I think my favorite part of the video was the very end where Sabrina asked "Would you maybe play with me? 👉👈 " and Alison asks "Would you like me to play a harmony part?" It was just very sweet and you could tell that it was something Sabrina hadn't even thought about! I also love that Alison doesn't hit the note she wants at the end and says "oops" because it's one of those little things that people forget, that professionals mess up all the time, that's just a part of...well, doing anything really. It was just a lovely human moment to end with.
One tends to forget that most instruments sound terrible in beginners' hands, many worse than the recorder. Give a beginner a violin or (what I started) a clarinet, and you'll have their parents/friends/neighbours begging to bring back the recorder! Overcoming that hurdle and still practising is the key.
Having tried several instruments and heard others, I think the worst sounds from beginners are from the violin and the clarinet. Flutes just don’t make much sound if you mess up, and brass just makes a funny “blatt” noise.
My daughter started to play the recorder at school and I (as an amateur recorder player) helped her a little bit and her sound got better. It's not ugly at all. At school, teachers just don't have enough time to help every student I think
I bought a clarinet, because I got one in my hands first at was able to get something that could almost be called a note ouf of it. It took me about three months to learn anything worth playing on gig...
Everyone knows that the violin sounds horrible when played by beginners, but we all know that it sounds so beautiful when played by a professional. The problem for the recorder seems to be that we just do not have enough examples of professional recorder players in mainstream media like we do for the violin.
So true, I actually cried when I first tried playing my violin as a beginner 😂. I liked the recorder when I got it I couldn’t understand why other kids didn’t.
Our recorders were horrible, polystyrene things, with a trademarked name, Flutophone. We were not informed that Flutophone was a classroom version a recorder, an instrument with a long and rich history. We never listened to any recorded recorder music of any type. This was the early 1970s. We had all heard "The Fool on the Hill" by the Beatles. Why not make that connection for us? Why not have us listen to some Bach? Why hide the name of the instrument itself? It wasn't until years later that I found out that there was a real instrument behind the Flutophone. At one point I had a better quality one (still plastic, though), and a book with fingering charts and a bunch of Bach pieces. Jeez, that was 40 years ago now. But I did almost learn one of the pieces. I still have that recorder somewhere...
My recorder teacher in high school told me I had "amazing potential" and that I "HAD to go into musical school" and I was so excited until she said "and choose a new instrument." SHE taught me how to play the recorder and now she was telling me I had to give it up because it's an instrument for children. I didn't want to learn to play the flute, or ANY other instrument, I wanted to keep playing the recorder, but no one would teach me, and the teacher told me I would have no future as a recorder player, that there was no such thing as a professional recorder player. So I stopped playing. And I didn't even touch another instrument, I liked the recorder, not the flute. So when I found this channel I was SO HAPPY!! I'm honestly so happy to have found someone who doesn't say it's a child's thing, who is a Professional Recorder Player like my teacher said didn't exist lol I want to go back to playing it like I used to and have as much fun as I used to have with it :)
Being given a recorder at the age of 3 was one of the greatest gifts I've ever had. But at the age of 11 my secondary school told me the recorder wasn't a real instrument. I went from having confidence, getting the best results in my whole county, to being ashamed and without any tuition. I gave up recorder for 30 years nearly. Now I'm studying to regain my confidence and hopefully in the next few years run recorder workshops for students. I can't find a recorder teacher for myself so I'm having to rely on videos such as those from Team Recorder, as well as books. I'm so passionate about the recorder and I'm always quite vociferous in its defence when people mock it.
I'm glad you're at it, but what the heck. Did one of your teachers actually told you that it was a fake instrument!?! That's insane and messed up! Thanks for this anecdote. I'm glad you got back into it. And also as a new teacher I want to remember this so I don't end up discouraging students of mine like what happened with you as a kid.
I'm in a town of around 550 people. Now that I think of it, I'm not even sure if the local school(s) even have a band. Yesterday I was told by a friend whose daughter is going into 4th grade that he doesn't think they teach recorder in school here. So sad!!!
Sabrina's videos are always extremely well researched, and she's the first person I know who went and actually did their research and learnt the recorder with an open mind. This video makes me so happy!
In the 1970s I was a music major at a college that was training many future elementary school teachers. These future teachers were given one semester of music for elementary school that included playing recorder. I was asked to demonstrate the oboe for the class to learn about orchestra instruments. I was asked by one of the future teachers if I played recorder. I took one of the cheap plastic recorders and played Greensleeves. When I finished, the lady that asked me to play said "So that's what it's supposed to sound like!" Thanks for your channel! I love all things fipple!
I taught recorder to dozens of eight year olds. For me, the key to making it tolerable was to teach them to play loud, medium and soft. Once they grasped that, everything sounded a lot better. During one session I had 54 eight year olds in one small classroom practicing for an upcoming performance.
As a child, I used to play the piano. Intensely. Up to that age, music had defined me, and I was good at it. A friend came over and showed me the wooden recorder he received for the holidays. We had fun learning about his recorder, and he played a bit on the piano, as a perfect novice. Here's what happened next: I had to drop my music studies and focus on academics. He figured out his grandmother had an upright piano and kept going there to play. He taught himself how to play the piano well. He learned the recorder. He got himself another one, tuned differently. He learned about theory. Eventually, he had a teacher -- and picked a tenor saxophone. These days, we are in our 50s. I am an engineer, trying hard to get back into music. He became a respected saxophonist in our home country, fills large venues with his band, has countless concept album recordings and an endless list of famous collaborators. I feel fortunate to still be his friend. And I cannot see a recorder without remembering the time when he was just a bit curious about music.
The thing that got me to understand that the recorder was a real instrument and not just a toy for 9-year-olds was learning that it's the wind instrument you hear in a ton of medieval music and basically every instrumental version of the Christmas carol In Dulci Jubilo.
i’m here from answer in progress and you were such a lovely find! your vibes are so pleasant and i love your energy throughout the vidoe. i especially love how you regularly paused the video to fully explained your thoughts and at times even summarized the video and didn’t play through it all! i am usually weary about reaction content like this as i’m worried that people will essentially repost others videos in full with minimal commentary, but you handled this reaction format so gracefully and respectfully! as someone who’s first introduction to a world beyond plastic recorders was sabrina’s, seeing your medieval double recorder is crazy omg!
I’m a retired music teacher who had to learn to play the recorder so that I could teach it (my degree is in piano performance). I introduced my students to many different instruments, always via live performance when possible. A local professional recorder group was invited to play, and they came with a sopranino, a bass, and everything in between. I also took, printed, laminated, and posted my own photographs of different instruments so that the kids could see the relative size of the instruments with a human for scale.
I like the recorder because of its sound quality, versatility, and portability. I guess I was one of the fortunate ones. When I got to university, I ran into some people who played/sang a mix of Old Time music and Irish songs. Several of them played recorders and they put together a few sessions to get us started on the recorder. It worked! One of my favorite audiences, years later, was a herd of deer. I went out to a wooded patch and a small herd of deer came running in from a field as I played. I played a while and they listened for two or three tunes, then moved on maybe 50 yards away. All of them except for one doe. She moved closer and seemed fascinated with the music. Finally, I had to stand up and leave, but she still wasn’t spooked the way most deer would be. Music does some wonderful things.
Funnily enough, UA-cam gave me Answer in Progress' video which sparked a memory of seeing a reply by you which I hadn't yet watched. So I saw things in the intended order, after spelunking my subscriptions just a little. And yes, I was similarly impressed by Sabrina's openness, curiosity, and devotion. She did good! I hope she keeps up with it and continues her progress from a black belt to a 10th dan (or whatever, I don't really know my martial arts belts).
I was given a cheap plastic recorder as a young child, loved playing in a mixed ability group in school but stopped playing aged 8 or 9 when the teacher retired. Took it up again 12 years ago aged 40 and since then have played in quartets and ensembles, played in castles churches and museums, met some amazing new friends and own a collection of beautiful wooden recorders. It’s given me such joy. If I wasn’t given that cheap plastic recorder as a young child I doubt I’d have ever considered it. Team Recorder has also taught me to be PROUD of my chosen instrument and take it seriously.
This, I think, is the first time I've seen a video, and then seen a reaction video to that video. I almost always stumble across the reactions first. As another music teacher, my reactions were basically identical, going from worry and concern about misrepresentation of such a poorly viewed instrument, to thrilled amusement at her enthusiasm and tenacity as she works through making progress, to awed admiration at the depth of research, and finally on heartfelt gratitude for just the power of music to bring joy to lives and people together. Both the original video and your reaction are wonderful.
I think the worst thing about being handed one of the things in school was not being actually TAUGHT how to play it. It's a wind instrument, and it's a bit b*tchy, and yet the teachers' attitude was "it's easy, just put your fingers where they should go and blow," and they didn't do anything like review the most common mistakes and how to avoid them. And as others have already said, anything sounds like garbage in the hands of beginners. Ever been in a room with 30 Suzuki book 1 violin students playing out-of-tune Twinkle? In the end, there's no such thing as an "easy" instrument. There are only instruments with poor tuition and low expectations.
‘T is as easy as lying; govern these ventages with your fingers and thumb, give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music -- "Hamlet" III,: ii, Shakespeare (1623)
I love both Answer in Progress and Team Recorder, so when I saw Sabrina's video I was so hoping for a shout-out to you! When Sabrina and Melissa were like "I've never seen a professional recorder player" I just sat there like "look on UA-cam!!" Haha. Love that you did this reaction video, and that you liked Sabrina's video! 100% that the joy of playing music is the most important!
