Hello Sarah, I'm a 70 year old woman who decided, at the beginning of this year, and with absolutely no knowledge or understanding of music, to learn to play recorder. I joined a class put on by the U3A and found myself among people who could already play quite well and I floundered. Then I found your videos! Thank you so very much! I am learning so much and am much better able to cope with my regular class (not so regular during covid lockdowns.) I am loving learning, loving the music I can now play at last, and loving your very easy-to-understand style of teaching. Thank you again!

I love the "breathy" effect of the paper piece in the mouthpiece! 😍

I speak Portuguese, but learned English by myself, after years of web-surfing, song playing and gaming. I am an amateur musician (I play guitar, C and F recorders, harmonica), and I can say that your videos are mesmerising - not only because of your skills and simpathy, but because of your English accent... and, lets be honest, when you speak, your mouth is hypnotic!

1:52 How to not get shot by your neighbor.

I use a hack to reduce the volume of my instrument for practising: take a piece of tape or an elastic band and partly cover the hole of the labium. This will change the pitch of your instrument slightly and make sound more "breathy" however it will also greatly reduce its volume. I hope this helps.

This video is a MUST WATCH for all players. I am wondering if there are even professionals who would take out something from this absolutely fantastic life saver. I was just about to give up because of the thumb hole task on my YAMAHA soprano seemed an impossible mission. The tape trick saved the day. Thank you so much for creating this amazing channel. I also saw your other videos that you are now teaching in London University. Well deserved for a recorder encyclopedia like you :) Love from Canada

For a recorder that has piece/s that are too tight, a rub with fine glasspaper/sandpaper can help. But careful not to overdo it, as too much sanding can make it too loose! For plastic recorders that are too tight, a little petroleum jelly can also help to make it slip in, but I'd not like to use it on wood, lest it eat into the varnish. For larger recorders that are lined with cork at the joins, when the cork wears out, you can reline yourself with cork sheeting that car places that sell stuff for gaskets have in stock. It's possible to buy thin sheets of cork, cut out a piece yourself, and glue it into position.

I'm so happy I've found a channel with a pro Recorder player. Plus your personality and humor is great!

I'm pretty new at recorder playing and wanted something for thumb placement so I thought to use one of the craft felt dots that has sticky on one side. They are raised so easy to feel and they have a texture so your thumb doesn't slide around.

This was great. I play native flute and many of these hacks will work. But the one I NEEDED was "tape it up"! I have one beautiful voiced flute that was super difficult to consistently hit the lowest note. Paid lots of money for it so was little bummed. But the taped worked perfectly. Being a native flute I added a flat leather wrap to cover the tape. Works great. Thank you!!

Thanks for the ideas! For hack No. 10, I'm sure someone will have said this already, but if you have a cheap plastic recorder and its joints have got too loose (perpetual undoing for cleaning and travel) then a single turn of plumbers' Teflon tape is ideal

Something that you can use instead of hair bands to make a thumb holder is bee wax - just take a little clump and work on it with your hands until it's nice and soft (and warm), then shape it the way you want it to be and stick it to your recorder :) easily removable with a little heat from your hands but it sticks very well if you don't remove it on purpose (and no way of damaging the instrument) - also it can help improve thumb positions if your thumb tends to go up too much ;)

I like the hairband hack to help hold my Yamaha alto, but that doesn't work on my Mollenhauer Prima, because of the way the foot section is shaped. I like using rubber O-rings from the hardware store to help guide my thumbs to the right position, help with a tiny bit of support, and keep them from sliding on my newest recorder, which is a bit slippery! I can reposition them easily or take them off if I don't need them.

Hiya Sarah, I tried a variation of your paper silencer in my recorder and it's much quieter but not silent altogether. I took a cotton swab with a plastic shaft and bent it around a pen by heating it in hot water, giving it a U shape slightly wider than the hole in the recorder. Inserted U down it stays in place and though MUCH quieter, you can still hear the notes when you play. You have to be more careful not to blow too hard when using it or it'll squeak. You CAN use a fiber shaft one but it'll eventually become moisture saturated.

I have not played the recorder in 32 years (god that makes me sound old), a friend gave me a present of one last week, so I have decided to relearn it. Thanks for uploading your videos as I find them good :)

For years I've been playing silently by just not blowing into the windway but sort of over the window. I move the mouthpiece a centimetre down so I can rest it against the upper part of my chin. (Apparently that's called the labiomental groove.) Then I blow into the same direction as usual which means the air is blown across the window which is enough to make a very low sound similar to what your hack 2 sounds like. It's enough to distinguish the different notes. The only drawback I can see when compared to your hack is that you cannot practice anything you do with your mouth very well. But the advantage is that you don't need an extra piece of paper.

