Strictly Come Dancing - Baroque style

Following my exploration of Renaissance dances last year, it’s now time to step (or perhaps dance?) forward into the Baroque period to compare the changing choreographic and musical styles.

When we think of dance forms in Baroque music we’re mostly talking about steps which developed in France and spread throughout Europe. Some of the dance movements we encounter today would have been used for dancing to, while others are a more stylised reinterpretation, such as those used by Bach in his instrumental music.

The nature of Baroque dance

When we think of Baroque dances there are two main types:

Social dancing

The first are the type of dances enjoyed in a social context. Think, for instance of John Playford’s The Dancing Master - a volume of English dances, published in several editions between 1651 and 1738. The first edition was intended for teaching dancing and printed in a small format so a dancing master could secret a copy beneath his cloak to refer to surreptitiously! The Dancing Master only gave floor patterns for dances and not the steps, so it became common for dancing masters to travel the country, teaching the latest steps and how to perform them.

Formal dances

In France social dancing no doubt took place, but the court of King Louis XIV was central to the development of formal dancing - the precursor to classical ballet. These same dances were later introduced to England in the court of King Charles II and subsequent French dance masters worked all over Europe sharing their knowledge. Dances appeared in all types of formal entertainment, from court events to opera and ballet in theatres.

In 1661 the Académie Royale de Danse formally codified the French dance style, resulting in the Beauchamp-Feulillet shorthand notation of dance steps in 1700. This was followed by treatises on the topic, such as Pierre Rameau's Le Maître à danser (1725) which described the steps and gave rules for arm movements.

Now let’s look at the different Baroque dances, many of which you’ll have encountered in the music you play.

Allemande

Allemanda, almain, alman

This is a direct descendant from the Almain we see the music of Holborne and Dowland and the Baroque Allemande became one of the most stylised dances. A line of couples would take each other’s hands and walk the length of the room, taking three steps and then balancing on one foot. This means the music doesn’t need to be played quickly if playing for dancers. The tempo gradually increased as the century went by and the more stylised versions of this dance found in the suites of Bach and Handel are played relatively quickly, almost entirely divorced from the music’s dance origins.

Courante

Corrente, coranto, corant

The courante is often paired with the Allemande in Baroque dance suites. It was popular in both France and Italy and the two countries seem to have adopted different styles for the dance.

In Italy (where it was the Corrente) it was a fairly rapid running dance, with small back and forth steps in triple time. Meanwhile, in France (a Courante) the style was more majestic. In 1725 Pierre Rameau describes it as

“A very slow dance that inspires an air of nobility more than the other dances”.

The common factor between both forms of this dance style is the time signature, which is always in three, usually with a short upbeat of a quaver or semiquaver.

Gavotte

Gavot, gavote, gavotta

Perhaps one of the most familiar Baroque dances, the Gavotte originated from a lively peasant kissing dance. Danced with lifted steps, it became popular in England and France. Later, in 18th century France it adopted a statelier style, in two or four time with a half bar anacrusis and more ornate steps. In common with many baroque dances, most Baroque gavottes are composed in binary form, comprising two sections of music each of which are repeated.

The opening of the Gavotte en Rondeau from Bach’s Violin Partita in E

Bourrée

The dance steps of a Bourrée

Like the Gavotte, the Bourrée is also a dance in duple (two) time, but with a single upbeat and a brisker tempo. It was popular for around a century, starting off as a folk dance in the mid 17th century. It was adopted by the Academie of Dance at the French court, where its small, quick steps were formalised.

The Bach Bourrée above has been influential on many popular musicians, including Paul McCartney who’s said in interviews on a number of occasions that it inspired his song Jenny Wren.

Sarabande

This dance often follows the Courante in a Baroque dance suite but has very different roots. It’s often claimed as a Spanish dance, but there are also links to the New World and the Middle East, depending on which source you consult. There’s a definite connection to the Spanish speaking parts of the New World as the oldest reference to a Zarabanda appears in a manuscript in Panama from 1539. Of course it’s entirely possible the dance had previously been taken there by Spanish explorers, so exact truth may never be known!

The Sarabande’s original dance steps were deemed so salacious and erotic it was banned in Spain by the late Renaissance. Inevitably taking the dance out of reach this just made it even more popular - such is the power of banning something!

By the Baroque it had become a more serious dance and is often assumed to require a slow tempo. But this isn’t always the case - the tempo depends on location. It was played more quickly in Spain, Italy and England, and slower in France and Germany. Two things are consistent regardless of the nationality - the music is in triple time and has a characteristic rhythm. This features a lifted first beat, followed by a minim or dotted crotchet, creating a stress on the second beat of the bar. Phrases frequently end with a weak (sometimes called feminine) ending.

Sometimes the Sarabande is combined with a ground bass, such as La Follia (also from Spain). This chord progression in triple time fits the dance’s rhythmic patterns perfectly and often forms the basis of sets of variations, as in the example by Corelli above.

Gigue

Giga, jig, jigg, jigge

The Gigue is usually the last dance of a baroque suite and has a quick tempo. It was popular in England from the 15th century, eventually gaining popularity in both France and Italy. In its earliest form it was consider a vulgar dance and Shakespeare refers to this characteristic in Much Ado about Nothing:

“Wooing is hot and hasty Iike a Scottish jigge.”

Over time it evolved into a more refined dance and in the 17th century Purcell included several Jiggs in his theatre music. The most obvious characteristic of a Gigue is its compound time signature (usually 6/8 or 9/8), with its lively ‘rumpty-tumpty’ rhythms. More recently, the theme from the radio show The Archers could definitely be considered a Gigue! The complexity of the music varies according to location, with simple line and harmonies in Italian examples and more complexity in France.

