I bought this book to help keep up my recorder skills after having to learn the instrument for a music education class. The content is good and there are detailed notes on the performance practices for different periods.
My ONLY problem with this book has been that it was printed in England where they have different names for their recorders. An American "Soprano" recorder is a British "Tenor". This book is for a "Treble" recorder, whose lowest note is F4, making it impractical to use with the American Soprano recorder that dominates Music Ed classrooms. My solution has been to transpose everything down a 4th, but not everyone can do that comfortably.
I'm sure that devoted recorder players would scoff at my ignorance but my Music Ed teachers never mentioned the differences, so I didn't know to check. I assumed American "soprano" = British "Treble".
So, if you're going to buy a recorder book check to see where it's published first. Even recorders with the same name have different ranges. The British "Soprano" is a full octave above an American "Soprano".
My ONLY problem with this book has been that it was printed in England where they have different names for their recorders. An American "Soprano" recorder is a British "Tenor". This book is for a "Treble" recorder, whose lowest note is F4, making it impractical to use with the American Soprano recorder that dominates Music Ed classrooms. My solution has been to transpose everything down a 4th, but not everyone can do that comfortably.
I'm sure that devoted recorder players would scoff at my ignorance but my Music Ed teachers never mentioned the differences, so I didn't know to check. I assumed American "soprano" = British "Treble".
So, if you're going to buy a recorder book check to see where it's published first. Even recorders with the same name have different ranges. The British "Soprano" is a full octave above an American "Soprano".