I´ve seen recorders broken by the use of paper, passing from a loose fit part to a broken one. Use kitchen cover plastic, or plumbing teflon tape. They are thinner than paper.

For the tape hack, have you looked at painter's tape or drafter's tape? Both are designed to stick well, but pull free without damaging the underlying surfaces.

I make a reusable recorder mute that lowers the volume rather than blocking the sound completely, and which never becomes soggy! For my treble, I cut a 5mm by 70mm strip of plastic from a milk bottle, and bend it tightly at the 15-20mm mark. Unfold slightly, and pop the short end into the labium. It will it will hang there happily as you play.

Great video, Sarah! Some comments: 1. CLEANING SOCK Especially useful for one-legged recorder players...! 🙂 2. PRACTICE MUTE Better than paper, which gets wet and soggy, is plastic. For computer nerds of a certain age (50+) who like to hoard things, the best plastic is the casing of an old 5 1/4" floppy disk (not my idea, found on internet). Not quite as good is the plastic lid of a 500ml yoghurt pot, or sheet of acetate (for overhead projectors). 3. WINDWAY FILTER Brilliant idea, hadn't thought of that one! As with 2 above, plastic is better. 4. HAIR BAND SUPPORT Don't use 'em, myself (hair not long enough). For plastic recorders (I play S/A/T Yamaha 300-series, which I love!) I use an Aulos thumb rest, kept in place with white-tack on its underside. However, probably not suitable for wooden recorders, and not for bigger sizes. 5. STICKY FINGERS What about how to PREVENT sticky fingers (like wash your hands before playing)! A thumbrest (see 4, above) totally steadies the instrument, so no possibility of slippage, and fingers can remain relaxed. It also prevents the recorder from rolling off a table. To be fair, Sarah, I think you were probably referring to larger wooden instruments. 6. TUNING CARD Good idea! I once spent a lot of time tuning a Walton's "mellow D" whistle (bottom note more like Eb) by moving the mouthpiece and filing the upper edges of all the tone holes. A roll of plastic stuck in the bottom end would have been much quicker! 7. THUMB WHERE? See 4 & 5, above. 8. VOICEFLUTE READING What?? A sensible person would just play the 'D' repertoire on their C tenor/soprano! 9. TAPE IT UP! More typically used for fine-tuning intonation e.g. bagpipe chanter tape used by pipe bands. 10. LOOSE JOINTS The best thing to use is teflon tape (aka plummers' tape, aka pipe thread seal tape), a very thin, slippery white tape. It's cheap to buy (e.g. pack of 3 from UK pound shops), and can be wrapped around existing thread/cork/O-rings to seal the joint and make it self-lubricating. As an aside, It's also used to prevent leaks from the sides of double reeds (eg bagpipe practice chanter reeds). Other Stuff: 11. RINSE AID (my own tip, not found elsewhere, afaik!) This is a liquid used in dishwashers to prevent water from sticking to dishes and leaving water marks. It is ideal for recorder windways!! (only tried it with plastic recorders). No more blowing/sucking out condensation, or warming instrument under armpit before playing, etc! I can now pick up the recorder and tootle whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, and it plays perfectly - instantly. The rinse aid I use is called Ecover (supposedly eco-friendly without toxic chemicals): www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/groceries/ecover-rinse-aid-500ml I also go the whole-hog and coat the length of the bore with it, just to minimise drips through the thumb-hole. I even coat the outside of the foot-joint end cap so the moist air doesn't condense on that (being the first thing it finds) and drip on the floor! 12. YAMAHA VENOVA - a new instrument for "adventurous" recorder players... A new instrument, just invented by Yamaha, that seems of particular interest to recorder/sax players: th.yamaha.com/en/news_events/2017/gnr17040501.html www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/Yamaha-Venova-YVS-100-Wind-Instrument/1XOL The best example I could find (by far) of how it sounds is here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ob98orialbLImJ8.html

I'm a flute player and have been playing for 4 years (since I'm still in high school) and I played recorder in elementary school like most American schools tell you to and i've just now known the similarities between flute and recorder. Fingering and problems with maintenance is super alike. It's like a mix of clainet and flute.

The paper mute if cut thinner will mute without completely blocking the sound, there's a few articles about muting from long ago and a good one on KZfaq. Thanks for the great tips

5:00 We do this a lot with bassoon to eek out a whole other note at times, from the Bb to the Ab. It does get a bit muddy though, but "detuning" it to an A sounds great.