I see the Recorder as the little cousin of the Clarinet. I am 65 years old and I did not see a professional Recorder player until I discovered your UA-cam site. Before that, I thought Recorder were just toys for children to play with. Being a child at heart, I got one for my own enjoyment. I struggle with getting air through my recorder (I now have soprano, alto, and tenor recorders, all plastic). But, I will keep trying. Right now, I am rekindling my relationship with the Bb Clarinet. Thank you, Sarah, for opening my eyes. Keep fighting the good fight!
hey sarah, today i was randomly going around in the music section of this big shop i hadn't went to in a long time. me and my mom were about to leave, until i saw a long, bag. I noticed it, i looked at some text on this bag, which translated, reads: "soprano recorder" i was really excited because my schools never forced me to learn the recorder, but ive started to develop some love for musical instruments, even if they are considered a "toy". i got the recorder, I watched all your beginner's basics lessons, learned au clair de la lune and amazing grace, and i have to say, the recorder is so incredibly, nice! its small, so it wont bother you, it's pretty cool, how sometimes you can half cover a hole, i love this! thank you for giving me a nice start to the recorder!
answer in progress has always been insanely respectful in the topic that it covers-- honestly if i weren't busy with other musical instruments i would totally have wanted to pick up recorder again after that video. reminds me of the OatsJenkins toki pona video, that made me want to start learning the language on its own youtube needs more people like this to show their experiences and encourage others to follow
I’ve worked with Alison and she’s an absolute pleasure! You’ll be pleased to know that I took a modern class with her and the focus was group improvisation. She gave everyone the support and encouragement they needed to break away from the page and take risks. These were young people with ample training and experience on the instrument who were, in some cases, quite uncomfortable with the idea of presenting their own musical ideas despite the fact that the very exercise of extemporaneous composition is a huge element of the recorder’s history. This video and the original video were both wonderful and I was so happy to see Alison! Brave tutte!
Hi Sarah❣️ I’m a recorder player and teacher in the Washington DC area and I adore you, your kindness and joy, and your vast knowledge and hacks. I recommend particular videos of yours all the time to students and ensemble cohorts, and I eagerly await each new glimpse into your inspiring world. I don’t comment often, but I truly appreciate you and wanted to officially send you love. This video was incredibly emotional for me too, in many unexpected ways… But the most unexpected was the mention of the Nazis and their use of our beloved recorder. I’m a third generation Holocaust survivor, both of my mother’s parents were in Auschwitz. And I had no idea… and I can’t help but yearn for that ignorance now. But there it is. I’m being careful not to overreact to such disheartening news, but it just really is hard. I also appreciate you skipping your reaction to that tidbit… there was too much to be inspired and delighted by…. But if you have any words of comfort to me and other uncomfortable Jews out there, I’d really love to hear them. Really sorry to end my first comment to you this way, so please don’t forget this is out of absolute love and respect for you. 😍🥺💜
Maybe I'm speaking out of turn, as being from Australia I don't know the details of the history. Personally, I would think of that time in Germany as split between the politicians and military, particularly the commanders; and the general public. We abhor what Hitler and the command did, but should we hate on the general population? I see the recorder history as something from the general population, although perhaps to the extent that the politburo encouraged it, it was also something that placated and silenced the people with a vision of utopia. In the timeline of the instrument, this is just a small blip of time with much history before and after.
There are many good things, people, companies, products, that unfortunately caught the attention of bad people throughout time. That doesn't mean they get to determine how we interact with those, don't allow them that power to tarnish something you care about. :)
The recorder was around long before the Nazis. They stole so much, appropriated so much why should they get to keep it? Claim it for yourself you deserve it. Don't let them win.
My parents bought me a fairly inexpensive wooden recorder when I was in 4th grade (I still have it and still play it). I fell in love with the instrument then, and I haven't lost my love for it, even though I've added other instruments to my playing repertoire (tin whistle, harp, and Appalachian Lap Dulcimer), the recorder is still the instrument that I play most.
I was thrilled to see Answer In Progress’ video because I just knew they would handle it properly. They do incredible research and cite sources for every question they explore the answer to. I was also touched by the video, and as you said, she touches on a few really important cruxes of our perception of the recorder and delivers them in an easily digestible statement. And as always, I loved your response too!
I never learned the recorder in school. They skipped my year for some reason, but I did learn clarinet later on and I still remember the day I watched a professional clarinet player on tv and thought “oh is that what it’s supposed to sound like?” It was a completely different instrument in the hands of someone with skill and practice. Now that my children have just started learning the recorder, I’m so happy to find UA-cam videos that remind me the same is true for this instrument. Such a beautiful sound when played by a pro.
I’m an elementary music teacher and I love teaching the recorder! I often play your videos to show my students that recorder is a real instrument. I’m also a recorder player and I’m so glad you make these videos! Thank you for dispelling recorder misconceptions!
I don't know why UA-cam started showing me recorder content, but you've convinced me to see if i can find an inexpensive wood recorder so i can practice with my kids when they come home from school with plastic recorders. (I played flute and clarinet) I can't tell you how exciting it is to here a professional play this instrument when I've only only ever heard them played in elementary school.
The "sounding awful" comment is exactly why I got some beautiful palisander wood recorders and a professional-level flute to restart my woodwind education with. I want to know that if it sounds bad, it's me, not the instrument! 🤣 I also loved that video at the end when she got to play a duet. That must really have felt amazing for her to experience a little of the thrill that drives most professional musicians, That feeling of being an important part of contributing to a greater whole and feeling that connection to the others you're performing with. 🤗
I thought of you exactly when the video showed up in my recommendations. I also felt very glad this seemed well put together and the confirmation from you as well.
FWIW, one of your videos came up in my feed randomly. It inspired me to try again to play. I'm 78 and not very musical but I practice a little bit each day. I'm now laboring through the intricacies of F sharp and F natural fingerings on a Yamaha Ecodear and I've invested in a Mollenhauer Canta that I hope will sound more pleasing while I'm learning. I love your enthusiasm and I'm in awe of your musicianship. With two musicians as parents, your children will be prodigies for sure!
Hi Sarah and Hello Everyone - An anecdote: I live in the mountain states of the USA, where humanities education in the school system often gets short shrift. I think the biggest problem with students not learning to play the recorder well (when they are even given the opportunity) is that in most elementary schools the teachers aren't trained on how to teach music or instrumental playing well. But my son happened to have a visiting teacher from Spain in the 4th grade who played the recorder well and tought the class very well, which sparked an interest in music that has taken him through a bachelor's of trombone performance and he is now looking for the right masters program. So...if something isn't being learned well, don't blame the instrument, or the student, or the teacher; blame the system that doesn't teach the teachers to teach well. Peace!
I think, and this may be just my experience, but as an adult trying the recorder again, the first thing that floods the mind on the first and repeated perceived failure (a squeek, the overall tone of the plastic insturment, etc), is the bullying of other kids when we were young and unsupprotive parents and/or teachers telling you to "knock off that racket". I do not agree with the assumption that its just about the sound of a beginner. You even demonstrated how a more expensive version sounds better... but its also, many of us a) felt forced and didn't like the feeling. b) being teased, bullied, or otherwise socially maimed, and then c) lack of support while still in the learning stages meant that for many of my friends and I.. we gave up before we could learn to explore this instrument. So now at 52, when I sit down and pull out my new Yamaha plastic recorder and hear that iconic tone and odd sounding low notes from being a beginner.. I am also fighting years of negative programming. Chance of success... slim without help.
Love the old-school youtube response video. It was really interesting to hear the thoughts of someone on the polar opposite of the spectrum (recorder-wise). Great video!
That video reminded me how much I enjoyed playing the recorder in school, I played both the soprano, and alto...loved playing the alto it had encouraged me to look into more videos and brought me to your videos. I am planning to get my alto from my sister and give it another go and working to play more then just beginner music. It lit a spark in my heart.
Have watched a couple of Answer in Progress vids and can say she blends humour with journeys from seeming incompetence to important personal discovery - definitely a worthwhile addition to the great recorder discussion in this case! ps Angel is a Korean brand of recorder.
I love your positivity and response to this video! I am a musician and teacher and I love the example you are setting. I have a degree in clarinet performance and have been getting into the recorder over the years. Struggled to take recorder and myself seriously, I love how you address this! Great channel, Sarah! You are a great resource!!!
Four years ago, I retired from teaching and found you on UA-cam. I picked up my recorder which I had had for nearly 50 years (a wooden one) and set about finding a teacher to actually 'learn' how to play. I wasn't able to find anyone until April 23 and after some lessons in person and some on Zoom, and at the age of 70 I took my first music exam (Grade 1) and passed with distinction. I felt unbelievably good about myself and now am working on Grade 2. I've always loved the sound of the recorder but I abandoned my wooden one after watching your film on mould, and currently use my daughter's school Alus (which is fine). I invested in a plastic Mollenhauer about one month ago (on your recommendation) and I'm learning to play that too; I say learning, because the holes are ever so slightly different to the Alus. Anyway, thank you Sarah for your enthusiasm and 'can do' attitude, and help. I absolutely love playing and learning about music.
If you take your recorder apart after each playing session, wipe it dry and leave it to dry (not in the case!), mould will not develop. With plastic recorders, I find it annoying that the windway quickly becomes blocked.
I would love to see a reaction/comment on a Gentle Giant's live performance, I think that was "Excerpts from Octopus" or "Advent of Panurge". They were a prog rock band all made by polinstrumentalist and there's this beautiful moment where they all switch to the recorder in the middle of the song, playing in counterpoint. They played it also in "I lost my Head", "Talybont" and probably many other tunes, a bit reminiscent of medieval music. That was actually how I became interested in the recorder and how I found your channel a while ago.
