What size of recorder? Alto or Tenor?

[CruCru]

Hi all

I am trying to think of some things for people to get me for my birthday and one thought I have had is a recorder and some recorder music. My daughter is learning to play the descant recorder (a plastic Aulos one, nothing fancy) at school so I thought that if I got an alto or a tenor, I could accompany her (or not). I taught myself the descant and either the alto or tenor when I was still at school but I think my Mum chucked away my recorders after I moved out.

Looking at various recorders I think it likely that I had the alto recorder (because they are much cheaper than the tenor and I bought it myself).

Please could you let me know which you would recommend? I would not want a fancy instrument, more one that my children could have a go on as well.

Also, please could you recommend me some music to start with? I can play piano and some trumpet so can read music but am not really a woodwind player.

Thank you!

From what I remember the Tenor is the same fingering as the descant but an octave lower. Alto is different as it’s a fifth lower (I think).

You could adapt any simple piano music if you played the base line on a tenor. Or a duet or round, with you an octave lower.

Alto is harder as the range is between the two, so less easy to adapt music (apart from voice/choral of course, just use soprano and alto lines!)

Personally I would go with tenor and look online for simple piano sheet music of some songs she likes.

If you go with alto then I used to play “shepherds hey!” on loop as a teenager. I’m sure there were other pieces but none of them were memorable

I'd start on the descant. It'll be much more helpful for your daughter if you are playing in the same register. I think it would really confuse a beginner if you can only play her things an octave down, and if you are shelling out for music lessons and music books, one more plastic descant is not much more of an investment.

Otherwise, tenor has same fingerings as descant so you can play her music more easily, (albeit an octave lower), but treble/alto is the most mainstream recorder for older players so it's probably what you are used to.

My dd14 had 5 recorders (sopranino to bass) but mainly plays alto. However if you are mainly going to play together with your daughter I would also recommend descant

Although I read you wanted something your daughter could have a go at as well.
Hm, how old is she, as tenor it's a little bit of a stretch for my daughter s fingers. But she should be confident on descant before embarking on alto fingering

Tenors are hard for little fingers. Can you still play, your neighbours might cry?!

Others have already covered much of what I was going to say. The advantage of tenor is same fingerings as descant, but I couldn’t manage one until around the age of 10 or 11, so your child’s age may be a factor if you want them to try it too. My alto is the only recorder I still play as an adult though.

A completely different suggestion would be something like a Nuvo Dood. It’s a plastic instrument that has a reed similar to a clarinet (although the reeds in this case are also plastic) but is much smaller than a clarinet and fingered just like a descant recorder so can use all the same music. It produces a much nicer sound than a descant recorder though. Smaller, cheaper and simpler than a clarinet, nicer sound than a recorder. Definitely a “fun” rather than serious instrument, although there are a couple (along with a J sax) in my child’s primary school orchestra, so might fit what you are looking for.

Cool - thank you all. I do have a (chewed) descant recorder that my son no longer uses.

www.amazon.co.uk/Red-Recorder-Duets-Sarah-Watts/dp/1848671245?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

• only uses one octave

Treble sounds lovely but requires learning a different set of fingerings ( well, the same fingerings produce different notes) it's not hard though and there are plenty of duets for descant and treble. Music room website has loads of music and describes the levels. John Pitts books are good and often have a cd you can play along to.

Treble is easier to play vocal music as it often starts below middle c so you just play an octave up. I play folk songs etc and use whichever suits the range better but more often it is treble. Once you get hooked again there is a whole world of beautiful wooden recorders out there. I have two lovely moeck ones, second hand from eBay. They really encourage me to play more. Although it is perfectly possible to get to a very high level on plastic ones so don't worry that they won't sound nice. Just get a recognised brand like aulos or Yamaha, not a super cheap unnamed brand.

Sarah Jeffrey had a team recorder you tube channel which has loads of great videos on playing, choosing instruments etc.

Your kids may not be able to manage tenor fingerings - I can't as an adult, which is a crying shame. I do play the treble which does require remembering the different notes but as an accompaniment to the descant is feasible.