(Sorry, clearly I don't know how to use the comments section), I emailed you about my new tenor Aulos, and how it was giving me grief with my small hands... And then I found the sticky tape hack on this video. I tried it and, well, you have made one person extremely happy and free of frustration! So many, many thanks, you're the best! 😊❤️🎶

Brilliant - can't wait to try the windway hack - should sound cool for folk music. My favourite recorder hack is one I came up with recently: I use an artist's putty rubber to make a removable thumb rest for playing Alto; also, if you use a thinner piece of paper or a cigarette rolling paper, for the mute you can make a partial mute for practising.

Hey Sarah, I am 're'remembering how to play recorder again. thx for the vid. it helped!!!

hello there, i find your Chanel very interesting, I'm looking forward to see All your vidéo hahaha (i've been a recorder performer for 12 year im the crr of Nancy in France) thumbs up for All recorder player !

i was recorder for 2 days straight thankyou for all the videos gosh you inspire me to play more and more even thou my recorder was bit defective. 💓 i wish i have wooden recorder like you have.

Thanks for the hair-band thumb support hack! I use, but don't like, a plastic thumb rest, so I'll be experimenting!! Another great video.

Dear Sarah. You are amazing!!!! Thank you so much for sharing your skills.

For a mute that doesn't completely silence the recorder, put a fold across a narrow strip of paper or card and carefully hang the it from the labium, with one side (short) inside the recorder and the other (possibly longer) side running down the front. Experiment with length, width and angle of bend to find what works best, and you can pretty much play the full two-octaves-and-a-note range at considerably reduced volume, though response (particularly in the third register) will not be the same as on an unmuted instrument. I think this may be a trick going back to Carl Dolmetsch.

FBI open up, we are confiscating your entire recorder collection (no really though, you have some whacky recorders I'd like to have)

I adore you already, after just one video. @_@' Your personality, smile, helpful tips, and your super giant recorder! I just bought my first recorder so when it comes in, I'm gonna try a bunch of your tips. Especially ways to make the recorder sound exotic and unique. But I'll always practice using healthy standards. :)

Learning so much from you Sarah! Thank you!

As emergency joint tightening, I find waxed dental floss is really useful to have handy - ideally not the flavoured kind!

Hi Sarah .. Please can you tell me how I can control the saliva while playing tenor recorder .. It's make a problem in sound when saliva get in the moth piece and into the wind way too ..

Hack for voice flute would also work for baritone or alto saxophone. Switch from treble to bass clef and add theee flats to get from written to concert pitch (or octave below in case of alto saxophone).

I love your stuff, I just started taking recorder seriously

At last i found there are commercial silencers for a soprano recorder in Ebay! Needless to say, i ordered one immediately for 4 €, shipping included. I can't wait for it to arrive. It will allow me to play way more often than i play now, lifting my skills to the next level. I can play about 30 songs and i hunger for more. I want to go more difficult.

This is a couple of years late, so I don't know if you will read this. Another way to play quietly, and still get a whisper on the instrument is the using your lower lip as a plug. I don't know if this will work on a recorder because of the bulbous shape of the mouth piece, but it works well for penny whistles. Hold the whistle as you normal would. Instead of putting the mouthpiece in your mouth, lower it a few millimeters and place the windway of the mouthpiece against your lower lip. Blow across the top of the mouthpiece. Sort of like a flute, if it was end blown. This lowers the sound to a whisper, requires no extra bits - like paper or tape, and you can still hear the note for aural reference.

I tried the sticker hack and it worked pretty well! Now, my thumb position is way better than it used to both on my soprano and my alto! Thanks!!!

4:36 *TwoSet has left the chat*

6:46 reminded me of SML when he says BREAKING NEWS MKAY

great tips! dental floss also works quite well for s loose jt.I re threaded 3of mine with straight threading and sealing with beeswax. sticky fingers with talcum (baby)powder or rubbing next to the oily skin next to the nose.

I love your videos! The second hack is the perfect hack for me, when I want to play in the evening while the rest is already sleeping.. 😅😂😂

Once again, excellent video, my neighbours haven't complained yet, and one has confessed to being a KZfaq subscriber of mine

5:40 actually for my Soprano YRS-23 (made in Indonesia) recorder. There is like this mark that says made in indonesia (my beautiful country) and it has a different surface. So i can remember where to put my hands

I had to pause the video at #3 to try it out. I couldn't hear much difference on my recorder but I felt it gave it more of a soft echo which was nice.

2:35 You changed my recorder playing life with this tip! Thanks for sharing!

Thank you very much Sarah ! very useful !!! !