Loure

The Loure is another dance whose roots are in France - probably with its origins in folk music. Usually in compound time (6/4 or 6/8 time), it’s a slow, poised dance - sometimes described as a slow gigue. Johann Mattheson described it in 1738 as

“proud and self important in character”.

The dance often begins with an anacrusis (upbeat) of one and a half beats, as you can see in this example by Telemann. Sadly its popularity was short lived and was little used by later composers.

The Loure from Telemann’s Water Music

Minuet

Menuet, menuetto

Originating in France, the Minuet was an elegant dance in triple time, performed by pairs of dancers who begin in couples before coming together to dance across the floor in an S or Z shape pattern - thought to be a reference to Louis XIV’s fame as the Sun King. The musical lines fall into straightforward four bar phrases, accompanied by a walking bassline mostly in crotchet beats.

Unlike many of the dances we’ve looked at so far, the Minuet retained its popularity well beyond the baroque period. Gradually it lost its connection with dance, becoming a common musical form in concert music, such as symphonies and string quartets.

One characteristic which persisted from the Baroque was the inclusion of a Trio in many Minuets. This originated as a middle section for three instruments, often two oboes and bassoon - a combination popularised by Lully. This creates a contrast and is followed by a repeat of the Minuet straight afterwards, but played without repeats.

Passepied

A lively dance from Brittany which became popular in the mid 17th century. It tends to be in a fast triple time (usually 3/4 or 3/8) with an upbeat and, as the name suggests, the steps consisted of the feet passing each other, crossing and re-crossing. It often appears in French Baroque opera and ballet in pastoral scenes, but the Passepied continued to appear in later instrumental music, such as the last movement of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No.1.

Rigaudon

Rigadoon

This is another lively dance in two time, similar to the Bourrée. Originally a folk dance from southern France, its hopping steps gained more formal popularity in the court of Louis XIV and remained in favour throughout the 18th century in France.

Hornpipe

Naval cadets dancing a hornpipe on deck in 1928

While the majority of the dances popular during the Baroque period developed in France, the Hornpipe was most popular in England. Today the term probably conjures up images of sailors dancing on deck, and it probably originated on English ships during the 16th century. Sailors’ hornpipes could be danced in duple or triple time, depending on the location. The Hornpipe performed at the Last Night of the Proms each year is in two, while the folk form danced in Northumberland and Scotland is often in three.

The hornpipes composed during the Baroque period tend to follow this latter format, with a triple time signature. There are lots of examples in Playford’s The Dancing Master, while both Purcell and Handel composed Hornpipes too, sometimes incorporating Playford’s popular dance tunes.

Hopefully this fandango through a myriad of Baroque dances has left your toes tapping. Which ones are your favourites? I’m partial to a sonorous Sarabande myself, but when the mood takes me I could be tempted to gad around to a lively gigue! Below you’ll find a list of some of my own consort videos which include these dances, so you can play some of them yourself - either with me or with friends. Enjoy!

Bach Rondeau from Orchestral Suite No. 2 Gavotte

Bach Orchestral Suite No.3 Gavotte, Bourrée and Gigue

Handel Water Music Sarabande, Bourrée and Minuet

Handel Fireworks Music La Rejouissance and Menuet

Mozart Menuetto from Symphony No.39 K.543

Pezel Four Dances Sarabande, Allemande and Courente

Telemann Suite in G major Gavotte

Arranging and composing for recorder consort

The recorder has a wider range of native repertoire than many instruments thanks to its long history. We have Renaissance consorts (many of which were composed for unspecified instruments so they’re definitely fair game for recorders), a plethora of Baroque sonatas and concertos (even a smattering of consort pieces from the period) and a vast array of works composed since the recorder’s 20th century revival. But still we have a perpetual desire to broaden the range of music we play. This invariably leads us to raid other sources for music we can borrow, including vocal and instrumental repertoire.

If, like me, you want to explore beyond the recorder’s native repertoire you have three choices - transcriptions of pre-existing music, making more creative arrangements or composing something from scratch. Let’s consider each of these in turn…

Transcription

I would class this as a piece where you can take a work and transfer it quite simply to recorders. You might need to change the key of the music (more about that later) or play a little with the parts to make them fit, but otherwise it’s generally a fairly simple process. This approach often works well with vocal music and many Renaissance instrumental works will translate easily to recorders too.

Creative arrangement

In this category you might choose to create a new piece from a tune you already know - for instance combining folk tunes and adding your own twist of creativity. I think this could also include arrangements of music which isn’t immediately obviously suitable for recorders. Perhaps a piece for piano where you have to create individual lines from a more homogenous texture.

Composing

Handel’s manuscript

Here the only limit is your own imagination!

You have complete control over the choice of instruments, style of music, level of difficulty and much more. Whether you feel comfortable composing may depend on your musical knowledge and level of experience, but I would argue there’s nothing to stop you having a go. As with writing a novel, I would suggest you begin by drawing on your own experiences. Perhaps start with your recorder, noodling around with the sort of musical shapes you enjoy playing and if something great comes to you try writing it down. You could begin with a single line and work on from there. Even if you never share the music with anyone else you’ll learn from the experience and it’ll give you a greater understanding of what composers do. You don’t need fancy music typesetting software for this - all that’s required is some manuscript paper, a pencil and eraser. You can even download and print manuscript paper from the internet these days. Blanksheetmusic.net will even insert the clef for you before you print.

I’m going to focus mostly today on arranging as that’s my main area of expertise - I’ve never been much of a  composer. But many of my tips will apply just as much to composing, so if that’s what tickles your fancy do read on…

Let’s say you fancy trying your hand at arranging or transcribing - where’s a good place to start?

Again, personal experience of music can lead you in a particular direction. Is there a piece of music you’ve heard that you’d like to try on recorders? Or maybe you have a favourite composer who neglected to write for your favourite instrument? These ideas may be enough to get you started, but I have some other ideas about the type of music you could mine.