The recorder figures prominently in the music of Gentle Giant. When one of the band members sings solo his voice so soft he is almost always accompanied by recorder. I *love* Talybont-recorders and whistles!
This reminded me of my younger years, I was in my thirties back then, I came home to play recorder and disconnect my brain from work. Thrills and ornaments were my favorite.
Hello Professor Sarah - “Is it the recorder instrument [or any instrument] that sounds awful? Or is it just that we don’t know how to play it, yet?” The answer is the latter. If the answer were the former, I would’ve never learned to play the soprano saxophone or the violin. When first learning to play the soprano sax, it sounded like a cross between a moose, goose and a party favor. When I first learned to play the violin, it sounded like a cat caught in barbed wire fence. Now, after many years of playing both, I enjoy playing the soprano sax and violin for hours on end. There are two instruments that came effortlessly to me, almost in a savant fashion: the diatonic harmonica and diatonic pan flute. BTW: The recorder, like the Native American flute, never sounded awful to me; even when I was learning to play it for the first time.
I am so glad you made this reaction video! The Answer in Progress came up in my feed, but I was scared to click on it because I thought it would irritate me. I went back and watched Sabrina’s video, then yours. Both brought so much joy to my heart! I remember feeling the same way about the recorder as a child. ❤
I love this. It's so refreshing to see someone giving the recorder a chance and not dismissing it as a toy instrument. I chose to play the recorder when I was a child (much to the annoyance of my older brother, who claimed I'd bring the standard of the school recorder group down). I love playing my recorder, and still do so now as an adult, even joining my local branch of The Society of Recorder Players. My recorders have made an appearance in church services too. The recorder gives a great base for other instruments like flute, clarinet and saxophone.
My late father in law played recorder at the Unitarian church he belonged to. I inherited his recorders when he passed away (when I play them, I think of him).
My daughter isn't yet in the grade that starts recorder, but I gave her a plastic recorder early so she can play around with it if she wants to. I bought myself a wooden recorder so I can play along with her when it's time for her to properly learn. I'm looking forward to it! I haven't played recorder since grade 6!
It's like with watercolor. It's deemed "accessible for children" so everyone does it at school, but it's in fact one of the most difficult mediums. Yet, no one takes it seriously.
Hi! I'm new to your channel, but am so happy UA-cam recommended it to me after watching Sabrina's video. While making music is not a huge part of my life right now, it has always felt so intuitive to me that making music together (or really any art, my other favorite, related example is dancing) is so valuable and joyous. I also got emotional watching Sabrina's video, it was just so beautiful to see someone else (re)discover what seems so obvious to me from the experiences that I have been lucky enough to have. And the cherry on top is that video's ability to connect me to another wonderful, passionate artist like yourself! Thank you for your input, I loved the opportunity to share in the joy of your art and learn even more about it!
When I was in high school, our music department did "EasterTide" (basically a dinner performance with a ren faire theme) and my role was an entertainer, so a friend and I played recorder for it! #historicallyaccurate We had a ton of fun doing it and we ended up taking several pieces to our state music contest. There were a lot of weird looks, but we did really well!
12:10 - I could definitely hear the difference between the plastic and wood versions earlier, and how the wood version DID sound nicer, but it just struck me as "eh, kinda just like a flute." Wasn't until THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE that my jaw dropped and I thought to myself - That is a whole different thing in and of itself! MAN I would love to play one of those someday!
I love my student recorders. My wooden one was stolen, and I told hubby the story, and he bought me a huge soprano and an alto. I prefer my small soprano. I've decided to learn how to read, and rediscovered Team Recorder! This video gave me a boost today. I went through violin lessons at 6 and hated it. I complained and Mom let me quit.
Very good video! When I teach at Middle School first thing I always do is listening Sammartini's Concerto with the kids, just to show them and discuss how the recorder should actually sound like (and what can be done with it - If some of them yet play a woodwind, it can be a good "double" as well). I think showing the potentiality of something before teaching it is essential.
I dont play the recorder but I subscribed to your channel a few years ago because I KNEW YOU would be the one to solve the mystery of why I seem to collect recorders that everyone eventually abandons. I never went through a phase of beating up on the instrument but did notice that most people do have either a dismissive,embarrassed or any variation of indifferent reaction to the recorder. Every once in while I pick one up and look for an in on its secret. With this latest video I feel a little closer! Thank you!!! Seriously,… Thank you!!
I am grateful that I was taught the recorder in school at age 10 nearly 60 years ago. It enabled me to go on to take music as part of my BEd and I am still playing recorder to this day.
In the UK in the 90s all school kids had the black and white Aulos recorder. Mine was all black and everyone said I sounded especially dreadful. Was several years later I found out that the black and white ones are A = 440hz and the black ones are baroque, so A = 445 (so no wonder I sounded out of tune!) Despite that, and learning some other instruments I still go back to the recorder pretty often.
Soooo glad you reviewed this video! You have inspired a new generation (and some older ones) to pick up this beautiful instrument again. I had a good Moek with me in my backpack for a year abroad and it made me many friends (especially once I got better😅).
Loved this! You tube had been suggesting me Sabrina's video but I hadn't got around to watch in it yet, so it suggested yours and I bit! Now a subscriber, and off to go watch Sabrina's video. I'm a musical dabble, I have an Angel and a Yamaha recorder but I feel more comfortable with the simplicity of pennuwhistle fingering. I noticed while I lived in Germany that first-graders started with melodica rather than recorder, and recorder is generally taken seriously there as a baroque instrument, along with a lot of early musical instruments, with many peofessionals and serious hobbiests. The melodica gives the kids the same breath control experience, plus the fingering experience of a piano keyboard. For me the instrument I'd add next for young learners would be ukulele. It seems to me to be the basic bare bones entry level stringed instrument. Gives experience strumming and plucking, while having only 4 strings, so, less overwhelming for young learners with small hands.
Well put, Sarah. I am yet to hear you say anything I disagree with! I've been playIng the recorder for well over 60 years (albeit with a 45 year hiatus! and Sabrina's and your remarks about the joy of making music with other people are right on the button. I've made so many new friends since I started playing again, and I'm motivated to practise and get my playing up to the highest standard I possibly can. That's when I'm not teaching my grandchildren, using your videos as source information, of course ...
Rewatching this video, I noticed your comment at 2:46 about the Angel recorder that Sabrina has. Angel is one of a number of brands that exist in the education market in North America. Others would be Tudor, Candy Apple, MIE, Firstnote, Harmony, Lyons, and Canto. Some of these models are definitely cheap. A school can get Yamaha's "school use" soprano recorders (YRS-20B (blue, green, and pink) or YRS-24B (ivory)) for as low as $5.50. Or a school can get MPI's Prelude one-piece soprano recorder for as low as $2.15 (!!!). These brands and pricing also affect the "other-ing" of the recorder.
One thing that is totally unrelated (sort of) to the video is how different musicians keep count. Alison blinks, Sabrina bobs, and you, Sarah, sway. I used to play in orchestra all throughout school and found it really fascinating to watch the ways people keep the rhythm without realizing it. Anyway... Loved hearing your reaction!! I absolutely adore Sabrina's channel for every subject she tackles. She goes into the history of it instead of simply trying something out. I find each one so fascinating, and because of her, I found your channel, too! P.S. I have wanted a wooden recorder for AGES!! I am an illustrator and mostly stick to drawing, but I occasionally pull out an instrument and jam it out. It's such a wonderful experience~
Ahh that’s so interesting! I notice I sway much more since I had a baby- I found rocking her to comfort her really soothing so now I tend to sway all the time..!
I'm one of them that found you through Answer in Progress and after listening to your 'The Bird Fancyer's Delight' video decided to become a subscriber. I have always loved the sound of recorders and flutes so am glad I found you.
A Word on the Lighting: You seem to have a new light, in a warmer color temperature. As A Lighting Professional (and amateur tenor Recorder Player) I highly approve! The switch from 4000k to 3400k in lighting is roughly the equivalent of 440 versus 415 in recorders; hard to explain to lay people, but hugely important. Oh, and I loved the video
Sarah, thanks for your videos. I started following you several years ago, and you convinced me to get back into recorder playing after several decades away. Next up, I''ll be playing a couple of movements of Telemann's sonata TWV 41:F2 in my church this coming Sunday, on an instrument made by H.-C. Fehr. That C in altississimo is a killer - what was Telemann thinking? And where did it get the nickname 'sonata facile'? Surely the intent there was ironic. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be happy that you've encouraged yet another musician to perform on the instrument.
You inspired me to try the recorder again and to NOT give up! I went with the Yamaha alto. I have a descent one also but wanted to learn on one that wasn't so squeeky. Love from Montana usa
Hay Hay Professor Sarah, I came to your channel via TwoSet and have absolutely loved your output ever since. From Recorder makers, testing, collaborations, teaching, learning, experimental, skills, skills and skills. Thankyou, Thankyou and Thankyou . 😎☮️🇦🇺 Joel
Hello Sarah, subscriber, viewer of your channel, and enthusiast amateur recorder player here. Agree with your observations. One caveat: Is the recorder the ideal instrument for young children learning music in a group lesson? I don't think so. To learn music, pitch, breathing, rhythm, tone production, tonguing, dynamics, articulation is a mighty challenge. I think Orff was correct in thinking of a pentatonic marimba. Love your channel (and Lucie Horsch and Piers Adams).
“A teacher who doesn’t know how to play the recorder” describes virtually all classroom music teachers, at least in the US. As one such victim of a “school of education” told me, “I had six weeks of recorder in my music ed training: there is nothing more to learn.” Truly, the only thing worse than a classroom full of kids honking wildly on bad soprano recorders is a hallway full of music-teachers-to-be warming up while waiting for their “qualifying” recorder auditions. Teachers who were similarly unqualified in, say, simple arithmetic would lose their jobs - if they could even get hired. Bless their hearts.
