Yes, it's that time again. Each 3rd and 4th grader was given a school recorder on Monday. The Official Recorder Passing-Out Ceremony was accompanied by applause as each student selected their instrument for the year. Returning recorder players impressed the novices with a rendition of "Cambiano," the students' favorite song from last year. During staff meeting, I heard students practicing the song out on the playground, and sounding pretty darn good! Music to my ears.
We have a wide range of recorder skill in our class, so we are beginning with basics of tone production and recorder care. While this may not be the most exciting stuff for our more advanced recorderistos and istas, it offers an opportunity for the experienced to polish their basic technique while letting the novice players try out basic technique. Students will have opportunities to form small groups at their experience level to work on more advanced repertoire as well.
To support home practice and music reading skills, I've ordered an instructional book and CD for each student to borrow. I've found that the easiest way to play an instrument well is to listen to someone else play it well, so selected a method with recordings of each song available. Each song also has an accompaniment track to make practicing more fun (and more rhythmically accurate). Students will receive their books in the next couple of weeks.
If you'd like to enhance your child's playing interest and ability even further, I'd suggest looking into recordings by professional artists, such as Michala Petri and the Pro Arte Recorder Ensemble. The recorder is not only for schoolchildren! It's a genuine musical instrument with a 900-year history. It's a simple instrument to learn to play, but difficult to learn to play well. Good luck on the journey! Those high notes can be ear-splitters ....
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