Vocal music

Don’t be overambitious to begin with - pick something simple for your first arrangement. Vocal music often works really well because the range of the human voice is very similar to that of the recorder. Maybe begin with a hymn tune or a simple piece of Renaissance choral music? If you have a work for soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices, the chances are it’ll fit perfectly on descant, treble, tenor and bass recorders.

Renaissance instrumental music

Many pieces from this period don’t specify the instrumentation and may work well on recorders. If the music was originally for viols you might have to change the music from alto or tenor clef to something more familiar. You may find the notes need a little adjustment (shifting occasional low notes up an octave for instance) to fit the recorder. Unless you’re arranging the music for low recorders (tenor downwards) you’ll almost certainly need to shift all the notes an octave higher to make them fit, but we’ll talk about recorder pitch later.

Later music

Music intended for modern orchestral instruments may have lines which are too long for a single recorder to play, but we’ll look at how to cope with this in a while. It’s often tempting to try and fill the classical and romantic gap in the recorder’s repertoire, but sometimes pieces just don’t translate to recorders well. Many years ago I heard Wagner’s Procession to the Minster from Lohengrin played by a brass band and wondered if it might work on recorders. A brass band is a monochromatic ensemble (all the instruments basically make the same type of sound), just like recorders, so it seemed logical. Of course, a brass band has a much wider dynamic range and sadly I discovered a recorder orchestra (even if it’s made up of 130 people) just doesn’t have the same impact as a brass band at full power. It was a useful learning experience though, even if the music has only been used once!

If you’re considering arranging music originally intended for a symphony orchestra it’s worth bearing in mind the effect the transition to recorders may have on the impact of the music. Orchestral music derives a lot of its colour from the use of different instruments - for instance a melody played by a solo oboe against a string accompaniment. With a monochromatic recorder ensemble we lose this variety of colour so you may need to find ways around this. For instance, you could double a line an octave higher (say, a treble line doubled by sopranino) to bring a little sparkle. Some orchestral music will work this way, while other pieces just seem to lose their magic. That said, don’t be afraid to try - if nothing else you’ll learn something in the process!

The example below comes from my arrangement of The Shepherds’ Farewell by Berlioz. You can see that at bar 45 I’ve chosen to give all the music to the lower instruments to create a contrast of tone colour.

Keyboard music

A recorder transcription of keyboard music which contains clear musical lines (a fugue for instance) can be very effective. On the other hand, keyboard music (whether for piano, harpsichord or organ) can take many forms - single lines for each hand, chords or arpeggio patterns. These can require some imagination and creativity to make them work on recorders, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend keyboard music as the ideal starting point if you’re new to arranging.

The examples below come from Bach’s Little Fugue in C major. The original (on the left) is composed for keyboard, but the different voices are clear within the music so it transfers very easily to four recorder parts (on the right).

Listen to music for inspiration

As you listen to music ask yourself if you can imagine it being played on recorders. This is where my arrangements often start - sometimes I’ll hear a piece which immediately strikes me as being ‘recorder-like’ in some way. For instance, the Palestrina Sicut cervus I shared as a consort last year was something I discovered via YouTube. Its beauty and simple lines immediately struck me as being recorder-friendly so I went in search of the music.

Where to search for music?

Actually tracking down sheet music has become immeasurably easier over the last twenty years. Once upon a time you had to buy a physical book of sheet music or hope to find it in your local library. Now a search online can be all that’s needed. My first port of call is always the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) which is a vast repository for music that’s out of copyright. If you’re looking for something by a composer who died more than 70 years ago there’s a good chance you’ll find it here.

Other useful sources are the ChoralWiki (previously known as the Choral Public Domain Library or CPDL), 8Notes and the Mutopia Project. All of these sites offer free access to public domain music, but many have a paid tier to remove adverts or allow you unlimited downloads.

Getting started

Whether you’re arranging or composing for the recorder here are some basic pieces of practical advice which will help you get started.

Notation

Recorder notation can be confusing at first and sometimes trips up the unwary. You’ll often hear people talk about recorders in F and recorders in C. This suggests they’re transposing instruments, like the clarinet (which comes in B flat, A and E flat varieties). In reality all the letter describes is the pitch of the recorder’s lowest note. Therefore a recorder in F (treble, bass or sopranino) plays an F if all the finger holes are covered. Unlike real transposing instruments, any note on a recorder is written at its sounding pitch.

This brings us onto clefs….

Recorder clefs

All recorders either play from the treble or bass clef - which clef largely depends on the pitch of the instrument. Generally, any recorder down to the tenor plays from treble clef, while bass and lower use the bass clef. Having said that, some bass and great bass players prefer to play from treble clef so they don’t have to learn to read bass clef.

One small complication is the use of a little 8 above some clefs. This indicates that the instrument in question either sounds an octave (eight notes) higher or lower than the written pitch. This is a purely practical thing, so no one has to read too many leger lines. If descant recorder music was really notated at playing pitch, the lowest note would be in the third space of the stave and the high C would have five leger lines, making it very hard to read! As a result it can look as though treble music is higher in pitch than descant music because it tends to have more leger lines - something often confuses people.

Here’s a chart showing the clefs and sounding ranges of each type of recorder - you can see how using the octave clefs results in far fewer leger lines for some of the instruments:

Recorder ranges

While we’re thinking about notation, let’s also consider the range of notes you might use for each recorder. For most recorders, the easily useable range is two octaves and a note. Yes, higher notes are possible, but not very user friendly. It’s a good idea to think about the type of players you’re arranging the music for. Professionals should be able to play the entire compass, but if your intended audience is made up of middle of the road amateurs I would go for a more modest range. Fluent players will probably be comfortable with two octaves, but if you’re aiming your arrangement at those who are less confident I would restrict yourself to around an octave and six notes from each instrument’s lowest note.