I'm not sure that most mathematics teachers are really well qualified at mathematics (and no, knowing how to do arithmetic isn't being qualified at maths any more than knowing how to blow into the instrument means you are a qualified recorder player). Which is probably the reason why so many people hate mathematics.
(Stupidly long comment:) The lady at 1:30, with a stack of Marshall on her background made me smile. Something quite unexpectable, but I have played recorder with a rock band, and it fits there really well. Around 6:00. Are we moecking the recorder? Sarah, your own enthusiasm is so great. I have been playing the electric guitar for decades. (Yes, I put it down when I sleep...) And while I enjoy playing it, I could never be as excited! I have been playing the recorder actively for about half a year. And, to somehow justify playing it, or even to shut people up, I'd like to learn something that sounds like a virtuoso playing but is not really so difficult. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but at least in Finland musicality is regarder as something hereditary, like a skill that you just have or don't have. You are expected to born as a good singer or an instrumentalist. As if we had specific genes for singing or playing church organ. Yes, there is a small minority having perfect pitch and so on. There is this thing called music theory to save us, the ordinary players... Amusicality is prevalent in tiny minority. I have numbers like 2 - 5% of population. However, musicality and ability to play for example a recorder, is a bunch of abilities. If you have for some reason very bad muscular coordination, how to play on instrument, even if you figure out what you hear very easily? Or if you were scared to death to play in front of an audience? A lonely genius is rarely a genius at all. There is one specific thing about the recorder, which is actually right now. The instrument does not electicity and cannot be controlled digitally. You can have it in your pocket and play it anywhere. And you cannot master it by installing an application on your phone. You have to train. You have to concentrate. And finally, you are able to do things someone else have not already installed or programmed in the instrument or in your head. Sofisticated mechanics, think about the flute or clarinet, or digital systems make playing something ordinary easy, but also limits player's creativity. Is my sermon long enough now? Thank you, if you red this far. And thanks once again to Sarah!
I have come to realise just how well I was taught the recorder in primary school. At the very least we were taught about tongueing very early on, so now even over 25 years later as I pick up a recorder it's second nature to me, and I'm very able to just tootle away and pick out tunes for my own amusement.
I pretty much didn't see the point of learning to play the recorder as a child, since no matter how I tried I couldn't make it sound good. I guess back then in my school, there was no one who was able to play it well, to inspire us other young learners that it could be done. It is not like I could just run to the internet in the 70's, or 80's even. Thanks for putting a bow on this, even though it may be decades too late for me.
Refreshing to see the recorder approached with openness and respect! It'll probably always have a stigma, but at least some folks are spreading the good word that it's indeed a "real" (and really fun) instrument.
You got me, I watched Answer in Progress, then yours, and thanks! My 6-year old is about to have recorder lessons at school, looking forward to it now...ish.
:D love your energy. Kind of regretting I left recorder and ventured into the seedy world of Clarinets Bb, Alto. Then again, there is just. so. much. it influences your ear and understanding of life, the world and
I watched Sabrina's whole video, and this one. And here I am still just sitting in the corner clutching my tin whistle to my chest wanting people to know that it's an instrument too.
Why we have to learn recorder in school? Well, IMHO it's because it's very portable compared to other instruments. It fits into your school bag. I liked playing it, especially because my father used to play an instrument from Turkey that resembles it very much, so for me it was very accessable. Thank you Sarah for sharing!
I have to pitch in here. There are actually many different sizes of recorder covering almost the entire range of the piano. Why soprano in particular? You mentioned the first part already: size precludes anything bigger. Why not sopranino or garklein? Sopranino: starts in F instead of C, teaching music to beginners on a transposing instrument is asking for trouble. Garklein: soprano sounds bad enough in beginners' hands, a class full of garkleins will absolutely make the teacher deaf! Played properly though? They sound just like flutes for a fraction of the cost while being much more robust. Now that's a win
I learned the recorder in elementary school for a year from a private teacher (probably not primary recorder teacher, she was the wife of the church organist). My problem was that I learned these basic folk tunes and everybody in school who was involved in music projects played "more sophisticated" instruments. Much later I came across Vivaldi recorder concertos etc. and thought THAT should have been shown to me by that teacher. My impression as a child was "every other instrument is for serious music and the recorder is only for simple folk tunes".
I hope I can stick this out. I am already a fairly well trained and knowledgeable musician (voice and guitar) and I also write music. I have always wanted to get ontop of this instrument so going to check out your channel and give it a go. I want ultimately to play soprano, tenor, alto and if possible bass so that I can write 4 part harmonies for them for my songwriting and other compositions. Got a (I guess a cheap) soprano but it is baroque fingering. Good start, sounds warmish despite being plastic. Thanks for your enthusiasm.
I'm not sure which sounds worse, a beginning recorder player, or a beginner violin player. Both are an assault to the nervous system. But what school system would find it economically feasible to purchase violins (or most other instruments) for their students? With the internet (which didn't exist when I was a student), a teacher can show students what a recorder is supposed to sound like, or even contact a local recorder society to send someone to demonstrate the recorder or provide a group to perform. At the elementary school where I taught, we had a music teacher that formed a recorder club for interested students. She traveled the county with the club doing concerts and they were magical.
I thought Sabrina’s point was really good that we don’t use recorders *because* they are cheap- they were developed to be produced cheaply because their potential as a tool of education was recognised. An incredible amount of skill - and expense! - goes into making a professional recorder.
@@Team_Recorder I'm seeing a trend for more affordable beginner instruments (of admittedly questionable quality) across the range of musical instruments. There are cheaper violins and recorders nowadays than when I was a kid. I think my first plastic recorder cost about 10$, and my first wooden recorder cost about 40$, while my first violin must have cost the equivalent of 150$ or thereabouts. Nowadays, you can get mass-produced kids' violins for 40$, but you can get plastic recorders for 2.50$. These are terrible quality, I'm sure, but it's an indicator of the minimum material costs for these respective instruments. Bringing the cost of recorders down may have been a conscious choice, but it's also easier to do so for an instrument with fewer separate parts and lower material costs. Transportability is also a plus when marketing an instrument for school children.
Hi, Sarah! I am an elementary music teacher and LOVE teaching the recorder to my 4th and 5th graders. I really feel like my secret weapon is how good I get kids sounding. I do weekly music lessons on UA-cam and I'm thinking of adding a series on teaching recorder. I will definitely promo your channel when I get to it. I love your videos!!
I had a recorder in, if I remember, E. And it was surprisingly in tune, considering that I made it as a tapered square section tube with a vented plug at the big end. And the tone was far too breathy and unfocused. Well made and played, the flute a bec has a cleaner and purer tone than the traverso. It's a beautiful instrument. The bass would be perfect for Bach's solos for unaccompanied cello.
I really enjoyed playing recorder at primary school. I’m sure I sounded terrible, we were never taught about tounging or playing softly etc, but actually learning a tune felt like such an achievement and playing in rounds was especially great.
I used to play the recorder from age 5 until about 13, when my teacher died 😢. After that, me and my sister would only play on Christmas for years. I tried teaching my son but he's only interested in playing the organ. Thankfully, my daughter started playing with me when she was 5 and has had a teacher now for the last 2 years and I've rediscovered, how much fun it is, to play something other than Christmas songs 😂. She's now at a level, where we can play baroque dances together, which I absolutely love and I'm so thankful for her love for the recorder. Now I only need someone to play violin with me so I can start that again, too 😊
I feel so touched when you get excited about this because SAME!!! I love the recorder to bits 😭💖💖💖 even my plastic blue-green hideos recorder, I LOVE to play it 😭💖
I think my favorite part of the video was the very end where Sabrina asked "Would you maybe play with me? 👉👈 " and Alison asks "Would you like me to play a harmony part?" It was just very sweet and you could tell that it was something Sabrina hadn't even thought about! I also love that Alison doesn't hit the note she wants at the end and says "oops" because it's one of those little things that people forget, that professionals mess up all the time, that's just a part of...well, doing anything really. It was just a lovely human moment to end with.
🥹🥹
"oops" is a requirement in my clarinet studio! I make sure all my students know to say that instead of "sorry." We all make mistakes!!!
One tends to forget that most instruments sound terrible in beginners' hands, many worse than the recorder. Give a beginner a violin or (what I started) a clarinet, and you'll have their parents/friends/neighbours begging to bring back the recorder! Overcoming that hurdle and still practising is the key.
For sure. It's way easier to make a decent sound on a recorder than, say, a flute or clarinet.
Violins sound atrocious for beginners lol
Having tried several instruments and heard others, I think the worst sounds from beginners are from the violin and the clarinet. Flutes just don’t make much sound if you mess up, and brass just makes a funny “blatt” noise.
My daughter started to play the recorder at school and I (as an amateur recorder player) helped her a little bit and her sound got better. It's not ugly at all. At school, teachers just don't have enough time to help every student I think
I bought a clarinet, because I got one in my hands first at was able to get something that could almost be called a note ouf of it. It took me about three months to learn anything worth playing on gig...
Everyone knows that the violin sounds horrible when played by beginners, but we all know that it sounds so beautiful when played by a professional. The problem for the recorder seems to be that we just do not have enough examples of professional recorder players in mainstream media like we do for the violin.
So true, I actually cried when I first tried playing my violin as a beginner 😂. I liked the recorder when I got it I couldn’t understand why other kids didn’t.
