Recorders!

Ok, let's talk recorders.

In 4th grade students begin to play and learn songs on the recorder. This is a great time to learn recorder because by this point in our music curriculum we know quite a bit about the music staff and various rhythms. Now we can put that all together and practice not only singing but by perfoming them on instruments. In 5th grade we continue with the recorder and learn more rhythms and notes and our songs also become a little more challenging.

For recorder assessment I do what we call "Recorder Karate Belts." Students will begin with a 4-8 measure song which is the white belt. If a student is able to perform it correctly they then earn their white belt and move onto their orange belt. Students perform their belts in small groups so they don't have to play on their own. Most of the time we practice and perform the belts together and are able to keep moving along. There are cases where students are not able to pass off a belt and move onto the next, which is fine but it is that students responsibility to pass off the one they missed outside of class. Sometimes we'll have classes where we go back over already passed belts and students can earn ones they have missed then. Students are expected to practice their recorder for a minimum of 20 minutes a week. That can be done all at once or spread out over the week. It's amazing what a little practice time can accomplish!

The recorder is part of the woodwind family and is considered to be the first "flute." The flute that most of us see today is called the transverse flute. Transverse becasue it is played out to the side unlike most of the other woodwind instruments. The recorder and the flute share a lot of the same fingereings, meaning certain notes are played the same way on the flute as they are on the recorder.

Coming from a band background, I love teaching recorder! Playing an instrument is another form of communication for me. You can express feelings and emotions through an instrument just like you do in writing or singing. It is my hope that by the end of 5th grade students will want to continue music and pick an instrument or to join choir in 6th grade.