Hi, thanks for your videos. Have you any idea on moeck rottenburgh soprano in boxwood from 1982, what s differences with recent model? Nice day

Hi i just started studying to play recorder just an hour ago! I'm sure this channel will be helpful to me! Thanks❤️

Ohhh... I like idea number 2!!! I live in a small unit and my neighbours are in close proximity. Now they won't hear my terrible note playing!

One hack I like to use is, if you get to a gig and have forgotten your recorder, if you can find a tree branch of wide enough diameter, you can strip the bark, bore it out, drill fingerholes in the proper places, whittle a fipple mouthpiece, and you'll have a usable working recorder to see you through at least temporarily. You wouldn't believe how many times this trick has saved me.

🌹You are amazing, Sarah! Thank you! 😍Spassiba! 🌞🙏

You're so adorable! Thanks for the wonderful tips! 4:31 super adorable! (my fave)

What's the song at 2:47? 😵😵 Enchanting. Definitely going to learn it!

Thank you... most of this stuff is what people pick up over a lifetime... much gratitude for sharing it with all.

I make the recorder mutes out of thin strips of playing cards folded at one end. They last a lot longer! (Just use the joker.)

Thank you thank you thank youuuuu! I am a baroque violin player and I am learning flute just for fune (I have alto baroque flute) and I am finding your videos amazing to not do wrong things! Have a great day you too!

For clogged recorders - as well as the well-known tricks, (see my hyperlink below, replying to Shpilbass) try pushing a length of 1/2" elastic down the mouthpiece or up from the vent. Probably not recommended for wooden recorders, but surely no harm done with a plastic tube. If you have not already done one - how about a short film on clogging? It's a widespread problem and although the tricks are quite well-known some people clearly need to hear about them - see the posts below. It's also a good time to do this topic, (in the Northern Hemisphere at least).

Thank you for all these awesome tips!

People should be careful not to poke anything sharp into the headjoints with the sock. perhaps a cheap toothbrush may be safer? I use a flute/clarinet 'pull through' to dry my recorders. You can make one with a ribbon and an old handkerchief. (Ideally sew the ribbon diagonally across the handkerchief, leaving a 'tail' long enough to drop right through your longest recorder joint whilst adding a small bead to the loose end. if you want, to make it 'safer', put the handkerchief in the middle of the ribbon, so you have two 'tails' - this way, if it gets 'stuck', you can remove it more easily by pulling it out the opposite way!) Your idea with socks is great and you could fashion a pull through from a sock for 'basset' recorders. (They are useful for putting 'basset' knick head joints in on the fabric cases to keep 'grollies' ('muck') out too. Another quick hack for loose joints, if you're desperate and can't get your recorder re threaded/corked in a hurry, is dental floss! (Preferably a non minty one). As it's a waxed thread, it allows the joint to slide on/off. For sticking plastic recorder joints, a quick tap on the hand to expel any air from the joint usually loosens it enough to enable you to take the recorder apart. (Don't tap on a hard surface! You could break your recorder!) Piccolo stands work nicely for descant/soprano it alto/treble recorders. Tenor recorders can be a bit wobbly, so a piece of card round the peg may help. Again, though wobbly, 'basset' recorders can often be put on flute stands. (If you're having problems getting hold of decent recorder stands, or for kids, the Piccolo stand may be easier. (Putting your instruments on stands can save your instruments from being sat upon on chairs as a friend did with her flute! sadly the flute was a write off, as it was banana shaped after it was sat on!) :'( You can also put the stand in a sock to keep the legs in and then use it to clean your recorder (Turn it inside out to store the stand and then the 'right' way out to dry your recorder - you are less likely to scratch the inside of your recorder, as your sock may have picked up some bits and pieces of 'muck'!) Hope these are useful!

I've loved that hacks! Thank you, especially for the mute one haha ;-)

Clearing the windway can be achieved by rolling papers for cigarettes; it sucks out the moisture almost immediately but a word of caution: don't let stay in there for too long (e.g. until your next session). Just a quick fix by folding and adjusting the rolling paper to the width of the windway. If your paper is too short (Voice-flute/tenor and bigger), you can stick another one in the windway by the labium-side (with caution).

Nice hacks! Thanks. I tried the paper in the mouthpiece, but it was wet after a minute or so. So I cut off a rim of a plastic pipette and it works nice!

that is a hell of recorder. im a newbie btw. nice hack video;)

I Love This video!!!! I'm not understand every think cause I'm Brazilian, but I love your video ❤

Awesome work thanks so much for this

I use plumbers tape for loose joints. Use less than you think you need! I also like to pull out the foot joint just a little bit as I am a loud player and the lowest notes are usually flat compared to the mid notes.