Our recorders were horrible, polystyrene things, with a trademarked name, Flutophone. We were not informed that Flutophone was a classroom version a recorder, an instrument with a long and rich history. We never listened to any recorded recorder music of any type. This was the early 1970s. We had all heard "The Fool on the Hill" by the Beatles. Why not make that connection for us? Why not have us listen to some Bach? Why hide the name of the instrument itself? It wasn't until years later that I found out that there was a real instrument behind the Flutophone. At one point I had a better quality one (still plastic, though), and a book with fingering charts and a bunch of Bach pieces. Jeez, that was 40 years ago now. But I did almost learn one of the pieces. I still have that recorder somewhere...
I'd actually much rather hear a recorder being played than a violin.
My recorder teacher in high school told me I had "amazing potential" and that I "HAD to go into musical school" and I was so excited until she said "and choose a new instrument."
SHE taught me how to play the recorder and now she was telling me I had to give it up because it's an instrument for children. I didn't want to learn to play the flute, or ANY other instrument, I wanted to keep playing the recorder, but no one would teach me, and the teacher told me I would have no future as a recorder player, that there was no such thing as a professional recorder player. So I stopped playing. And I didn't even touch another instrument, I liked the recorder, not the flute.
So when I found this channel I was SO HAPPY!! I'm honestly so happy to have found someone who doesn't say it's a child's thing, who is a Professional Recorder Player like my teacher said didn't exist lol
I want to go back to playing it like I used to and have as much fun as I used to have with it :)
Being given a recorder at the age of 3 was one of the greatest gifts I've ever had. But at the age of 11 my secondary school told me the recorder wasn't a real instrument. I went from having confidence, getting the best results in my whole county, to being ashamed and without any tuition. I gave up recorder for 30 years nearly. Now I'm studying to regain my confidence and hopefully in the next few years run recorder workshops for students. I can't find a recorder teacher for myself so I'm having to rely on videos such as those from Team Recorder, as well as books. I'm so passionate about the recorder and I'm always quite vociferous in its defence when people mock it.
This brings back fond memories of the great war of 2020: TwoSetViolin vs. The Recorder Gang.
That’s wonderful! So happy to have you back in Team Recorder! ❤️
Sounds very inspirational.
I'm glad you're at it, but what the heck. Did one of your teachers actually told you that it was a fake instrument!?! That's insane and messed up!
Thanks for this anecdote. I'm glad you got back into it. And also as a new teacher I want to remember this so I don't end up discouraging students of mine like what happened with you as a kid.
I'm in a town of around 550 people. Now that I think of it, I'm not even sure if the local school(s) even have a band. Yesterday I was told by a friend whose daughter is going into 4th grade that he doesn't think they teach recorder in school here. So sad!!!
Sabrina's videos are always extremely well researched, and she's the first person I know who went and actually did their research and learnt the recorder with an open mind. This video makes me so happy!
ME TOO!
In the 1970s I was a music major at a college that was training many future elementary school teachers. These future teachers were given one semester of music for elementary school that included playing recorder. I was asked to demonstrate the oboe for the class to learn about orchestra instruments. I was asked by one of the future teachers if I played recorder. I took one of the cheap plastic recorders and played Greensleeves. When I finished, the lady that asked me to play said "So that's what it's supposed to sound like!" Thanks for your channel! I love all things fipple!
I taught recorder to dozens of eight year olds. For me, the key to making it tolerable was to teach them to play loud, medium and soft. Once they grasped that, everything sounded a lot better. During one session I had 54 eight year olds in one small classroom practicing for an upcoming performance.
💀📢🔉🔊🪈🪈
True, you really gotta let the kids figure out how to control the amount of air they use. That's probably how I ended up playing a flute years later
As a child, I used to play the piano. Intensely. Up to that age, music had defined me, and I was good at it. A friend came over and showed me the wooden recorder he received for the holidays. We had fun learning about his recorder, and he played a bit on the piano, as a perfect novice. Here's what happened next: I had to drop my music studies and focus on academics. He figured out his grandmother had an upright piano and kept going there to play. He taught himself how to play the piano well. He learned the recorder. He got himself another one, tuned differently. He learned about theory. Eventually, he had a teacher -- and picked a tenor saxophone. These days, we are in our 50s. I am an engineer, trying hard to get back into music. He became a respected saxophonist in our home country, fills large venues with his band, has countless concept album recordings and an endless list of famous collaborators. I feel fortunate to still be his friend. And I cannot see a recorder without remembering the time when he was just a bit curious about music.
The thing that got me to understand that the recorder was a real instrument and not just a toy for 9-year-olds was learning that it's the wind instrument you hear in a ton of medieval music and basically every instrumental version of the Christmas carol In Dulci Jubilo.
i’m here from answer in progress and you were such a lovely find! your vibes are so pleasant and i love your energy throughout the vidoe. i especially love how you regularly paused the video to fully explained your thoughts and at times even summarized the video and didn’t play through it all! i am usually weary about reaction content like this as i’m worried that people will essentially repost others videos in full with minimal commentary, but you handled this reaction format so gracefully and respectfully! as someone who’s first introduction to a world beyond plastic recorders was sabrina’s, seeing your medieval double recorder is crazy omg!
I’m a retired music teacher who had to learn to play the recorder so that I could teach it (my degree is in piano performance). I introduced my students to many different instruments, always via live performance when possible. A local professional recorder group was invited to play, and they came with a sopranino, a bass, and everything in between. I also took, printed, laminated, and posted my own photographs of different instruments so that the kids could see the relative size of the instruments with a human for scale.
I like the recorder because of its sound quality, versatility, and portability.
I guess I was one of the fortunate ones. When I got to university, I ran into some people who played/sang a mix of Old Time music and Irish songs. Several of them played recorders and they put together a few sessions to get us started on the recorder. It worked!
One of my favorite audiences, years later, was a herd of deer. I went out to a wooded patch and a small herd of deer came running in from a field as I played. I played a while and they listened for two or three tunes, then moved on maybe 50 yards away. All of them except for one doe. She moved closer and seemed fascinated with the music. Finally, I had to stand up and leave, but she still wasn’t spooked the way most deer would be. Music does some wonderful things.
That medieval recorder so is gorgeous…. I’m in love
Funnily enough, UA-cam gave me Answer in Progress' video which sparked a memory of seeing a reply by you which I hadn't yet watched. So I saw things in the intended order, after spelunking my subscriptions just a little. And yes, I was similarly impressed by Sabrina's openness, curiosity, and devotion. She did good! I hope she keeps up with it and continues her progress from a black belt to a 10th dan (or whatever, I don't really know my martial arts belts).
I was given a cheap plastic recorder as a young child, loved playing in a mixed ability group in school but stopped playing aged 8 or 9 when the teacher retired. Took it up again 12 years ago aged 40 and since then have played in quartets and ensembles, played in castles churches and museums, met some amazing new friends and own a collection of beautiful wooden recorders. It’s given me such joy. If I wasn’t given that cheap plastic recorder as a young child I doubt I’d have ever considered it. Team Recorder has also taught me to be PROUD of my chosen instrument and take it seriously.
@katemorrisguitar 👍🏽💜
This, I think, is the first time I've seen a video, and then seen a reaction video to that video. I almost always stumble across the reactions first.
As another music teacher, my reactions were basically identical, going from worry and concern about misrepresentation of such a poorly viewed instrument, to thrilled amusement at her enthusiasm and tenacity as she works through making progress, to awed admiration at the depth of research, and finally on heartfelt gratitude for just the power of music to bring joy to lives and people together. Both the original video and your reaction are wonderful.
I think the worst thing about being handed one of the things in school was not being actually TAUGHT how to play it. It's a wind instrument, and it's a bit b*tchy, and yet the teachers' attitude was "it's easy, just put your fingers where they should go and blow," and they didn't do anything like review the most common mistakes and how to avoid them.
And as others have already said, anything sounds like garbage in the hands of beginners. Ever been in a room with 30 Suzuki book 1 violin students playing out-of-tune Twinkle?
In the end, there's no such thing as an "easy" instrument. There are only instruments with poor tuition and low expectations.
EXACTLYYYY
There is fingering and there effing REGISTER.
They never tell you about that
@@cainabel2553 Or if they do, the only advice you get is to blow harder. No wonder people think they sound like police whistles.
‘T is as easy as lying; govern these ventages with your fingers and thumb, give it breath with your mouth, and it will discourse most eloquent music -- "Hamlet" III,: ii, Shakespeare (1623)
I love both Answer in Progress and Team Recorder, so when I saw Sabrina's video I was so hoping for a shout-out to you! When Sabrina and Melissa were like "I've never seen a professional recorder player" I just sat there like "look on UA-cam!!" Haha. Love that you did this reaction video, and that you liked Sabrina's video! 100% that the joy of playing music is the most important!
I see the Recorder as the little cousin of the Clarinet. I am 65 years old and I did not see a professional Recorder player until I discovered your UA-cam site. Before that, I thought Recorder were just toys for children to play with. Being a child at heart, I got one for my own enjoyment. I struggle with getting air through my recorder (I now have soprano, alto, and tenor recorders, all plastic). But, I will keep trying. Right now, I am rekindling my relationship with the Bb Clarinet. Thank you, Sarah, for opening my eyes. Keep fighting the good fight!
hey sarah, today i was randomly going around in the music section of this big shop i hadn't went to in a long time.
me and my mom were about to leave, until i saw a long, bag. I noticed it, i looked at some text on this bag, which translated, reads: "soprano recorder" i was really excited because my schools never forced me to learn the recorder, but ive started to develop some love for musical instruments, even if they are considered a "toy".
i got the recorder, I watched all your beginner's basics lessons, learned au clair de la lune and amazing grace, and i have to say, the recorder is so incredibly, nice! its small, so it wont bother you, it's pretty cool, how sometimes you can half cover a hole, i love this!
thank you for giving me a nice start to the recorder!
