Goin’ for Baroque

[Down Up Dick]

Well, as I mentioned in my Back To My Flutes thread, my flute embouchure is on its way to the old flute home. Well, now I’m thinkin’ of a different path.

I like Bach and the Baroque music period, and I usta play Recorders and still have a sopranino and an alto. I also still have a wooden Baroque flute, so maybe I could involve myself with that music more.

So, I’ve started to remember/learn some scales — the F & G so far, but my old Recorder book teaches differently, so I’ll follow it instead. The first half of the first book teaches the left hand, and then it moves on to both hands. The left hand is easy-peasy, so I’m on my way.

The Baroque flute is a much different story. It is very difficult to play in tune, and it requires a lot of fiddling. I tried it a while back, when I still had an embouchure, and gave up. One has to do a lotta lip work. I’ll probably try, but I dunno . . .

It’s not all bad though. I still have my alto flute to play, and it’s okay so far. Onward and Upward . . .

 

[Down Up Dick]

I sent for a Yamaha Soprano Recorder and a Bach recorder book today. I‘ll get ‘em both tomorrow.

I’ve learned/remembered the F and G scales so far, and I’m working on the A scale.

Has anyone ever played a tenor recorder? The holes look very far apart!

 

[ailevin]

I played soprano and tenor recorder many (>50) years ago. The tenor had keys for the bottom two openings, but the rest were reachable, but it was a reach.

 

[Graham Greenbag]

I sent for a Yamaha Soprano Recorder and a Bach recorder book today. I‘ll get ‘em both tomorrow.

I’ve learned/remembered the F and G scales so far, and I’m working on the A scale.

Has anyone ever played a tenor recorder? The holes look very far apart!

I re-tried recorder a couple of years back and know some adults who play recorder here in the UK. After some months I decided to step back from recorder playing and refocus on other musical stuff that I found suited me better - everyone’s balance of activities and progress is unique to them.

The Tenor is fine with (healthy) adult hands and it’s normal to have one or two ‘keys’ (levers) to reach the lower holes. There’s quite a bit of music about for the recorder and you can adapt stuff from other single pitch (one note at a time) instruments too. Enjoy, and if you can then join in with a group of adult players.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I played soprano and tenor recorder many (>50) years ago. The tenor had keys for the bottom two openings, but the rest were reachable, but it was a reach.

Yeah, I saw a girl playing a tenor, and it looked like a strain. They’re expensive too, but I like low tones . . . mebbe . . .

 

[Down Up Dick]

Thanks for the info, ailevin and Graham. I can always use info.

 

[Graham Greenbag]

Yeah, I saw a girl playing a tenor, and it looked like a strain. They’re expensive too, but I like low tones . . . mebbe . . .

I found the tone of the Tenor more pleasing than the other recorders I tried and lots of folk manage to play them without too much of a stretch issue. Cost wise mine (all second-hand) weren’t at all expensive, think I had a few, all carefully bought and re-sold on eBay.

 

[ailevin]

One of my granddaughters started playing recorder, so I ordered Yamaha plastic recorders in soprano and alto just to see if I could play them at all. It was very much like riding a bicycle. If you knew how to ride as a kid, even if you don't ride for 50 years, when you get on the bike, you fall on your butt!

I could kind of remember the fingering for the scale, but actually getting any kind of consistent tone was much harder than I remembered. Also, my wife greeted the squeaking and squawking with much less enthusiasm than my ukulele playing.

 

[ailevin]

BTW, Peter Schickele spoke of the early baroque, the high baroque, and in the case of PDQ Bach's work, the go for baroque.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, I’m after wood from now on, if I buy any more.

One of my granddaughters started playing recorder, so I ordered Yamaha plastic recorders in soprano and alto just to see if I could play them at all. It was very much like riding a bicycle. If you knew how to ride as a kid, even if you don't ride for 50 years, when you get on the bike, you fall on your butt!

I could kind of remember the fingering for the scale, but actually getting any kind of consistent tone was much harder than I remembered. Also, my wife greeted the squeaking and squawking with much less enthusiasm than my ukulele playing.

Yeah, I’m familiar with Peter Schickele, and I’ve got a book about PDQ Bach. I’m really a big fan of J. S. Bach’s music.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I got my soprano recorder yesterday, and it’s a great looking instrument. The wood grain (though plastic) is really nice looking. It also came with a thumb holder/thingy, a cleaning rod and a nice bag. The fingering sheet was okay and usable, but all the instructions are in Japanese!