Here’s another chart showing the written ranges for each instrument. Each instrument shows the range you could expect from advanced players, followed by an easier playing range for those who are less experienced.

Choose your instruments

Before you start arranging you need to decide which recorders you’re planning to write for. If you have a particular group in mind, do they have the full range of instruments? It’s no good writing a piece for the classic descant/treble/tenor/bass (SATB) quartet format, only to find that no one plays the bass! If you have access to more players, doubling up the inner parts (say, two treble and/or two tenor parts) can add richness to the sound because it allows you to write more layers into the music.

The following example comes from A Thousand Christmas Candles and you can see how the arranger has chosen to have two treble and tenor parts to increase the richness. He also uses octave doubling of the melody (shown by the circled bars) to create greater depth.

What sort of sound world are you aiming to create? An SATB quartet can be quite high pitched, while a low consort of tenor, bass, great bass and contrabass creates a much mellower effect. If you have enough players at your disposal, doubling lines at the octave can also be an effective way to enrich the sound. This works especially well in Renaissance music where the texture and harmony is often quite simple to start with.

In my arrangement of Bach’s By the Rivers of Babylon I chose to double the tenor melody line on great bass to enhance and enrich the sound.

Key signatures

Here I would encourage you to be kind! I’m sure you know from experience that playing in keys with many sharps or flats can be difficult on the recorder. This is largely because the accidentals often require forked or cross fingers (think of E flat on the treble, or B flat on the descant). These notes not only have a slightly different tone colour (sometimes weaker) but because such fingerings are more complex they can be difficult to play at speed and tuning can also be more of a challenge.

Many years ago a tutor on a course I attended arranged the Hebrides Overture by Felix Mendelssohn for a massed playing session in its original key of B minor. Two sharps isn’t so bad, but by the time we got to the point in the overture where the music shifts into F sharp minor only a small handful of us were actually able to play the fast moving semiquaver scales in three or four sharps!

Sometimes such difficulties can be overcome by transposing the music into another key entirely. For instance, I’ve recently arranged a part song by Sir Arthur Sullivan, originally composed in A flat - a key signature of four flats. I knew most recorder players would find this very difficult, so instead I shifted every note down a semitone into G major (just one sharp in the key signature) and every group I’ve tried it with has thanked me for my kindness because it’s much more playable!

Beware of troublesome notes

There are a handful of notes which can be particularly awkward, regardless of the playing ability of the musicians and it’s sensible to avoid these if you can.

For example, top F sharp on the treble can only be played in tune by using the top G fingering and then stopping the bottom of the recorder with your knee. (The same applies to top C sharp on the descant). This requires a degree of gymnastics more easily achieved while sitting down, but even then there’s a small risk of clouting one’s teeth with the recorder if you’re not careful! Professional players will be practiced at this technique but less advanced players often hesitate when faced with a top F sharp and the resulting sounds can be very variable. One way around this is to place the line requiring a top F sharp into a descant line, where it will be placed in a more comfortable part of the instrument’s range.

There’s other note which requires less dental jeopardy, but nonetheless is also probably best avoided - top C sharp for the bass recorder. This fingering works well on smaller instruments, but for some odd reason it’s reluctant to speak on many basses - in particular plastic models. If you really need this note to be played by a bass there is an alternative fingering (shown below) which produces a sweet tone, but it can be tricky to find if you haven’t practised using it. Alternatively, slurring to the C sharp from the previous note will sometimes overcome the problem.

A fingering for top C sharp which works on all bass recorders.

Think about the voicing of your musical lines

As I’m sure you’re aware, not every note in a recorder’s range is dynamically equal. The lowest notes are quiet and fragile, while the tones in the upper register are stronger. You can use this to your advantage when arranging. If you need a melody line to sing out from the middle of the ensemble you might be better to place it higher in the range of a tenor recorder rather than low on a treble. This way you can influence the way any one musical line will either pop out of the ensemble or recede into the background.

Dynamics and range

This topic relates to the previous one because you can also use the natural characteristics of the recorder to create dynamic contrasts.

If you want your piece to end with a quiet chord, place the notes low in the instruments’ range. In contrast, if you’re after a triumphant fanfare to finish you’ll be better placing the notes higher in the range for added strength. Equally, if you include dynamics in the music, don’t be surprised if a top C on a descant isn’t played pianissimo - it just isn’t the nature of such high notes!

It’s worth noting that the recorder is capable of playing genuine dynamics, but how successful they are will depend on the ability of your players. Varying the speed of breath creates some dynamic contrast, but the pitch will often slide up or down a little with high or low breath pressures. Advanced players will frequently employ alternative fingerings to combat this issue - for instance playing a slightly sharp fingering for a quiet note so they can blow more gently and remain in tune. For many players this may be beyond their technical comfort zone, so be realistic about your expectations.

Ensure everyone has some musical interest

There’s nothing worse than playing in a consort and realising the descant line is the only one to contain a melody. Yes, accompanying is an important and enjoyable part of ensemble playing, but the joy can wear off if all you have is oom-pah-pahs! When arranging music, do try to ensure everyone has at least a small slice of the action. It might be you’ve chosen a piece to arrange which has a cracking bass melody in the middle section, or perhaps you could decide to give the tenors the tune while the descants and trebles play a light accompaniment above them. Your players will thank you if you give everyone some interest rather than just an accompaniment of long notes.

Get creative with accompanying patterns

If you’re creating accompaniments from scratch rather than just transcribing another composer’s lines, don’t be afraid to play and explore different textures. There is a place for sustained long notes, but sometimes you can add rhythm to create more variety. For instance, an ostinato rhythm (one that repeats) can add a sense of excitement and drive. In this extract from my own Polish Folk Song Suite, I’ve used arpeggio patterns to create a more interesting texture around the melody.