Ahh brilliant!
Yes! I was ones of the ones who recommended this! I'm so glad that we both got a positive impression from that video!
Yesss thank you for recommending it!
answer in progress has always been insanely respectful in the topic that it covers-- honestly if i weren't busy with other musical instruments i would totally have wanted to pick up recorder again after that video.
reminds me of the OatsJenkins toki pona video, that made me want to start learning the language on its own
youtube needs more people like this to show their experiences and encourage others to follow
I’ve worked with Alison and she’s an absolute pleasure! You’ll be pleased to know that I took a modern class with her and the focus was group improvisation. She gave everyone the support and encouragement they needed to break away from the page and take risks. These were young people with ample training and experience on the instrument who were, in some cases, quite uncomfortable with the idea of presenting their own musical ideas despite the fact that the very exercise of extemporaneous composition is a huge element of the recorder’s history. This video and the original video were both wonderful and I was so happy to see Alison! Brave tutte!
Hi Sarah❣️ I’m a recorder player and teacher in the Washington DC area and I adore you, your kindness and joy, and your vast knowledge and hacks. I recommend particular videos of yours all the time to students and ensemble cohorts, and I eagerly await each new glimpse into your inspiring world.
I don’t comment often, but I truly appreciate you and wanted to officially send you love.
This video was incredibly emotional for me too, in many unexpected ways…
But the most unexpected was the mention of the Nazis and their use of our beloved recorder. I’m a third generation Holocaust survivor, both of my mother’s parents were in Auschwitz. And I had no idea… and I can’t help but yearn for that ignorance now. But there it is. I’m being careful not to overreact to such disheartening news, but it just really is hard.
I also appreciate you skipping your reaction to that tidbit… there was too much to be inspired and delighted by…. But if you have any words of comfort to me and other uncomfortable Jews out there, I’d really love to hear them.
Really sorry to end my first comment to you this way, so please don’t forget this is out of absolute love and respect for you.
😍🥺💜
Maybe I'm speaking out of turn, as being from Australia I don't know the details of the history. Personally, I would think of that time in Germany as split between the politicians and military, particularly the commanders; and the general public. We abhor what Hitler and the command did, but should we hate on the general population? I see the recorder history as something from the general population, although perhaps to the extent that the politburo encouraged it, it was also something that placated and silenced the people with a vision of utopia. In the timeline of the instrument, this is just a small blip of time with much history before and after.
There are many good things, people, companies, products, that unfortunately caught the attention of bad people throughout time. That doesn't mean they get to determine how we interact with those, don't allow them that power to tarnish something you care about. :)
The recorder was around long before the Nazis. They stole so much, appropriated so much why should they get to keep it? Claim it for yourself you deserve it. Don't let them win.
My parents bought me a fairly inexpensive wooden recorder when I was in 4th grade (I still have it and still play it). I fell in love with the instrument then, and I haven't lost my love for it, even though I've added other instruments to my playing repertoire (tin whistle, harp, and Appalachian Lap Dulcimer), the recorder is still the instrument that I play most.
I was thrilled to see Answer In Progress’ video because I just knew they would handle it properly. They do incredible research and cite sources for every question they explore the answer to. I was also touched by the video, and as you said, she touches on a few really important cruxes of our perception of the recorder and delivers them in an easily digestible statement. And as always, I loved your response too!
I got emotional in the exact moment you did. A bit teary as well. It was so beautifully said. Sabrina's video is truly great and I'm glad she made it.
Me too ❤️
I never learned the recorder in school. They skipped my year for some reason, but I did learn clarinet later on and I still remember the day I watched a professional clarinet player on tv and thought “oh is that what it’s supposed to sound like?”
It was a completely different instrument in the hands of someone with skill and practice.
Now that my children have just started learning the recorder, I’m so happy to find UA-cam videos that remind me the same is true for this instrument.
Such a beautiful sound when played by a pro.
I’m an elementary music teacher and I love teaching the recorder! I often play your videos to show my students that recorder is a real instrument. I’m also a recorder player and I’m so glad you make these videos! Thank you for dispelling recorder misconceptions!
I don't know why UA-cam started showing me recorder content, but you've convinced me to see if i can find an inexpensive wood recorder so i can practice with my kids when they come home from school with plastic recorders. (I played flute and clarinet) I can't tell you how exciting it is to here a professional play this instrument when I've only only ever heard them played in elementary school.
Ah so happy to hear this! ❤️
The "sounding awful" comment is exactly why I got some beautiful palisander wood recorders and a professional-level flute to restart my woodwind education with. I want to know that if it sounds bad, it's me, not the instrument! 🤣
I also loved that video at the end when she got to play a duet. That must really have felt amazing for her to experience a little of the thrill that drives most professional musicians, That feeling of being an important part of contributing to a greater whole and feeling that connection to the others you're performing with. 🤗
I thought of you exactly when the video showed up in my recommendations. I also felt very glad this seemed well put together and the confirmation from you as well.
Me too. I was so nervous when I saw the title. But I trusted Sabrina to do the research and get it right. She didn't disappoint.
FWIW, one of your videos came up in my feed randomly. It inspired me to try again to play. I'm 78 and not very musical but I practice a little bit each day. I'm now laboring through the intricacies of F sharp and F natural fingerings on a Yamaha Ecodear and I've invested in a Mollenhauer Canta that I hope will sound more pleasing while I'm learning. I love your enthusiasm and I'm in awe of your musicianship. With two musicians as parents, your children will be prodigies for sure!
That’s lovely to hear, SO happy you’ve come back to music!
Hi Sarah and Hello Everyone - An anecdote: I live in the mountain states of the USA, where humanities education in the school system often gets short shrift. I think the biggest problem with students not learning to play the recorder well (when they are even given the opportunity) is that in most elementary schools the teachers aren't trained on how to teach music or instrumental playing well.
But my son happened to have a visiting teacher from Spain in the 4th grade who played the recorder well and tought the class very well, which sparked an interest in music that has taken him through a bachelor's of trombone performance and he is now looking for the right masters program.
So...if something isn't being learned well, don't blame the instrument, or the student, or the teacher; blame the system that doesn't teach the teachers to teach well.
Peace!
I think, and this may be just my experience, but as an adult trying the recorder again, the first thing that floods the mind on the first and repeated perceived failure (a squeek, the overall tone of the plastic insturment, etc), is the bullying of other kids when we were young and unsupprotive parents and/or teachers telling you to "knock off that racket". I do not agree with the assumption that its just about the sound of a beginner. You even demonstrated how a more expensive version sounds better... but its also, many of us a) felt forced and didn't like the feeling. b) being teased, bullied, or otherwise socially maimed, and then c) lack of support while still in the learning stages meant that for many of my friends and I.. we gave up before we could learn to explore this instrument. So now at 52, when I sit down and pull out my new Yamaha plastic recorder and hear that iconic tone and odd sounding low notes from being a beginner.. I am also fighting years of negative programming. Chance of success... slim without help.
Love the old-school youtube response video. It was really interesting to hear the thoughts of someone on the polar opposite of the spectrum (recorder-wise). Great video!
That video reminded me how much I enjoyed playing the recorder in school, I played both the soprano, and alto...loved playing the alto it had encouraged me to look into more videos and brought me to your videos. I am planning to get my alto from my sister and give it another go and working to play more then just beginner music. It lit a spark in my heart.
I'd seen her video and loved it as well! Alison Melville seems and sounds like such an amazing teacher, it's inspiring!
Have watched a couple of Answer in Progress vids and can say she blends humour with journeys from seeming incompetence to important personal discovery - definitely a worthwhile addition to the great recorder discussion in this case! ps Angel is a Korean brand of recorder.
Yes, I love her videos!
I love your positivity and response to this video! I am a musician and teacher and I love the example you are setting. I have a degree in clarinet performance and have been getting into the recorder over the years. Struggled to take recorder and myself seriously, I love how you address this! Great channel, Sarah! You are a great resource!!!
Four years ago, I retired from teaching and found you on UA-cam. I picked up my recorder which I had had for nearly 50 years (a wooden one) and set about finding a teacher to actually 'learn' how to play. I wasn't able to find anyone until April 23 and after some lessons in person and some on Zoom, and at the age of 70 I took my first music exam (Grade 1) and passed with distinction. I felt unbelievably good about myself and now am working on Grade 2. I've always loved the sound of the recorder but I abandoned my wooden one after watching your film on mould, and currently use my daughter's school Alus (which is fine). I invested in a plastic Mollenhauer about one month ago (on your recommendation) and I'm learning to play that too; I say learning, because the holes are ever so slightly different to the Alus. Anyway, thank you Sarah for your enthusiasm and 'can do' attitude, and help. I absolutely love playing and learning about music.
If you take your recorder apart after each playing session, wipe it dry and leave it to dry (not in the case!), mould will not develop. With plastic recorders, I find it annoying that the windway quickly becomes blocked.
Congratulations! Keep up the great work!
the double recorder blew my freakin mind! That’s so cool
I would love to see a reaction/comment on a Gentle Giant's live performance, I think that was "Excerpts from Octopus" or "Advent of Panurge". They were a prog rock band all made by polinstrumentalist and there's this beautiful moment where they all switch to the recorder in the middle of the song, playing in counterpoint. They played it also in "I lost my Head", "Talybont" and probably many other tunes, a bit reminiscent of medieval music. That was actually how I became interested in the recorder and how I found your channel a while ago.
The recorder figures prominently in the music of Gentle Giant. When one of the band members sings solo his voice so soft he is almost always accompanied by recorder. I *love* Talybont-recorders and whistles!
Yes, it’s Advent of Panurge. So dang good.
