LESSON FOUR
D, E, Quavers
D, E, Quavers
The first exercise in this lesson is to revise what you have learnt so far. So play G counting to 4, in the next bar A count 1, 2 then B counting 3, 4, in bar 3 play C C B B counting 1 2 3 4 and in bar 4 play A A G G. You have now gone over the notes that you have played before both with regards to the pitch - how high or low the note is - and the type, semi-breve (4 beats), minim (2 beats) and crotchets (1 beat). However you are playing them going down in pitch as well as up which is new.
Now we are going to introduce another note. This is D which sits on the second line from the top of the stave. You will see from the fingering chart that to play this D you move your thumb so it is not covering the hole at the back of the recorder and you put just the second finger of your left hand on the second hole down. So blow B first counting 1, 2 and again counting 3. 4. Then play the same rhythm (that is the pattern of note lenghts) which is two minims but on C, then play the new note D, in the third bar it is a semi-breve so count 1 2 3 4 and in the final bar it is back to the first rhythm so count 1, 2 blow again and count 3, 4.
As you will see in the exercise above we are introducing another new note which sits in the top space on the stave. This note is E. To play this note half cover the hole at the back with your thumb and cover the first 5 holes on the front of the recorder. This is quite a change from D so practice swapping from one to the other a few times first. Then have a go at the exercise. Play D counting 1, 2 and again counting 3, 4. Then in bar two swap to E and count 1, 2 and blow E again counting 3, 4. In bar 3 swap back to D and blow four times counting 1 2 3 4 in a nice even tempo (tempo is the speed you play at) and in the final bar there are 4 more crotchets but in E so swap to E fingering and blow four times counting 1 2 3 4.
This last exercise uses only notes that you already know with regard to pitch but it introduces a new type of note. You will see that the second and third notes in the first bar are joined by a horizontal bar at the top of the lines coming up from them. This means they are both quavers. (Quavers which are on their own and not part of a pair look slightly different but we will look at that in a later lesson). Each quaver is only half a beat long. So in a 4/4 bar which has four single beats if you only had quavers you would have two for each beat, so that is 8 in a bar. Or you can have as in this example two single crotchet beats which add up to 2 and four half beat quavers which also total 2 to make up the four beats in the bar altogether.
So for bar 1 you will need to play G then two A's then G then two A's. The usual way to count this is 1, 2 and, 3, 4 and. This helps you to keep the speed even as the 1 2 3 and 4 are evenly spaced. I suggest a nice slow tempo the first time you try this. Then the same rhythm in bar two but on C and B. The third bar is two crotchets on D and then four quavers. So you will count 1, 2, 3 and, 4 and. All on the same note. Then in bar four the rhythm is repeated but on E so also 1, 2, 3 and, 4 and. This is definitely a bit trickier than the lessons that proceeded it so if you have to go over it more times then don't worry. Practice in music really does make perfect and it really doesn't matter how long it takes to get it right. This isn't a competition or a speed trial.
Some musical terms we have learnt in this lesson:
PITCH: How high or low a notes is
RHYTHM: The pattern that the lengths of the notes make, so 4 crotches on C is the same rhythm as 4 crotchets on B even though the notes are a different pitch
TEMPO: How fast or slow you play (when practising always start slow, and keep slow until it is right, then gradually speed up to the required temp - this is very important).
So for bar 1 you will need to play G then two A's then G then two A's. The usual way to count this is 1, 2 and, 3, 4 and. This helps you to keep the speed even as the 1 2 3 and 4 are evenly spaced. I suggest a nice slow tempo the first time you try this. Then the same rhythm in bar two but on C and B. The third bar is two crotchets on D and then four quavers. So you will count 1, 2, 3 and, 4 and. All on the same note. Then in bar four the rhythm is repeated but on E so also 1, 2, 3 and, 4 and. This is definitely a bit trickier than the lessons that proceeded it so if you have to go over it more times then don't worry. Practice in music really does make perfect and it really doesn't matter how long it takes to get it right. This isn't a competition or a speed trial.
Some musical terms we have learnt in this lesson:
PITCH: How high or low a notes is
RHYTHM: The pattern that the lengths of the notes make, so 4 crotches on C is the same rhythm as 4 crotchets on B even though the notes are a different pitch
TEMPO: How fast or slow you play (when practising always start slow, and keep slow until it is right, then gradually speed up to the required temp - this is very important).
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