Articulation and slurs

While the recorder may not have a huge dynamic range, it does excel in its variety of articulation. Using staccato, accents and slurs can add so much character to a performance so don’t forget to employ these in your arrangements.

Recorder players often have a love/hate relationship with slurs - largely because the more complex nature of our instrument’s fingering makes some of them challenging. Most players are happy to play short slurs of two or three notes, but if you choose to use long, melismatic slurs it can be hit and miss whether they’ll be played. If you really want them played as slurs (rather than just indicating the length of a phrase) it’s worth noting this in the score, although that still doesn’t guarantee the players won’t inadvertently cut them down into smaller slurs anyway!

While we’re on the topic of slurs, it’s worth noting that some are harder to play than others. For example a slur across the transition from low register (covered thumb hole) to upper register (pinched thumbhole) can be a little ‘clicky’ because of the number fingers that have to be moved. It’s always good practice to take the time to play through all the parts yourself to see if they work comfortably. Doing this gives you a chance to make any tweaks before releasing your carefully honed work into the wild.

Coping with long melody lines

If you venture into less obvious musical realms (for instance music for orchestral instruments) you’ll sometimes come across melodies which are too wide ranging to be played by a single recorder. This problem can be solved by sharing the melody across two instruments, with a note or two to link up between them. Below you’ll see two examples of places where I’ve done exactly this. The first is from my arrangement of Bach’s Esurientes, where the alto vocal line was a too long to be played comfortably by just the tenor recorder. Here I’ve shared it out between tenor and bass (the red lines show the path of the melody), so the breath demands are easier and the melody is always played in a strong part of the recorder.

My second example comes from an arrangement of Eric Coates’ London Bridge March. He writes a wonderful swooping melody which fits beautifully on the violin, but has too great a range for one recorder. Instead I’ve shared it between treble and tenor recorders and each voice switches back to accompanying figures when it doesn’t have the tune.

Exploring extended techniques

This may be a new term to you, but it describes the way composers sometimes use less traditional methods of playing a recorder. Our instrument is capable of so much more than just blown notes, such tapping the recorder with your fingers, blowing across the labium, using the just the head joint - the possibilities are endless! These effects are often used in contemporary music and can be a great way to create pictorial effects in your music. This example comes from Judith Bush’s Midwinter Miniatures. Holding one’s fingers across the labium creates a whistling tone which enhances the impression of a frozen winter wind whistling through the house and is so effective in performance.

Extended techniques is a subject large enough for an entire blog, but if this concept intrigues you I encourage you to watch Sarah Jeffery’s video about the topic.

Learn from other arrangers and composers

As you begin your journey as an arranger or composer, one of the best things you can do is to learn from others. Find every opportunity to play in consorts, using the score to see how the composer or arranger has constructed the music. Take note of where the melody lines occur within the ensemble and how the composer/arranger voices the other instruments so as not to obscure the tune. Look at the way he or she uses dynamics and articulation markings to bring light and shade to the music. Exploring music from the inside can be so inspiring.

Listening to music will teach you a lot too. Listening to recorder consorts can open your ears to the way different instruments have an impact on the sound of the music, while exploring repertoire played by other instruments may give you ideas for pieces to arrange.

Always be curious and don’t be afraid to explore unfamiliar types of music - you never know where inspiration will strike.

Talk to other composers and arrangers

The recorder world is a very friendly one and if you meet a composer or arranger at a workshop or playing day the chances are they’ll be only too happy to chat with you. One of the best ways to pick up advice is to ask questions of those who already have experience, so don’t be afraid to speak to people you already know or meet at recorder events.

Over to you…

Is there anything I’ve missed out? Do you still have questions? If so, do leave a comment below and I’ll endeavour to fill any gaps. Or perhaps you’ve already had a go and you have tips of your own. Please feel free to share you thoughts and ideas with us in the comments so we can all learn more about composing and arranging.

Maybe you’ve already made some arrangements or compositions and you want to share them with others? Over the years several of my Score Lines subscribers have contacted me with their own arrangement and compositions and some have appeared in my consorts library, becoming popular downloads. If you have a piece you’re proud of why not get in touch and perhaps we can bring your creations to a wider audience - don’t be shy!

Drama and style - exploring Italian Baroque Sonatas

If I ask you to name a Baroque recorder sonata, which composer would immediately spring to mind? Handel, or perhaps Telemann? They’re two of the biggest names of the Baroque era (what a shame Bach never composed any recorder sonatas to complete the trilogy!) but there were many others who also wrote for our favourite instrument. 

In today’s blog we’re going to visit 18th century Italy to explore some marvellous repertoire from composers who were well respected in their day, but perhaps aren’t household names today. Some of these composers spent their lives working in their home country, but many visited London, which was arguably the place to be for musicians in the early 1700s, and some of them decided to stay. 

It’s been such a pleasure diving into this musical world - at times elegant, often dramatic and always oozing with Italian style. I’ve come up with a playlist of seven recorder sonatas, but each one is part of a longer playlist too. I’ve included a link to each album and I hope perhaps you’ll bookmark them on YouTube so you can explore them further. All are available to stream/download too, and some of them as CDs, so I’ve included links to these too. So sit down with a cup of your favourite beverage (or perhaps a glass of chianti or a cappuccino?) and relax as I transport us to Italy. 

If these inspire you to try them for yourself I’ve dug out links to the music for each sonata, which you can download and print. Many are also available as facsimiles of 18th century editions, which are fascinating in their own right. If you have some spare time, why not print out both versions so you can compare 18th and 21st century notation. Many of them are remarkably easy to read and I love the way these online resources allow us to go back in time and see the notation exactly as the composer would have known it.  

