Elementary Beginning Recorder: Kick Starting Recorder (General Music)

Grade Level: Elementary Beginning Recorder
Art Form: Music
Title of Lesson: Kick Starting Recorder
Related Arts Standard(s): Music Standard Strands: Performing, Creating, and Connecting

Students are excited to begin learning the recorder. This is a perfect lesson to get the students playing on their recorders and having success right away. Building on
principles of sound before sight, students will learn to play the G Note and gain immediate success on their instrument. The sequence is designed to teach G Note
first, in order to help students learn to cover all the tone holes necessary to play the notes with their left hand on top, which will benefit them later on when they
learn A and B (lifting one finger at a time, rather than having to learn to put one additional finger down and cover new holes).

Materials Needed:

The class will need access to recorders (one per person).

Learning Objectives:

Students will learn how to play a G on their recorder, the correct fingers to play, and the correct fingering position to use.

Students will play G on their recorder echoing rhythms the teacher plays.

Pass out recorders to your students. Have students place recorders under their chair (or in their lap) for future use.
Show the students in the air your recorder G Fingering Position (mirroring for students). Do not tell students this is a G. Instead, identify this hand position as “UNICORN”. Have students notice that the pink up looks like a unicorn horn (hold hand to forhead and show the pinky as a unicorn horn). Refer to “G Fingering Position” as “Unicorn” only for now. Have the students show you in the air, their unicorn horn using their left hand.
Once students are able to show the unicorn hand. Instruct students to hold recorders with their left hand covering the tone holes to make a unicorn, and have them use their right hand to hold the base of the instrument at the very bottom. Use this position to establish the left hand on top and the right hand stabilizing the instrument without worry about placement just yet. Students should be told to “Make a Unicorn” and every finger gets its own tone hole (pointer on top, middle next, ring finger on hole three, thumb on the back). Check each student’s hand placement and adjust correct as needed. When teacher shows this position, teacher mirrors students (teacher should use right hand on top for student ease of self-checking).
Have the students practice using their left hand fingers to cover the top three tone holes and the back tone hole, with the proper G fingering position. Have the students practice squeezing the holes to ensure the tone holes are all covered. Students can then look at their fingers to see the “hole” imprint on their skin to see if they have a full circle and are covering correctly. While we don’t squeeze hard to play, squeezing hard now helps students check their fingers are properly over the holes. Students should see imprints on the pads of their fingers (not the tips) and their hand should be in a C Shape if they are holding it correctly with their “Unicorn” Fingering.
Next instruct the students on how to blow into the recorder. Tell them to blow with only the tip of the recorder mouthpiece in their mouth, and use their tongue to say the word “tu.” Instruct students to play gently, like blowing a bubble without popping the bubble**. You can also use the analogy of playing like you were whispering a secret to a baby. Remind them, “No Big Bad Wolves here.. we are not blowing anyone’s house down!” Give the students time to blow into their recorder and try making the G Sound. [**A precursor to this could be taking the students outside to blow bubbles to practice blowing gently]
As students try out their G, go around the room one by one and listen to every student. Offer tips of correction, tell them which finger is not covering the hole all the way, if they need to squeeze the notes closed more so air cannot escape, if they are blowing too hard, or if they need to switch which hand they are using to play with. Each student should quickly get direct feedback (have the other students be quiet while you fix each not). Fixing each sound now will help them be more immediately successful in the future.
After going around the room, have the students listen to rhythms the teacher plays on the G Note and practice copying (i.e, ta ta ti-ti ta; ti-ti ta ta ta, etc.). Play several different rhythms and give students a chance to play their G note and copy the rhythms.

To conclude the lesson, after having students echo copy the “Unicorn” note (G Note) several times. Introduce the A Note through sound. Do not tell the students you are playing the A note. Simply during echoing, introduce the A Sound by lifting the left hand ring finger to make the A note. Students who are listening and following along, will copy to create this note. As playing the A note now is only venting a hole and not covering anything new, students who have been playing G will successfully be able to play an A. You may echo play using G and A, and have students copy simple rhythms.

To end class, introduce the new note “BUNNY” as students will have two bunny ears lifted and their hand will look like the shape of a bunny. Then remind students that they now know “Unicorn” and next class will review learning this new note “Bunny”. Have students take their recorders home to practice their “Unicorn” note, practice making it sound beautiful with gentle air, and if they’d like they can explore playing “Bunny” as well.

Continue to use animal names to teach all three notes (B A G), before introducing letter names. After introducing all three, then shift from the fingering position names (Unicorn, Bunny.. and B note is “Chicken/Rooster”), then teach the students the formal name for the note on the treble clef staff.