Recorder Practice With Purpose

• Meegan Hughes
• Posted 1/9/23
• 2 comments

For many students, learning to play a recorder will be their first experience with an instrument. Our yearly goals must instill a sense of pride in creating music alone, with others, and in an environment that encourages success and failure. Students will obtain the skills, musicality, and sense of responsibility to make their participation in future ensembles rewarding and fun. 

The foundation for home practice is established in the classroom setting. Age-appropriate and sequential literature energizes a student’s desire to succeed. Using a varied repertoire from varied genres, including American folk, Global folk, Classical, and Pop music, motivates students.  

Would it surprise you that many pop songs can be played on a recorder? My students love playing “Another One Bites The Dust” at their annual spring recital.  

Setting the Stage for Success

Simple melodies that move by step lead to melodies with skips. Establishing muscle memory is crucial and will stay with students long after the year ends. When students return to visit and talk about their experience with the recorder in my class, they almost always recall “Ode To Joy” by either using their hands to “air finger” the notes or by singing the note names and moving their fingers. They are surprised when they start singing B-B-C-D-D-C-B-A, G-G-A-A-B.-A-A! This is a result of my “Sing-N-Fing” technique. 

Sing-N-Fing helps shape pitch matching, identify the tonal center, and encourage comfortable singing with others. I start at the beginning of the year with the introduction of B-A-G.  

First, students finger the notes without using their breath. Students sing the pitches while covering the appropriate holes. For example, “Hot Cross Buns” would be sung while fingering: B-A-G, B-A-G, G-G-G-G-A-A-A-A, B-A-G. This eventually leads to successful audiation while fingering the recorder and developing an ability to recognize incorrect pitches.  

Audiation is the comprehension and internal realization of music, or the sensation of an individual hearing or feeling sound when it is not physically present, a technique developed by Ed Gordon in 1975. 

Practice with Purpose

So now, how do you encourage practice with purpose? Students often find it aimless and a chore to fulfill a time quota or scribble in a practice log. Alternatively, you can inspire your students to create a routine that easily incorporates sequences. Provide students with music that is both manageable and non-traditional. 

Remember to be patient with making progress in a world of instant gratification. Our brains place a high value on things that take a high level of effort or a large quantity of time to acquire or complete. Provide your students with quality role modeling from yourself and other resources.  YouTube is a great place to start when looking for quality recources. 

Therefore, when you practice music at a slow tempo, you tell your brain, “This is important. Remember this.” Let’s look at specific steps to build meaningful home practice habits for students, teachers, and parents venturing into this elementary rite of passage. 

Practice Steps

1. Sing-n-fling a 2-measure section twice. 
2. Play those two measures with the sheet music twice (fingering only). 
3. Play those two measures without the sheet music twice (fingering only). 
4. Play those two measures with your eyes closed (fingering only).  
5. Play the two measures on the instrument. 
6. Evaluate the sound. 
7. If there is a note error, repeat steps 2-5.  
8. Play those two measures by memory three times in a row with minimal mistakes. 
9. Compare and mark down trouble spots by filling in the blanks: 

Example: Aura Lee 

The most challenging section for me are measures ______ through/and ________.  

What makes it difficult is that my fingers need to switch from ______ to ______. 

10. Replay the measures at different tempi. I use anthropomorphism vocabulary to help recognize the speed of the music.  

We have Signore Adagio, the turtle, Signora Presto, the rabbit, etc. I say, “We need to keep up with Signora Agitato” (a cheetah) or “We’re walking with Signore Andante” (an elephant). 

Your attitude towards practice sets the learning tone, and your demonstrations set the musical tone. Be a role model for your future Band, Chorus, and Orchestra ensembles.  

Teacher Tip!

Spit is a natural by-product of playing a wind instrument. If students wish to clean their recorders, they can be placed in the top rack of the dishwasher or cleaned with hot, soapy water, then rinsed.  

Do not place anything solid in the recorder, for every hole, when partially covered, is a different pitch. You should disassemble the recorder and put it in the utensil rack or top rack of the dishwasher when it needs an ultra-sanitizing clean.  

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