Friday, September 30, 2016

7. High A and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Below is the fingering for high A. Note that the thumb hole is about 3/4 or more, closed by the fingernail of the  left thumb.
Use the fingernail to close the thumb hole about 3/4 or more.


This is the song for practising the new high A. It is called Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.



Thursday, September 29, 2016

6. Note high G and She'll be Coming Round the Mountain

Below is the fingering chart for the note high G. Do not confuse with the low G. Note that the thumb hole is open.

This is the song to practise the new new note G. It is called She'll be Coming Round the Mountain.




5. Note F and If You're Happy

Below is the fingering chart for note F

And here is a practice song that makes use of the new note F, it is called If You're Happy



Monday, September 26, 2016

Saturday, September 24, 2016

3. Learning the notes E, D, C

Below is the fingering for the notes E, D, C.  It uses only the first three fingers of the left hand and the left thumb.  I am using the Yamaha Alto Recorder YRA-314BIII

Below is the music sheet for the song Mary Had a Little Lamb. This song allows you to practice the notes E, D and C.






Friday, September 23, 2016

2. Blowing into the recorder and doing articulation

Below is how to hold the recorder to make the first note E on the Yamaha Alto Recorder YRA-314BIII


A : The first finger of the left hand closes hole 1

B : The left thumb fully closes the thumb hole

C : Only the tip of the  mouthpiece ( beak ) touches the lips. Do not put the mouthpiece into the mouth


Try to shape the mouth to silently make the sound  "TU" and blow into the recorder, but do not voice the sound. Do not make the TU syllable explosive. Make it gently.

Start every blow with the sound "TU", and continue blowing.

Articulation helps to control the breath and also provides a distinct start to the note.

Do not blow to hard. The alto recorder needs very little air pressure. So relax and blow gently.



Thursday, September 22, 2016

1. Unboxing and Assembling the Yamaha Alto Recorder YRA-314BIII

Below is the Yamaha Alto Recorder YRA-314BIII description.


Next is the bag


Here are the contents of the bag


After removing from the bag


The fully assembled recorder



Note that this is a Baroque fingering recorder. The 4th finger hole is smaller than the 5th hole. If your recorder's 5th finger hole is smaller than the 4th hole, then you have a German fingering recorder. In this series of videos, I will be using the Baroque fingering recorder. The Baroque fingering is also known as English fingering.


Another way to identify the fingering type is form the model name, in this case the model name has a 'B', i.e. YRA-314B III, the B denotes Baroque fingering.