I got the Bach For Recorder Book too. Most of the pieces look doable, though a few might cause a ruined session. I’ve all ready been playin’ two or three of them from a different book on my flute.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I tried out my Baroque flute today with about the usual results: it kicked me. The darn thing is really hard to play unless one plays it as a main instrument all the time. Getting a good tone is a struggle, and then one hasta work at blowing all the notes in tune. Whew!

Update: I played it again today and fared much better. So I’ve decided to give it another chance and work on it some more. I like it, and it fits in with my Recorders and Baroque music.

 

[Down Up Dick]

The above decision was a good one. I’m enjoying the Baroque flute this time, but playing time is still limited.

My new soprano recorder is easy and fun, but rather piercing. I’m trying to stay with C or D tunes.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Recorders are very loud and piercing, but, other than that, I’m enjoying them. I’m continuing my progress by learning scales in different keys and also by playing some easy Bach pieces.

I haven’t played the Baroque flute for a bit, but I’m planning on hittin’ it tomorrow. We’ve been very busy with other stuff.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, the flute played well, though it was a bit difficult to blow good tones at times. Maybe the recorders were a good idea after all. I seem to have a very old, weak embouchure—alas!

this new keyboard is the pits! I hope it don’t last long.

 

[Patty]

BTW, Peter Schickele spoke of the early baroque, the high baroque, and in the case of PDQ Bach's work, the go for baroque.

If it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it.

 

[Down Up Dick]

If it ain’t baroque, don’t fix it.

Your post Baroque my early mornin’ gloominess.

 

[Cliff E]

As a kid I discovered Baroque strings and fell in love with the Bach and Vivaldi, Marcello, Porpora, et al.

As the youngest, my older brothers had little patience for this proclivity and I had to listen to it on the sly. Meanwhile, I was learning the bagpipes and found that I loved to play the pipes but only liked listening to them. I kept going back to Baroque strings as my music of choice.

Later in life, I took up the Baroque cello and got my hands on a Thompson Bros cello made in 1781. It was archeological study in past repairs which compromised the tone somewhat, but made it available at a price I could afford.

Since I got back to competitive piping, my cello has felt a bit lonely. Pipes, uke, cello, work keeps getting in the way of them.

 

[Down Up Dick]

As a kid I discovered Baroque strings and fell in love with the Bach and Vivaldi, Marcello, Porpora, et al.

As the youngest, my older brothers had little patience for this proclivity and I had to listen to it on the sly. Meanwhile, I was learning the bagpipes and found that I loved to play the pipes but only liked listening to them. I kept going back to Baroque strings as my music of choice.

Later in life, I took up the Baroque cello and got my hands on a Thompson Bros cello made in 1781. It was archeological study in past repairs which compromised the tone somewhat, but made it available at a price I could afford.

Since I got back to competitive piping, my cello has felt a bit lonely. Pipes, uke, cello, work keeps getting in the way of them.

I like the pipes too. I was gonna buy a chanter back awhile but talked myself out of it. I decided that they were just too loud.

And my recorders are very loud also. I live in a condo, and there are lots of people nearby. I’m now thinkin’ of buyin’ a Tenor. Maybe its low tones won’t be so piercing— I dunno.

 

[ailevin]

When I was a teenager, there was a recorder shop in downtown Los Angeles not far from the downtown main library. In those days, both of these places were a real adventure to visit. The library had an amazing music collection that you could browse and check out. This was before you could hear most anything that was evern composed online, so playing the music was how we discovered it. I remember my amazement at discovering Schumann violin piano sonatas and Hanel trio sonatas. The baroque music I'd never heard was endless. They had John Cage music that looked like modern art. The cool thing was that you could check out folders of parts of larger chamber works as well, like the Bach Brandenberg Concertos. I remember taking home the Third Brandenberg and organizing a play through in our livingroom with kids from the high school orchestra.

The recorder shop as best I can remember was just called The Recorder Shop. Back then the entry level decent recorder was made by Crown in a variety of woods. The shop had different old wind and string instruments on display, but the main focus was recorders. I remember a bass recorder that looked vaguely like a bassoon.