Hey I've been watching some of your videos and they are great. First of all, at the beginning I thought it was just one of the many channels with recorder players....but you can actually really play, are you in some school studying early music? I am a professional cellist but I kind of got a thing recently for recorders and penny whistles.....I will soon ask some friends in the early music school to give me a crashcourse because I am a bit stuck learning on my own BUT until then I would like to know: my old wooden recorder (bärenreiter) has only the F (4th hole) very high pitched....the rest of the notes are perfectly in tune. The f is so high (1-2-3-4) compared to the rest that I have to close another hole (1-2-3-4-6) to make it right. IS there maybe something I can try to fix this? It was a gift from someone (got it when it was already old) so I cannot know whether it had always been like this or if it changed with the time.....

I could hear the paper hit the floor . Busted! Great Ideas. Love the videos!

So you know how you said on number three not to accidentally lose the paper inside the mouthpiece? What do we do if that happens? (totally asking for a friend ;D)

Hallo Sarah, I'm so much enjoying your video's. After many years I've started playing the recorder again. I've started with an alt, but now (thanks to you!) playing also the soprano and that's the one I love the most. I've have a question about an issue that is bathering me a lot during playing. Perhaps you have good advice. During playing I have a build up of salvation. I can feel the build up in my lower jaw and because of that I have to find a moment during playing not only to breath but also to swallow. And the swallow takes time. The buildup of salvation has nothing to do with what I've been eating or drinking. My teacher says it is a good sign of relaxation, but I'd rathing be relaxed without that much salvastion :). Perhaps you have a good advice for me?

I'm a recorder player for 8 years and i didn't know most of those. I'm definitely gonna use them!

I'm a beginner recorder player Your VDO help me a lot Thank you so much 😊

your videos are amazing and helping me a lot! when did you started to learning recorder? how old were you? :)

I’m LOVING the windway block sound!

I have made a small hook of aluminium wire (2mm) and hooked it in the end of my Müllenhauer Dream recorder with a rubber band up around my right hand thumb. It works fine.

I use a little round velcro patch (the soft side) for thumb placement

I REALY LOVE YOUR WORK AND ALSO TEAM RECORDER RULES

U deserve more subs

1:10 Ummmm... me because I always lose them ;-; There is one hack I'm doing right now because I have 2 soprano recorders and 1 native american flute, and yet only one case. That is knitting cloth cases for them so that I can carry them safely. I'm literally that cheap ;-; I'm getting an alto for my birthday tho. I found a 40 dollar one on Ebay. I wanna learn to play the recorder. I'm addicted. This channel: Exists Me: I'm addicted to recorders, now. * Pokemon theme * Recorders!!! GOTTA BUY 'EM ALLLLLLL

I can come up with three hacks. 1. If your recorder came with cork rings at the joints, chances are high that they will dry out and fall off. Time to replace it with threading. And if you use natural silk and beeswax dental floss (like I do), you can use this. It's thicker than sewing thread and stays firmly in place. 2. If you don't want to knock out the block of your recorder before oiling the instrument, you can cut off the tip of a tampon and push the part with the thread into the head joint to seal the windway. You can even use the thread to pull it later. The downside is that the uppermost centimeter of the head joint won't get oiled, but if you are worried that you might ruin your block, it's an alternative. 3. If you have an annoying neighbor, my hack is to ignore him when his demands are becoming insufferable. I deactivate the intercom so he can't ring my bell like a maniac anymore. Well, technically he still can, but I cannot hear him anymore.

first of all, by far your coolest thumbnail, and it is also a cool title for the vid

WOW THAT RENAISSANCE BASS THING! btw can these tips be used o the descant as well?

Bagpiper use tape to tune our chanter. It's easily found on any website that sell bagpipes stuff. There is also a kind of thread that is kinda waxed that we use to mount our pipes. Maybe It could be useful for recorder that have loose joint? (Sorry for my English... It's not my language!)

I guess one should use a clean sock, right? :p

GREAT VIDEO!THANKS!

The finger licking trick can also be useful when lifting or moving things like cardboard boxes.

This is helpful ❤ thank you

thanks for amazing tips :)

This lipstick looks very nice on you :)

Great video! Carefull with the white balance!

Thanks so much for these

I've been playing recorder with a saxophone mouthpiece. I'd love to hear you play one!

Thank you very much for the hacks! Number 2 is a blessing, at the day time I don't care about neighbours but after 22.00 till 6.00 music becomes illegal. Now I can play any time!

Thanks for the tip with the paper !!! :)

i loved this video because i love to play recorder and i find it very difficult to find a hack and this video helped a lot thank you #team recorder

you are amazing . Love from Bangladesh