DD would like a larger recorder for xmas - advice please!

[GrimmaTheNome]

DD loves playing her descant and would like to move up (and I'd appreciate a mellower tone ). I'm not sure of the pros and cons of alto versus tenor though. As far as I can see: Tenor has same fingering but is twice the size of a descant; Alto has different fingering but is only 50% bigger. DD is 12 but has small hands - she does play the flute and manages that ok so not sure whether tenor would be too big or not. (She's going to see if she can try one at school).

Then, if we go ahead, I have no idea as to make or model or whether you get much benefit from spending more. As it would be her 'big present' I'd spend up to £100 if I had to but don't want to do that unless its really worth it. With tenors there is also the choice of key or keyless - my guess is with small hands the key would be useful?

Any advice much appreciated!

Tenor should be fine and as you say has same fingering as descant. I'm sure I managed one at 12, think it had a key. Where are you, do you have a local music shop who would advise?

I played a tenor recorder in my primary school from around the age of 9, so the size shouldn't be a problem. However, the treble (alto) recorder is the recorder for which most music is written, so she might prefer a good quality treble.

How 'good' is your dd at playing?

she is already coping with slightly different fingering between flute and descant (I think, although only ever played a flute a couple of times!). if she is musical, and interested, I see no reason why she would not cope with another fingering system too. I did - I played recorders at school, and eventually had them all (still do, but small children make it increasingly difficult to play!)

A bigger difficulty, imo, is the breath control necessary - not a massive difference between descant and treble, but the low notes especially on a tenor can be hard to hit and maintain (and even worse on a bass )

key definitely useful on the tenor - covering both holes with your little finger at a stretch can be tricky (and adds to the difficulty of the low notes)

I think her breath control is probably quite good from flute playing. I'll tell her to have a go at the low notes if she can lay her hands on a tenor at school - that's not something that had occurred to me.

Not sure how 'good' her playing is - she's basically worked her way through a couple of simple books teaching herself the fingering and those sound pretty much in time and tune, but I'd like to encourage her to do more. I suspect she'll stop flute lessons once she hits year 10, seems like recorder is something she's more likely to carry on improving by herself and just pick up and play for fun, or in small groups. That's the sort of thing I'm thinking in terms of, not anything too serious!

Any recommendations for a couple of music books for tenor or alto would also be most helpful - as all the advice so far has been, thanks everyone!

yes, her breath control is likely to be ok. I played the oboe, so a different sort of breath control, but also found it easy to play recorder(s) but almost impossible to play the flute, so there was a difference for me, iyswim?

if she is keen and interested, then the alto/tenor difference won't be as much of a problem. the fingering is the same, as in you use the same combination of fingers/patterns to produce notes, but obviously as it is a different key (key of F, rather than C), the note you are playing is different (does that make sense?).

I would have to dig out my old music for music recommnedations, i'm afraid, but I mostly just played anything I could get my hands on, so a huge mix of stuff from my piano/oboe grades, as well as bits and pieces from orchestra etc.

I can't get a squeak out of her flute - I think its one of those things you've got the lips for or haven't!

OK, many thanks for the advice - next step is for her to make her foray into the music room and have a try.

I (still, at 32) play both C and F based recorders (started descant aged 4ish and treble at 6/7) and flute (started aged 12 - by which time I did sopranino, descant, treble and tenor)

I'd encourage her to go for treble. There's far more solo music for it and a lot is translatable from flute music, particularly as you get up the grades. In the main, recorder ensembles give the melody or more fiddly bits to treble (at least once your through the phase of "lets just get 14 5 yos to play descant together!" anyway. It's a good pitch for accompaniment, too (more akin to flute) and once she has both descant and treble she can play any recorder she wants later on (although bass will involve learning bass clef - where I drew the line)

If she's already a flautist breath is not an issue, really. Big red herring, and at 12 she'd be fine on bass if she wanted let alone tenor/treble. If she's really tiny, covering the holes might be more of an issue, but would be surprised at her age.

Music wise, I LOVED the "From Descant To Treble" book which made it really straightforward to swap without going back to generic recorder-playing basics which she won't need.

In fact, I think I have a spare pristine copy in the cupboard (reordered from amazon when mine got lost - then it turned up before the new one arrived) PM me if you'd like it Let me know where about you are and we can sort postage and if really local she can have a go on mine!

Jennie, that's very kind of you - I'm still waiting for her to try the ones at school (if she can't be bothered to do that she'll be getting a tin whistle ) - will pm you if she decides on treble. Thanks!

all.

I have my old alto recorder, untouched for more than 30 years (and barely touched before that if I'm honest), somewhere in the house, I saw it when i was cleaning out some cupboards a few weeks ago but can't remember where I put it. I would be happy for it to be donated to a good home if I can find it. it is in excellent condition. Will have a thorough search for it this weekend.

I found it! Its an Aulos model number 311. Can't actually remember difference between the different types, I turned out to be artistic rather than musical (sister is a flautist though). It is about two foot long and has a metal key to cover the bottom fingering hole. if I was selling it on Ebay I would say the condition was excellent.

this is a fantastically helpful thread :) dd2 is 11, plays descant recorder very well and flute too. I've been thinking of getting her a recorder for Christmas and wasn't sure if the different fingering of treble would be too confusing for her. Sounds as though it'll be Ok :)