Often, the questions that recorder students ask surprise me. Recorder players tend to be thoughtful, curious, and insightful, and as a teacher, I’m always amazed at the diversity of things they wonder about!

That said, there are certain questions that come up again and again. These are the evergreen questions, the ones I’m asked routinely, year after year, by person after person…which clearly signifies that many people want to know the answers!

Accordingly, I’ve decided to try my hand at answering a few of the questions I’m asked most frequently as a teacher. Here goes!

Q: How do I get the lowest notes to sound nice?

A: This is a process! You need a well-mixed cocktail of appropriate air flow, good finger coverage, smart positioning, independent finger movement, soft tonguing, and consistent practice. I have an article about it here, and a webinar here.

Q: How do I get the highest notes to sound nice?

A: This is also a process! Thumb positioning and movement is vitally important as is the quality of your airflow and your level of bodily tension. I have a webinar about it here.

Q: Is there a trill chart you can recommend?

A: Unfortunately….not really. I wish I could recommend a single comprehensive source for you to reference, but I can’t, in part because which trill fingering you should choose is impacted by factors like note duration, the place and time your piece was written, its character, etc. It’s my belief that trills are best learned in context.

Q: Is there a comprehensive book or article about ornamentation you can recommend?

A: Again….unfortunately not. There are many books and articles about ornamentation, and many are useful, but learning to ornament is best understood as a ground-up process, meaning it needs to be driven by the needs and parameters a specific piece of music. I also think it’s necessary to have an aural component to your learning. My teaching about ornamentation is therefore always contextualized.

Q: When you learn a new size of instrument, should you stop playing the one you already know for a while? What about learning more than one size at a time?

A: So I don’t actually know the answer to this excellent question, because to my knowledge no research studies have been conducted that would begin to answer it! My gut, though, tells me that it’s not harmful to switch between sizes and fingering systems– that it’s even possibly beneficial. The one thing I would make sure to do, as you add a new fingering system, is to practice it early in your sessions, while you’re mentally fresh, thereafter switching to the system you know the best. The less familiar you are with a system, too, the larger a “chunk” of practice you might set aside before turning to something else.

Q: How do I stop making mistakes?

A: You don’t. You learn to make your mistakes more discreetly, less frequently, and with reduced fallout. But you will still make mistakes. And that’s OK!

Q: Is it normal to have mental slips while playing?

A: Yes, very. And the more you are asking yourself to do at one time (or the more I am asking you to do at one time!), the more frequent your mental slips are likely to become. This is a normal part of the learning process and should not be cause for alarm.

Q: Why don’t I sound like you?

I have been practicing, often under expert guidance, almost every day of my life for 32 years. Also, this is my work, and I support myself doing it. Unless you also meet these conditions, it’s unlikely you’re going to sound the way I do. That said, anybody can improve their sound with targeted practice over time, including you!

Q: Is this old recorder I found in the basement worth money? Can you tell me what it’s worth?

A: Almost certainly not, and no. The best way of guessing value of your instrument by identifying its maker and its age, assessing its condition, and doing your own research to see what comparable instruments are selling for, used, in the current market. The only thing I could possibly help you with is an in-person assessment of your instrument’s playability and quality (not its price), typically for a fee.

I hope some of these answers were helpful! Happy playing.