Francesco Barsanti - Sonata in C major Op.1 No.2

Flute Sonatas from the Italian Baroque, Vol. 2 - Frans Brüggen (recorder), Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord), Anner Bylsma (cello)

Warner Classics: 9029527253

Listen to the complete album here.

Sheet music - Modern edition or 18th century facsimile

As recorder players we often borrow music from other instruments to expand our repertoire, but this can create problems. Sometimes the pitch has to be altered and the process of transcribing often results in music which feels less comfortable on the recorder. Happily, Barsanti’s music has none of these pitfalls. Not only were his six sonatas originally composed for the recorder, but the composer was also a talented player of the instrument and you really can tell.

Barsanti (1690–1775) trained as a lawyer in Padua but at the age of 24 he abandoned this career for a life in music, travelling to London, perhaps with composer Geminiani. A talented recorder player and oboist, he quickly found a role in the Haymarket orchestra, where Handel’s operas were produced. He stuck with this until 1735, before moving to Edinburgh for nearly a decade. Here he took up a post with the Edinburgh Music Society and enjoyed the patronage of Lady Erskine. He also married a local woman called Jean (her surname remains unknown) and their daughter Jenny became a well known actress in both London and Dublin. 

Sadly the Edinburgh Music Society wasn’t a rich institution and after receiving a 50% pay cut in 1740, and having several requests for a rise turned down, Barsanti eventually returned to London. After eight years away his previously strong reputation had faded so he agreed to become a violinist in Handel’s opera orchestra. 

An example of Barsanti’s quirky approach to slurs

Fortunately for us, Barsanti’s six recorder sonatas were rediscovered by Walter Bergmann in the 1940s and he published three of them through his work with the publisher, Schott. When you play them it rapidly becomes clear these are the work of someone who really understood the recorder. Not only do the notes lie easily under the fingers, but he has a quirky approach to articulation, adding slurs and staccato to the music where most other composers of the day left such musical decisions entirely to the performer.

The C major Sonata is one of my favourites from this set, recorded here by Frans Bruggen way back in 1972. The opening Adagio is remarkably florid and feels quite operatic at times, with its chromatic moments and highly ornamented lines. The recorder and basso continuo lines are very much equal partners throughout the sonata and there’s a lovely sense of conversation in the Allegro.

Benedetto Marcello - Sonata in F Op.2 No.12

Flauto Veneziano - Dorothee Oberlinger (recorder), Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca

Deutsche HM: 88697988632

Listen to the complete album here.

Sheet music - Modern edition or 18th century facsimile

Benedetto Marcello

Like Barsanti, Marcello (1686-1739) also worked in the law, although Marcello did this in parallel with his musical life under pressure from his father. While living in Venice he was a pupil of Antonio Lotti and followed his teacher in composing a vast array of music, including instrumental pieces, hundreds of cantatas and many operas. Alongside the music his satirical pamphlet Il teatro alla moda (1720) became very popular in his lifetime, although initially it was published anonymously. In it he mercilessly criticises Italian opera of the period, from its artificial storylines, extravagant staging and the vanity of the singers.

He offers the following satirical advice to composers and singers:

"The modern Music Composer should possess no knowledge about the Rules of good composition, except for some principle of universal practice... He should not understand the numeric Musical Proportions, nor the optimal effect of contrary Motions, or the bad Relation of Tritones and augmented Intervals."

"To the Singers – It is not necessary that the VIRTUOSO can read, or write, or have a good pronunciation of vowels, and of single and double Consonants, or understand the sense of Words, etc., but it is better if he mistakes Senses, Letters, Syllables, etc., in order to perform Ornaments, Trills, Appoggiature, very long Cadences, etc. etc. etc."

Ironically, by the time this piece was published Marcello had himself already composed one opera of his own and subsequently wrote several more, although I wouldn’t like to say whether or not he followed his own advice!

This sonata is the final one from his Op.2 set, composed early in his career. Most sonatas from this period comprise three or four movements, but here Marcello goes for five, two of which take the form of dances from the period - a Minuet and Gavotte. He finishes the work with a beautiful Ciaccona, which is based around a repeating four bar bassline. Unlike a ground bass (where the continuo team play the same bassline throughout) in a ciaccona (or chaconne) the accompaniment explores the melodic and harmonic possibilities of this sequence, gradually becoming an equal partner with the recorder line.

Francesco Mancini (1672 – 1737) Sonata No.4 in A minor

Francesco Mancini: Six Recorder Sonatas - Yi-Chang Liang, Machiko Suto & Ensemble IJ SPACE

Claves: CD1907

Listen to the complete album here.

Sheet music - Modern edition or 18th century facsimile

Francesco Mancini (1672-1737) hailed from Naples, and is one of a number of composers who benefitted from Alessandro Scarlatti’s absence from the Neapolitan court between 1702 and 1708. During this time he was Director of the Conservatorio di S Maria di Loreto and maestro of the Capella Reale. On Scarlatti’s return he resumed his original role as his deputy, finally taking a step up once again on the elder composer’s death in 1725.

I introduced you to Mancini’s charming recorder sonatas in my October 2023 Sounding Pipes playlist, but I couldn’t resist including another of my favourites here, beautifully performed by Yi-Chang Liang. You can sense Mancini’s experience as a composer of opera here, especially in the first movement with its sudden contrasts of mood and tempo.

Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani - Sonata in D minor Op.3 No.12

Upon a Ground - Tabea Debus (recorder), Lea Rahel Bader (baroque cello), Johannes Lang (harpsichord), Kohei Ota (theorbo), Jan Croonenbroeck (organ)

Classic Clips: CLCL12

Listen to the complete album here.

