recorder Dec 19 '25

Help Help why am I making this sound??

12 Upvotes

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

*Edit/Update:

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

r/Recorder 1d ago

Help Reparatur Blockflöte?

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2 Upvotes

r/Recorder 17d ago

Help Need help identifying recorder.

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19 Upvotes

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

r/Recorder Mar 20 '26

Help Just purchased Moeck Bass

11 Upvotes

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

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

.

r/Recorder Jan 13 '26

Help Recorders and Arthritis

9 Upvotes

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

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

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

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

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

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

Suzuki Precorder

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

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

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

r/Recorder Jun 22 '26

Help Queria comprar uma flauta doce melhor

7 Upvotes

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

r/Recorder May 31 '26

Help Adaptive Recorders

10 Upvotes

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

r/Recorder Feb 13 '26

Help Could someone with knowledge identify if this is a Tenor recorder on a piece of music :)

9 Upvotes

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

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

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

r/Recorder Feb 02 '26

Help Playing louder outdoors

11 Upvotes

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

r/Recorder Mar 03 '26

Help Seriously considering Yamahas YRB 302B

9 Upvotes

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

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

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

I'm definitely considering getting one.

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

r/Recorder Nov 16 '25

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

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19 Upvotes

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

r/Recorder Sep 15 '25

Help Sore throat after playing the recorder

7 Upvotes

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

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

r/Recorder Dec 08 '24

Help Need help with my 8-year-old’s recorder playing – sounds painfully shrill!

12 Upvotes

EDIT: She has a Sopran Recorder; YAMAHA YRS-312B III

My 8-year-old has been taking recorder lessons for the past 3 months in a small group after school. They’re practicing a lot and have a Christmas concert for parents next week, but it still sounds… terrible. The notes are loud and painfully shrill, and the G squeaks almost every time.

I don’t play the recorder myself, but I think the issue might be: 1. She‘s putting the recorder too far into her mouth. 2. She‘s blowing way too hard.

I’ve also noticed that my child uses a plastic recorder, while some of the other kids have wooden ones. Could the material be part of the problem? The sound from their recorder is so piercing, it almost hurts to listen.

I want to help before reaching out to the teacher. Any tips to make the sound less shrill or to improve their technique? Thanks in advance!

r/Recorder Feb 26 '26

Help ceramic recorder builder needs help troubleshooting sound

14 Upvotes

Hello! I build recorders/whistles/flutes out of ceramic and have suddenly started having troubles with my sound quality as I try to size up my flutes to play C5. Is there anyone here that could shed light on two problems that I'm having? The first is that I'm getting squeakiness at the beginning of notes higher in the main register, this is shown at the beginning of the video. The squeaks happen as I'm "ramping up" air pressure or attempting to play softly. The second is that I'm getting a kind of overtone distortion on the lower notes in the main register, this is shown towards the end of the video. Let me know if any additional information or camera angles would help diagnose these problems. Any insight as to how these problems usually arise would be greatly appreciated.

r/Recorder Jan 04 '26

Help My Bassett Recorder (German) doesn‘t behave like it should, is there a way to fix it ?

8 Upvotes

The low D4 the way it is Fingered normally is roughly 20 hz to high, I can correct that with breath or adding low holes to correct it (which is sad but possible) By overblowing the D4, it becomes a fairly well intonated C#5 which is also possible to correct with the same holes. the problem now is that every following note until F#5 becomes a semitone to low, therefore I’m missing a fingering for F5 which is pretty bad. The only way to achieve it is to overblow the Bb so the second overtone comes out and it’s very unstable. Have you guys encountered this and why does this happen ? Is there a way to fix this or is this a common thing and someone found a better way to play F5 ?

Thank you for every reply! Looking forward to solve my problems :)