Players of other woodwinds that use transpositions are often puzzled by recorders. They expect that they'll all use the same fingering, and that the parts will be transposed similar to the way Eb and Bb saxophone or clarinet parts are.
Recorders, for the most part, are made in F or C. This refers to the lowest pitch on the instrument. Sopranino, alto (or treble) and bass recorders are in F. Soprano (or descant) and tenor are in C.
Soprano and tenor recorder share the same fingerings, but the soprano sounds an octave above the notated pitch, whereas tenor sound the actual written pitch. Lowest written note on each is middle C on the piano. Soprano and tenor recorder are notated in treble clef.
Sopranino and alto recorder sound F as their lowest note. It's written as F in the first space of treble clef. For alto, it sounds as written; sopranino sound an octave higher than written. Alto recorders are often pressed into service to play music written for soprano. Alto players have to "read up" or sight transpose this music up an octave.
Bass recorder is the oddball. Its music is notated in bass clef, one octave below sounding pitch. The low F on bass recorder is the F just below the first line of the bass clef, but the sounding pitch is F on the fourth line. Bass can be read in treble clef as well. It can be used to play tenor parts, using the alto recorder "read up" trick.
Why write this?
I encountered some interestingly notated parts on the production of Secret Garden that I just finished. Some recorder parts were correctly notated, while others seemed just plain wrong. After consulting the score, we found that one of the sopranino parts was correct if played with soprano fingerings - in other words, the arranger had treated it as a transposing instrument.
That's fine as long as it's declared up front, but if you're dealing with "real" recorder players and you don't let them know, things will be weird!
Recorders, for the most part, are made in F or C. This refers to the lowest pitch on the instrument. Sopranino, alto (or treble) and bass recorders are in F. Soprano (or descant) and tenor are in C.
Soprano and tenor recorder share the same fingerings, but the soprano sounds an octave above the notated pitch, whereas tenor sound the actual written pitch. Lowest written note on each is middle C on the piano. Soprano and tenor recorder are notated in treble clef.
Sopranino and alto recorder sound F as their lowest note. It's written as F in the first space of treble clef. For alto, it sounds as written; sopranino sound an octave higher than written. Alto recorders are often pressed into service to play music written for soprano. Alto players have to "read up" or sight transpose this music up an octave.
Bass recorder is the oddball. Its music is notated in bass clef, one octave below sounding pitch. The low F on bass recorder is the F just below the first line of the bass clef, but the sounding pitch is F on the fourth line. Bass can be read in treble clef as well. It can be used to play tenor parts, using the alto recorder "read up" trick.
Why write this?
I encountered some interestingly notated parts on the production of Secret Garden that I just finished. Some recorder parts were correctly notated, while others seemed just plain wrong. After consulting the score, we found that one of the sopranino parts was correct if played with soprano fingerings - in other words, the arranger had treated it as a transposing instrument.
That's fine as long as it's declared up front, but if you're dealing with "real" recorder players and you don't let them know, things will be weird!