Sheet music - modern edition or 18th century facsimile

Sources of information on Paolo Benedetto Bellinzani (1682-1757) seem to be rather sparse, but he was evidently an active composer, writing lots of vocal music. However, he also produced a collection of twelve recorder sonatas, a handful of which have been edited into modern playing editions.

This sonata is utterly intriguing. The opening Largo is rather abstract in its form, exploring constantly shifting harmonies rather than going for clear melodic lines. This is followed by a typical lively Allegro but from here it becomes ever more dramatic. Movement three is a solo for harpsichord (fully written out in the 18th century edition) which gives the recorder player a chance to breathe and creates a sizeable introduction to the final movement. The Sonata climaxes with an exciting set of variations on La Follia - a popular melodic and harmonic progression which has been used by composers from the 15th century to the present day.

Tabea Debus has chosen to use a large continuo team for this recording, comprising organ, harpsichord, cello and baroque guitar. They play with a remarkably light touch for such a large ensemble and I love the variety of tonal colours they’re able to create. There are moments which feel positively ecclesiastical (recorder and organ for instance) which contrast with other variations played with a sense of wild abandon in keeping with La Follia’s Iberian origins.

Diogenio Bigaglia - Sonata in A minor - descant recorder

Corelli & Co - Parnassus Avenue - Dan Laurin (recorders), Hanneke van Proosdij (harpsichord, organ, recorder), David Tayler (theorbo/baroque guitar), Tanya Tomkins (cello)

BIS: BISCD945

Listen to the complete album here

Sheet music - modern edition.

The majority of solo recorder repertoire from the Baroque was composed for the treble, so this delightful sonata for descant by Diogenio Bigaglia (c.1678-1745) immediately stands out from the crowd. Bigaglia was well respected by his peers (including notable composers such as Vivaldi, Marcello and Albinoni) but today he’s all but vanished into obscurity. He joined a Benedictine monastery in Venice when he was just sixteen, but continued to compose both instrumental and vocal music alongside his role there.

This sonata is probably the best known of his works today, but if this whets your appetite, Bigaglia’s Opus 1 set of sonatas is also worth exploring. The title page labels them as sonatas for violin or flute (meaning recorder) and continuo. This was a common strategy during the Baroque (both Handel and Telemann did the same), perhaps because composer knew the music would work on either instrument, or more likely because it gave the potential for greater sales!

Francesco Maria Veracini - Sonata no.6 for violin or recorder

Vivaldiana - Michael Form (recorder), Dirk Börner (harpsichord), Melanie Flahaut (bassoon) & Delphine Biron (cello)

Pan Classics: PC10255

Listen to the complete album here

Sheet music - 18th century facsimile

Francesco Veracini

Veracini’s Twelve Sonatas for violin or recorder (another multipurpose set, like Bigaglia’s Sonatas mentioned above) were composed for Prince Friedrich August when he visited Italy to recruit musicians for the court in Dresden. Ultimately he hired an entire opera company, including Antonio Lotti as director and the famous castrato Senesino. The company included violinist Veracini, who was reputedly paid a very high salary. Already a well known violin virtuoso, he was required to compose music for the court and in 1717 became Kapellmeister in Dresden.

Veracini had a fearsome reputation, both as a violinist and for his arrogance. A quarrel with one of his fellow musicians led to a fall from an upstairs window which broke Veracini’s leg. There are conflicting accounts of the incident (did he jump or was he pushed?) but it seems the other court musicians were relieved to be rid of Veracini when he fled Dresden afterwards.

In the sonata I’m sharing here, Michael Form creates a virtuosic performance which I imagine would have delighted Veracini. Alongside his reputation as a player, Veracini was widely recognised as a stylish and talented composer. The music historian Charles Burney said of him, "he had certainly a great share of whim and caprice, but he built his freaks on a good foundation, being an excellent contrapuntist". Michael Form has chosen to reflect this ‘whim and caprice’ with his endlessly creative ornamentation and I hope you find his infectious sense of joy as pleasing as I do.

Giuseppe Sammartini - Sonata in F major Sibley No.23

Sammartini - Sonatas for recorder & bass continuo - Maurice Steger (recorders), Sergio Ciomei (harpsichord & organ), Mauro Valli (cello), Christian Beuse (bassoon), Margret Köll (harp), Eduardo Egüez (theorbo & guitar) & Naoki Kitaya (organ)

Harmonia Mundi: HMC905266

Listen to the complete album here

Sheet music - 18th century facsimile

My final Italian sonata comes from another composer who was one of the most respected performers of his time - Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750). Originally from Milan, Sammartini spent the majority of his working life in London where he gained a reputation as "the greatest oboist the world had ever known". He was reputed to be able to make the oboe sound like the human voice, such was the beauty of his tone. Like most woodwind players of the day, he also played recorder and flute, working in Handel’s orchestra and many others besides. He later worked closely with Haydn, playing a part in the development of the younger composer’s classical style.

Giuseppe Sammartini

In this sonata, Sammartini’s development of the Baroque style into something even more expressive is immediately clear. Most composers of the period chose a single tempo for each movement, but Sammartini explores the dramatic possibilities of shifting the boundaries. Nowhere is this more evident than the second movement, which veers dramatically between a jaunty Allegro and slower improvisatory sections, packed with extreme emotions. As if this wasn’t enough, he continues with an astonishing Adagio, so dramatic it sounds positively operatic. Having comprehensively wrung out our nerves, the final movement is one of pure joy, allowing us a moment to come back to earth again!

~ ~ ~

There ends our brief sojourn to Italy - one I hope that’s been both inspiring and entertaining for you. It’s easy to be distracted by the big names of the Baroque period, but I hope perhaps this has opened your eyes to some of the other composers who wrote for the recorder. Do you have a favourite Italian sonata I’ve missed, perhaps by another composer? If there are other pieces you would include among your favourites please do tell us about them in the comments below - I’d love to hear which Italian Baroque composers you just couldn’t live without!