This reminded me of my younger years, I was in my thirties back then, I came home to play recorder and disconnect my brain from work. Thrills and ornaments were my favorite.
Hello Professor Sarah - “Is it the recorder instrument [or any instrument] that sounds awful? Or is it just that we don’t know how to play it, yet?” The answer is the latter. If the answer were the former, I would’ve never learned to play the soprano saxophone or the violin. When first learning to play the soprano sax, it sounded like a cross between a moose, goose and a party favor. When I first learned to play the violin, it sounded like a cat caught in barbed wire fence. Now, after many years of playing both, I enjoy playing the soprano sax and violin for hours on end. There are two instruments that came effortlessly to me, almost in a savant fashion: the diatonic harmonica and diatonic pan flute. BTW: The recorder, like the Native American flute, never sounded awful to me; even when I was learning to play it for the first time.
I am so glad you made this reaction video! The Answer in Progress came up in my feed, but I was scared to click on it because I thought it would irritate me. I went back and watched Sabrina’s video, then yours. Both brought so much joy to my heart! I remember feeling the same way about the recorder as a child. ❤
I love this. It's so refreshing to see someone giving the recorder a chance and not dismissing it as a toy instrument. I chose to play the recorder when I was a child (much to the annoyance of my older brother, who claimed I'd bring the standard of the school recorder group down). I love playing my recorder, and still do so now as an adult, even joining my local branch of The Society of Recorder Players. My recorders have made an appearance in church services too. The recorder gives a great base for other instruments like flute, clarinet and saxophone.
My late father in law played recorder at the Unitarian church he belonged to. I inherited his recorders when he passed away (when I play them, I think of him).
Sabrina started me on a recorder journey which led me to your channel. I have a Yamaha ordered and I'm excited to start!
My daughter isn't yet in the grade that starts recorder, but I gave her a plastic recorder early so she can play around with it if she wants to. I bought myself a wooden recorder so I can play along with her when it's time for her to properly learn. I'm looking forward to it! I haven't played recorder since grade 6!
It's like with watercolor. It's deemed "accessible for children" so everyone does it at school, but it's in fact one of the most difficult mediums. Yet, no one takes it seriously.
Hi! I'm new to your channel, but am so happy UA-cam recommended it to me after watching Sabrina's video. While making music is not a huge part of my life right now, it has always felt so intuitive to me that making music together (or really any art, my other favorite, related example is dancing) is so valuable and joyous. I also got emotional watching Sabrina's video, it was just so beautiful to see someone else (re)discover what seems so obvious to me from the experiences that I have been lucky enough to have. And the cherry on top is that video's ability to connect me to another wonderful, passionate artist like yourself! Thank you for your input, I loved the opportunity to share in the joy of your art and learn even more about it!
Oh, that’s lovely! Very glad you found Sabrina’s video and then us 😊
When I was in high school, our music department did "EasterTide" (basically a dinner performance with a ren faire theme) and my role was an entertainer, so a friend and I played recorder for it! #historicallyaccurate We had a ton of fun doing it and we ended up taking several pieces to our state music contest. There were a lot of weird looks, but we did really well!
What a beautiful video. I struggled with a recorder at school in the 60s. It’s marvellous to see the recorder explained in the right way.
I just love how Sarah talks. Who else agrees?
When I Googled, "Recorder for adults," Sabrina's video was the first to pop up. I loved it. It led me to your videos. :)
12:10 - I could definitely hear the difference between the plastic and wood versions earlier, and how the wood version DID sound nicer, but it just struck me as "eh, kinda just like a flute." Wasn't until THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE that my jaw dropped and I thought to myself - That is a whole different thing in and of itself! MAN I would love to play one of those someday!
I love my student recorders. My wooden one was stolen, and I told hubby the story, and he bought me a huge soprano and an alto. I prefer my small soprano. I've decided to learn how to read, and rediscovered Team Recorder! This video gave me a boost today. I went through violin lessons at 6 and hated it. I complained and Mom let me quit.
Very good video!
When I teach at Middle School first thing I always do is listening Sammartini's Concerto with the kids, just to show them and discuss how the recorder should actually sound like (and what can be done with it - If some of them yet play a woodwind, it can be a good "double" as well). I think showing the potentiality of something before teaching it is essential.
I dont play the recorder but I subscribed to your channel a few years ago because I KNEW YOU would be the one to solve the mystery of why I seem to collect recorders that everyone eventually abandons. I never went through a phase of beating up on the instrument but did notice that most people do have either a dismissive,embarrassed or any variation of indifferent reaction to the recorder. Every once in while I pick one up and look for an in on its secret. With this latest video I feel a little closer! Thank you!!! Seriously,… Thank you!!
I just watched that video 2 days ago and wasnt aware you already reacted to it! Such a lovely recorder journey
I am grateful that I was taught the recorder in school at age 10 nearly 60 years ago. It enabled me to go on to take music as part of my BEd and I am still playing recorder to this day.
In the UK in the 90s all school kids had the black and white Aulos recorder. Mine was all black and everyone said I sounded especially dreadful. Was several years later I found out that the black and white ones are A = 440hz and the black ones are baroque, so A = 445 (so no wonder I sounded out of tune!) Despite that, and learning some other instruments I still go back to the recorder pretty often.
Oh my goodness. The double recorder is so cool and I love that sound.
Thank you!
Soooo glad you reviewed this video! You have inspired a new generation (and some older ones) to pick up this beautiful instrument again. I had a good Moek with me in my backpack for a year abroad and it made me many friends (especially once I got better😅).
Loved this! You tube had been suggesting me Sabrina's video but I hadn't got around to watch in it yet, so it suggested yours and I bit! Now a subscriber, and off to go watch Sabrina's video.
I'm a musical dabble, I have an Angel and a Yamaha recorder but I feel more comfortable with the simplicity of pennuwhistle fingering.
I noticed while I lived in Germany that first-graders started with melodica rather than recorder, and recorder is generally taken seriously there as a baroque instrument, along with a lot of early musical instruments, with many peofessionals and serious hobbiests. The melodica gives the kids the same breath control experience, plus the fingering experience of a piano keyboard.
For me the instrument I'd add next for young learners would be ukulele. It seems to me to be the basic bare bones entry level stringed instrument. Gives experience strumming and plucking, while having only 4 strings, so, less overwhelming for young learners with small hands.
Hi from Canada!!!!! I'm 62 and I just got mine!! Thanks for your UA-cam site!!!!!! 🎉 I shall figure it out
Well put, Sarah. I am yet to hear you say anything I disagree with! I've been playIng the recorder for well over 60 years (albeit with a 45 year hiatus! and Sabrina's and your remarks about the joy of making music with other people are right on the button. I've made so many new friends since I started playing again, and I'm motivated to practise and get my playing up to the highest standard I possibly can. That's when I'm not teaching my grandchildren, using your videos as source information, of course ...
Rewatching this video, I noticed your comment at 2:46 about the Angel recorder that Sabrina has. Angel is one of a number of brands that exist in the education market in North America. Others would be Tudor, Candy Apple, MIE, Firstnote, Harmony, Lyons, and Canto. Some of these models are definitely cheap. A school can get Yamaha's "school use" soprano recorders (YRS-20B (blue, green, and pink) or YRS-24B (ivory)) for as low as $5.50. Or a school can get MPI's Prelude one-piece soprano recorder for as low as $2.15 (!!!). These brands and pricing also affect the "other-ing" of the recorder.
One thing that is totally unrelated (sort of) to the video is how different musicians keep count. Alison blinks, Sabrina bobs, and you, Sarah, sway. I used to play in orchestra all throughout school and found it really fascinating to watch the ways people keep the rhythm without realizing it. Anyway... Loved hearing your reaction!! I absolutely adore Sabrina's channel for every subject she tackles. She goes into the history of it instead of simply trying something out. I find each one so fascinating, and because of her, I found your channel, too!
P.S. I have wanted a wooden recorder for AGES!! I am an illustrator and mostly stick to drawing, but I occasionally pull out an instrument and jam it out. It's such a wonderful experience~
Ahh that’s so interesting! I notice I sway much more since I had a baby- I found rocking her to comfort her really soothing so now I tend to sway all the time..!
Thank you for reviewing this. It came across my UA-cam feed and I was wondering whether or not I would want to watch it. Now I definitely will.
I'm one of them that found you through Answer in Progress and after listening to your 'The Bird Fancyer's Delight' video decided to become a subscriber. I have always loved the sound of recorders and flutes so am glad I found you.
Oh that’s lovely! Welcome 🥹
A Word on the Lighting:
You seem to have a new light, in a warmer color temperature.
As A Lighting Professional (and amateur tenor Recorder Player) I highly approve!
The switch from 4000k to 3400k in lighting is roughly the equivalent of 440 versus 415 in recorders; hard to explain to lay people, but hugely important.
Oh, and I loved the video
Sarah, thanks for your videos. I started following you several years ago, and you convinced me to get back into recorder playing after several decades away. Next up, I''ll be playing a couple of movements of Telemann's sonata TWV 41:F2 in my church this coming Sunday, on an instrument made by H.-C. Fehr. That C in altississimo is a killer - what was Telemann thinking? And where did it get the nickname 'sonata facile'? Surely the intent there was ironic. Anyway, I'm sure you'll be happy that you've encouraged yet another musician to perform on the instrument.
Ahhh that’s wonderful! ❤️
Love the music Sarah and your sunny disposition is a delight and a real encouragement.
You inspired me to try the recorder again and to NOT give up! I went with the Yamaha alto. I have a descent one also but wanted to learn on one that wasn't so squeeky.
