Recorder Playing Newsletter 3 April 2014

I have now been Subject Adviser (Recorders) for about two years, and I have corresponded with more than sixty U3A recorder groups. I am very often asked about how to obtain suitable free music, and I devoted my second newsletter to that subject. If you would like me to send you a copy of that newsletter, please let me know. In this third newsletter I am going to consider two topics, again much asked-about. These are how to choose a recorder and how to run groups of mixed abilities. CHOOSING A RECORDER I think the first point I would make about choosing a recorder for someone of modest technique is that spending a lot will not necessarily give them an instrument on which they will sound better. The reason is that people who make more expensive instruments assume that the people who buy them will be good players - and that usually means that they will have strong breath pressure. So if someone of modest technique spends a lot they often find that they cannot play the instrument in tune, specifically they play flat and cannot put enough air in to bring it up to pitch. So you need to be wary about buying an expensive instrument. People often strongly favour a wooden instrument over a plastic one, but there can be the tuning problem I have just mentioned. Also wood may feel nicer than plastic but the sound, on a blind test, is often very similar. I have heard excellent players make gorgeous music on a £10 Aulos descant. I have several descants, but if I need great accuracy and a sweet tone I pull out my see-through blue one that cost me £4.99! So there is nothing wrong with plastic instruments from the big-name makes such as Yamaha, Aulos and Dolmetsch. And buying plastic opens up the possibility of trying bigger instruments without breaking the bank.

A lot of U3A groups do not have a bass recorder, and I am often told that they cost "about £300". This was true some years ago, but no longer. Perfectly reasonable basses are on sale for as little as £75, on the internet if not in your local music shop. These are not Yamahas, but are mostly Yamaha copies made elsewhere in the world. Names to look for on the internet are Ferris, Woodnote and Triebert (and there are new ones springing up regularly). They are perfectly good instruments to start on, so you can see whether the bass bug bites you. If it does, then you can always spend £800 on a wooden one three or four years down the line. If you are thinking of buying a recorder, the best money you will ever spend is £10 on an electronic tuner (and the Korg CA-1 Chromatic Tuner is even less than that). These devices used to cost an awful lot but, like everything electronic, the price has dropped dramatically. Whatever instrument you are thinking of buying I would suggest that five minutes of checking it against a tuner is time well spent - whatever the cost or the reputation of the maker. The question is not whether somebody can play an instrument in tune, but whether you can! GROUPS OF MIXED ABILITIES I am often asked how ensemble leaders should run a mixed-ability group. This probably applies to many music groups everywhere, but more so with amateur groups, and more so again with recorder groups. There is a perception of recorder groups that they always welcome beginners, whereas somebody who has just bought their first violin would not dream of turning up at their local amateur symphony orchestra. I have to say that it is quite common in U3As to 'solve' the mixed-ability problem by simply refusing to take beginners (which does not seem a very U3A thing to do), or telling them to get some lessons and come back when they can play a bit (although I imagine that they very rarely do come back), or sending them to another room to fend for themselves (where I think real progress would be unlikely).

I prefer to think that one of the big strengths of recorder playing, especially within the U3A, is the welcome extended to beginners, but the question is how to integrate them into a single group that also includes some good players, without everybody getting frustrated and fed up. There are some U3A groups which somehow seem to manage this - I know of one where three players are about grade 6 or 7, where a dozen sit of the back row and have a nice time while playing little, and where everyone else is somewhere in between. There is a sociable atmosphere and quite low expectations of the music that will be produced; this is fun, but needs the right combination of people, If anyone does play in a mixed-ability group like that I would be interested to hear from you, because my guess would be that it is not common. Something else I have heard is that, if there is a second room available, then a slightly more advanced player (or players) takes the beginners in that room. The beginners hence get the attention that they need at such an early stage. Then, later in the session, both groups come together, and perhaps the beginners have been practising some of the music that is going to be played in the 'full' session. If numbers grow, then it seems natural to take the next step and split into two recorder ensembles (beginner and intermediate for example). That is very common indeed for U3A recorder groups - many local U3As have two, three or more groups, and I suppose that the popularity of doing that is a good indicator that it works well. It does need a second group leader, however. FREE MUSIC At the end of this newsletter there are four pieces, one for DTrT and three for DTrTB. The pieces are... 1. Two Trios by Metzger (DTrT) 2. The Skye Boat Song (DTrTB) 3. Fine Knacks for Ladies, by John Dowland (DTrTB) 4. A Pavane - Belle qui tiens ma vie - by Thoinot Arbeau (DTrTB)

These pieces are either in the public domain, or Ann and I own the copyright, but we hereby give permission for U3A recorder groups to copy and perform the music. Either way you are legally entitled to print and perform this music. Also on the subject of music, please don't rely on me for your supply of suitable pieces! I attach some to each newsletter, but this is not intended to be (and cannot be) enough to keep your groups going. I would again point you in the direction of what I wrote in the last newsletter about obtaining free music. Finally, if you have some question about recorder playing, please don’t hesitate to email me. The more questions I receive, the more I will know what people are interested in, and the more (with any luck) I will be able to help! Steve Marshall steveandannmarshall@hotmail.com

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Two Trios by Metzger

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Traditionalarr Ann Marshall

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