How To Sound A Note
The first note you will learn to play is the B note as shown previously. Place your fingers in position to play the note and put the tip of the recorder into your mouth. Use your lips to seal off any air from escaping out the sides of your mouth and blow smoothly and steadily into the recorder. Don’t blow too hard or start the note too suddenly, or you may cause the note to sound at the wrong pitch or cause the recorder to squeak.
Tonguing
To control the beginning and end of a note, the technique of tonguing is used. To prepare for this technique whisper the sound "taa". The sound begins with your tongue sitting behind your top teeth, blocking the passage of air, and you make the "taa" sound by quickly withdrawing it, and letting a stream of air begin from your outgoing breath.
The next step is to do this with the recorder in position to play a B note, with your tongue lightly on the hole in the mouthpiece. As you withdraw your tongue, the note will have a well articulated beginning.
The "t" part of the sound gives the note a definite starting point, and the "aa" part of the sound keeps your throat open so that the flow of air remains constant and the note sounds even. To end the note, you put your tongue back on the mouth piece rather than stopping your breath. This will end the note as crisply as it started. It is worth practicing the tonguing technique many times on a single note until you are comfortable with it.
Tuning Your Recorder
The easiest and most accurate way to tune your recorder is by using an electronic tuner. An electronic tuner allows you to see whether the note you are playing is sharp (too high) or flat (too low). There are several types of electronic tuners but most are relatively inexpensive and simple to operate. Use a chromatic tuner with a built in microphone that can pick up the sound of your recorder.
The pitch of the recorder can be altered by either pushing the headjoint further onto the body or pulling it back a bit. Before you begin tuning make sure the headjoint is not pushed fully onto the body, or you may have no room to move if your recorder is out of tune.
Start by playing a B note. If your note is flat you can make it higher by pushing the headjoint gently a little further onto the body. Be careful to move the headjoint only a small amount at a time, or you may put the instrument out of tune in the opposite direction, i.e., you may make the note sound too sharp instead of too flat. Once you have moved the mouthpiece, play the note again and check it against the tuner. Repeat this process until your B note is in tune.
If your B note is sharp you will have to move the headjoint in the opposite direction – pulling it back out away from the body a small amount and then checking your note against the tuner. Once again, repeat the process if necessary until your B note is in tune.
If you have trouble hearing the differences in pitch, don’t worry, this is common and tuning will become easier as your lips and facial muscles develop and you get a better sense of the sounds of notes in general.