Love from Montana usa
That double recorder is awesome! 🤩
Hay Hay
Professor Sarah,
I came to your channel via TwoSet and have absolutely loved your output ever since.
From Recorder makers, testing, collaborations, teaching, learning, experimental, skills, skills and skills.
Thankyou, Thankyou and Thankyou .
😎☮️🇦🇺 Joel
Hello Sarah, subscriber, viewer of your channel, and enthusiast amateur recorder player here. Agree with your observations. One caveat: Is the recorder the ideal instrument for young children learning music in a group lesson? I don't think so. To learn music, pitch, breathing, rhythm, tone production, tonguing, dynamics, articulation is a mighty challenge. I think Orff was correct in thinking of a pentatonic marimba. Love your channel (and Lucie Horsch and Piers Adams).
I tend to agree with you there! In fact, the early music revival in the UK was more in favour of using the viol as a starter instrument in schools..!
“A teacher who doesn’t know how to play the recorder” describes virtually all classroom music teachers, at least in the US. As one such victim of a “school of education” told me, “I had six weeks of recorder in my music ed training: there is nothing more to learn.” Truly, the only thing worse than a classroom full of kids honking wildly on bad soprano recorders is a hallway full of music-teachers-to-be warming up while waiting for their “qualifying” recorder auditions. Teachers who were similarly unqualified in, say, simple arithmetic would lose their jobs - if they could even get hired. Bless their hearts.
I'm not sure that most mathematics teachers are really well qualified at mathematics (and no, knowing how to do arithmetic isn't being qualified at maths any more than knowing how to blow into the instrument means you are a qualified recorder player). Which is probably the reason why so many people hate mathematics.
(Stupidly long comment:)
The lady at 1:30, with a stack of Marshall on her background made me smile. Something quite unexpectable, but I have played recorder with a rock band, and it fits there really well.
Around 6:00. Are we moecking the recorder?
Sarah, your own enthusiasm is so great. I have been playing the electric guitar for decades. (Yes, I put it down when I sleep...) And while I enjoy playing it, I could never be as excited! I have been playing the recorder actively for about half a year. And, to somehow justify playing it, or even to shut people up, I'd like to learn something that sounds like a virtuoso playing but is not really so difficult.
I don't know how it is elsewhere, but at least in Finland musicality is regarder as something hereditary, like a skill that you just have or don't have. You are expected to born as a good singer or an instrumentalist. As if we had specific genes for singing or playing church organ. Yes, there is a small minority having perfect pitch and so on. There is this thing called music theory to save us, the ordinary players... Amusicality is prevalent in tiny minority. I have numbers like 2 - 5% of population. However, musicality and ability to play for example a recorder, is a bunch of abilities. If you have for some reason very bad muscular coordination, how to play on instrument, even if you figure out what you hear very easily? Or if you were scared to death to play in front of an audience? A lonely genius is rarely a genius at all.
There is one specific thing about the recorder, which is actually right now. The instrument does not electicity and cannot be controlled digitally. You can have it in your pocket and play it anywhere. And you cannot master it by installing an application on your phone. You have to train. You have to concentrate. And finally, you are able to do things someone else have not already installed or programmed in the instrument or in your head. Sofisticated mechanics, think about the flute or clarinet, or digital systems make playing something ordinary easy, but also limits player's creativity.
Is my sermon long enough now? Thank you, if you red this far. And thanks once again to Sarah!
I assume because it was cheaper than band, although band classes seem to have replaced recorder, at least here in Canada.
I have come to realise just how well I was taught the recorder in primary school. At the very least we were taught about tongueing very early on, so now even over 25 years later as I pick up a recorder it's second nature to me, and I'm very able to just tootle away and pick out tunes for my own amusement.
I pretty much didn't see the point of learning to play the recorder as a child,
since no matter how I tried I couldn't make it sound good.
I guess back then in my school,
there was no one who was able to play it well,
to inspire us other young learners that it could be done.
It is not like I could just run to the internet in the 70's, or 80's even.
Thanks for putting a bow on this,
even though it may be decades too late for me.
After a couple of weeks of dire happenings here in England, what a joy it was for me to watch this
Refreshing to see the recorder approached with openness and respect! It'll probably always have a stigma, but at least some folks are spreading the good word that it's indeed a "real" (and really fun) instrument.
Agreed!
You got me, I watched Answer in Progress, then yours, and thanks! My 6-year old is about to have recorder lessons at school, looking forward to it now...ish.
:D love your energy. Kind of regretting I left recorder and ventured into the seedy world of Clarinets Bb, Alto. Then again, there is just. so. much. it influences your ear and understanding of life, the world and
I watched Sabrina's whole video, and this one. And here I am still just sitting in the corner clutching my tin whistle to my chest wanting people to know that it's an instrument too.
{Waves from my corner} I play tin whistle (as well as recorder). It's most definitely a serious instrument!
@@parkerbrown-nesbit1747 Thank you. Now I hope someone eventually sees my comment on the comparison video.
I went from her video to yours and your energy is INFECTUOUS. Gebus, I'm having to resist the urge to go pull my recorder back out! lol.
Why we have to learn recorder in school? Well, IMHO it's because it's very portable compared to other instruments. It fits into your school bag. I liked playing it, especially because my father used to play an instrument from Turkey that resembles it very much, so for me it was very accessable. Thank you Sarah for sharing!
I have to pitch in here. There are actually many different sizes of recorder covering almost the entire range of the piano. Why soprano in particular? You mentioned the first part already: size precludes anything bigger. Why not sopranino or garklein? Sopranino: starts in F instead of C, teaching music to beginners on a transposing instrument is asking for trouble. Garklein: soprano sounds bad enough in beginners' hands, a class full of garkleins will absolutely make the teacher deaf!
Played properly though? They sound just like flutes for a fraction of the cost while being much more robust. Now that's a win
I learned the recorder in elementary school for a year from a private teacher (probably not primary recorder teacher, she was the wife of the church organist). My problem was that I learned these basic folk tunes and everybody in school who was involved in music projects played "more sophisticated" instruments. Much later I came across Vivaldi recorder concertos etc. and thought THAT should have been shown to me by that teacher.
My impression as a child was "every other instrument is for serious music and the recorder is only for simple folk tunes".
I hope I can stick this out. I am already a fairly well trained and knowledgeable musician (voice and guitar) and I also write music. I have always wanted to get ontop of this instrument so going to check out your channel and give it a go. I want ultimately to play soprano, tenor, alto and if possible bass so that I can write 4 part harmonies for them for my songwriting and other compositions. Got a (I guess a cheap) soprano but it is baroque fingering. Good start, sounds warmish despite being plastic. Thanks for your enthusiasm.
You’re welcome!
I'm not sure which sounds worse, a beginning recorder player, or a beginner violin player. Both are an assault to the nervous system. But what school system would find it economically feasible to purchase violins (or most other instruments) for their students? With the internet (which didn't exist when I was a student), a teacher can show students what a recorder is supposed to sound like, or even contact a local recorder society to send someone to demonstrate the recorder or provide a group to perform. At the elementary school where I taught, we had a music teacher that formed a recorder club for interested students. She traveled the county with the club doing concerts and they were magical.
I thought Sabrina’s point was really good that we don’t use recorders *because* they are cheap- they were developed to be produced cheaply because their potential as a tool of education was recognised. An incredible amount of skill - and expense! - goes into making a professional recorder.
@@Team_Recorder I'm seeing a trend for more affordable beginner instruments (of admittedly questionable quality) across the range of musical instruments. There are cheaper violins and recorders nowadays than when I was a kid. I think my first plastic recorder cost about 10$, and my first wooden recorder cost about 40$, while my first violin must have cost the equivalent of 150$ or thereabouts. Nowadays, you can get mass-produced kids' violins for 40$, but you can get plastic recorders for 2.50$. These are terrible quality, I'm sure, but it's an indicator of the minimum material costs for these respective instruments. Bringing the cost of recorders down may have been a conscious choice, but it's also easier to do so for an instrument with fewer separate parts and lower material costs. Transportability is also a plus when marketing an instrument for school children.
Hi, Sarah! I am an elementary music teacher and LOVE teaching the recorder to my 4th and 5th graders. I really feel like my secret weapon is how good I get kids sounding. I do weekly music lessons on UA-cam and I'm thinking of adding a series on teaching recorder. I will definitely promo your channel when I get to it. I love your videos!!
BTW, I particularly prefer the Aulos 1-piece recorders for students.
I had a recorder in, if I remember, E. And it was surprisingly in tune, considering that I made it as a tapered square section tube with a vented plug at the big end. And the tone was far too breathy and unfocused.
Well made and played, the flute a bec has a cleaner and purer tone than the traverso. It's a beautiful instrument.
The bass would be perfect for Bach's solos for unaccompanied cello.
I really enjoyed playing recorder at primary school. I’m sure I sounded terrible, we were never taught about tounging or playing softly etc, but actually learning a tune felt like such an achievement and playing in rounds was especially great.
You'll be happy to know that most Orff trained teachers take INTENSE recorder training in their levels! We love the recorder
YESSS!
I used to play the recorder from age 5 until about 13, when my teacher died 😢. After that, me and my sister would only play on Christmas for years. I tried teaching my son but he's only interested in playing the organ. Thankfully, my daughter started playing with me when she was 5 and has had a teacher now for the last 2 years and I've rediscovered, how much fun it is, to play something other than Christmas songs 😂. She's now at a level, where we can play baroque dances together, which I absolutely love and I'm so thankful for her love for the recorder. Now I only need someone to play violin with me so I can start that again, too 😊
I feel so touched when you get excited about this because SAME!!! I love the recorder to bits 😭💖💖💖 even my plastic blue-green hideos recorder, I LOVE to play it 😭💖