Recorder questions
Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:29 pm
Hi all,
Bear with me here... it has been a very long time since I've played recorder and back when I played as a kid, I didn't quite worry about the nuances. Nor did I ever pick up alto/treble recorder, though I kept telling myself I ought to. So now that I'm picking it back up a bit, and aiming to learn alto as well, I "get" the basics, but am delving into it further... and running into roadblocks. (I'm reading back through a search on "recorder" as well, but as U2 says, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.)
I picked up a couple books from the library, but had started looking at some of the online fingering charts prior. And began getting confused by different information (I hope I can explain this in a way that's actually understandable). I don't remember everything from fingering charts as a kid, but I seem to recall that back then, I learned lower F# as XXXXO88 but the things I'm seeing now-- depending on which chart I'm reading-- tell me it can either be XXXOXX8 or XXXOXXx (where the lower-case "x" signifies the "half-hole"). (let's ignore the thumb hole for these purposes, since I'm entirely discussing the first octave here... I may have more questions once I start looking more at the second!)
Also, some sources show the F-nat I know (Baroque forked-- XXXXOXX) but the "equivalent" position on alto (B-flat) as XXXXOX8. Others use the same forked XXXXOXX fingering for the alto B-flat.
I guess what I'm asking with this is... how much does it matter? Are there certain differences in fingering where one is more "accepted" (for basic fingering; I'm not talking about alternative fingerings here)? Or are some of the differences just due to some sources being older (one of these books is from 1965), and the standards in fingering have changed? Or is it simply one of those things like C-nat on a D whistle, where you pick whichever works best with your particular instrument?
(Did any of that make any sense?)
I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get started here, as well. I'm having trouble finding recorder forums on the 'web, so I'm falling back on the trusty Chiffboard once again.
Bear with me here... it has been a very long time since I've played recorder and back when I played as a kid, I didn't quite worry about the nuances. Nor did I ever pick up alto/treble recorder, though I kept telling myself I ought to. So now that I'm picking it back up a bit, and aiming to learn alto as well, I "get" the basics, but am delving into it further... and running into roadblocks. (I'm reading back through a search on "recorder" as well, but as U2 says, I still haven't found what I'm looking for.)
I picked up a couple books from the library, but had started looking at some of the online fingering charts prior. And began getting confused by different information (I hope I can explain this in a way that's actually understandable). I don't remember everything from fingering charts as a kid, but I seem to recall that back then, I learned lower F# as XXXXO88 but the things I'm seeing now-- depending on which chart I'm reading-- tell me it can either be XXXOXX8 or XXXOXXx (where the lower-case "x" signifies the "half-hole"). (let's ignore the thumb hole for these purposes, since I'm entirely discussing the first octave here... I may have more questions once I start looking more at the second!)
Also, some sources show the F-nat I know (Baroque forked-- XXXXOXX) but the "equivalent" position on alto (B-flat) as XXXXOX8. Others use the same forked XXXXOXX fingering for the alto B-flat.
I guess what I'm asking with this is... how much does it matter? Are there certain differences in fingering where one is more "accepted" (for basic fingering; I'm not talking about alternative fingerings here)? Or are some of the differences just due to some sources being older (one of these books is from 1965), and the standards in fingering have changed? Or is it simply one of those things like C-nat on a D whistle, where you pick whichever works best with your particular instrument?
(Did any of that make any sense?)
I'm sure I'll have more questions as I get started here, as well. I'm having trouble finding recorder forums on the 'web, so I'm falling back on the trusty Chiffboard once again.