Learn to love your scales!

What comes into your mind when you think about scales and arpeggios? Perhaps memories from childhood - being nagged by a teacher to practise? Or maybe even a degree of perplexity about exactly what they are?

Many of us have a love/hate relationship with scales. When I think back to my teenage years I realise I owe my music teachers an apology for my lack of application when it came to these fundamental exercises. Time and again I would spend the last two or three weeks before a music exam frantically cramming my scales and arpeggios instead of learning them gradually over a longer period, Fortunately for me, I had an uncanny ability to learn them at speed and I usually got away with this last minute feverish rush of learning. The downside was that I never really absorbed them thoroughly, so within a couple of weeks of the exam I’d forgotten them all again! My slapdash approach must have been infuriating, but those teachers I’m still in touch with seem to have forgiven me!

Of course the irony is I’ve seen the same situation from the other side of the fence many times during my teaching career, quietly trying cajoling my students to start learning their scales and arpeggios as early as possible…

What are scales and arpeggios?

The first movement of Telemann’s Sonata in F major which is built upon lots of scale patterns.

Scales and arpeggios are the fundamental building blocks of music and all western music is created from these patterns. A scale uses neighbouring notes, while an arpeggio uses the 1st, 3rd and 5th steps of a scale to create a broken chord, where the notes are played in turn to create a melodic line rather than as harmonies.

Major and minor scales contain eight different pitches within each octave, arranged in a particular combination of tones and semitones. On the other hand, a chromatic scale includes all 12 notes - just as you would if you played every black and white note in order on the piano.

You’re probably most familiar with the concept of major, minor and chromatic scales, but there are many more types besides. Pentatonic scales have just five notes (sound just the black notes on a piano and you’re playing a pentatonic scale), modes are created from the patterns made by playing the white notes of the keyboard in different combinations, and jazz musicians have their own varieties of scales.

They’re not just a feature of western music either - in some musical cultures other patterns are used. For instance, Indian music is based on ragas - scale patterns which can include intervals even smaller than our semitone.

Why do I need to learn scales and arpeggios?

This is a cry many teachers have heard from their students in frustration! While they may not seem terribly exciting, learning scales and arpeggios helps your music making in many different ways. Let’s look at some of them…

They help you gain fluency

If we’re to play music with ease and speed, fluency is vital. Getting to the point where your fingers automatically find the patterns needed for each note at speed will allow you to tackle ever more challenging repertoire. If you have to stop and think about which fingers to move before each note (as a total beginner might) your musical lines will lack a sense of flow.

Improve your sight reading skills

Because music is made up of scale and arpeggio patterns, being able to recognise and fluently play these combinations of notes helps you read unfamiliar music more easily. If you want a comparison, it’s a bit like learning to read text. When we first learn to read we recognise the individual letters. Gradually we learn that these letters often appear together in particular combinations so we begin to recognise syllables and ultimately whole words and sentences. The notes of a scale are like the individual letters, while a scale is a long word or sentence which we take in at a glance through familiarity.

Coordinating finger movements

One of the big challenges of recorder playing is the complexity of the fingerings. Modern wind instruments have keywork to help simplify the finger patterns. Recorders lack these, so instead we have to play complex forked fingerings (for instance B flat on the descant or E flat on treble recorder). Shifting between neighbouring notes can often involve moving multiple fingers up and down simultaneously. We can use scales and arpeggios to practise this and make our finger changes neater and quicker.

Coordinating tongue and fingers

Not only do we have to coordinate our fingers, but our tongue needs to match the speed of our finger movements too if we’re to play a genuinely legato melody. Once again, scales can be a useful tool to help achieve this.

Building up speed

Want to play faster? In that case you need to practise the patterns which occur most often in music and gradually learn to negotiate them more quickly. What’s the best way to do this? Yes, you’ve guessed it - scales and arpeggios!

Practising double tonguing

Once you’ve built up some velocity, you might need to explore double tonguing so your articulation can match the speed of your fingers. Again, using simple scale patterns are a great way to work on this without having to think about reading complex music at the same time.

For music exams

Most adult recorder players have no interest in working for exams, but if you’re someone who’s motivated by exams, you’ll need to learn some scales and arpeggios as well as pieces of music. The syllabus for the lower grades may only include a few different keys, but by grade 8 you’ll need to know all the major and minor keys.

Have I convinced you yet?

Assuming I have, you might well be asking some of the following questions…

Do I need to learn all of them?

In an ideal world, knowing all the major and minor scales and arpeggios (plus chromatic and other patterns) is a desirable aim. But this doesn’t mean you have to learn all of them! For anyone even learning a carefully chosen selection is immensely useful.

If you’re not sure where to begin, start by looking at the music you’re currently working on. What key is the piece in? For instance, if you’re playing a sonata with a key signature of two flats, try learning B flat major and G minor - the two scales with the same key signature. The music is likely to work through both of these keys at some point and if you can play these fluently the patterns you encounter in the piece will come more easily too.

Realistically, unless you choose to play Schickhardt’s set of recorder sonatas in every key, most music for our instrument explores a limited range of key signatures. It’s unusual to see recorder music in more than three sharps or flats, so I would recommend aiming for fluency in these keys before you worry about the exotic realms of D flat major or G sharp minor.

Do I have to learn them from memory?

This is a much debated topic among students and teachers. For music exams you’re expected to learn the prescribed scales and arpeggios from memory, but as we’ve already noted, many adult learners have no interest in testing themselves in this way.

In order to play scales fluently from memory you need to be completely on top of the finger patterns, knowing precisely which fingers to move between each note. This requires what is often called ‘muscle memory’, although in reality our muscles don’t have memories. This process is actually achieved by generating strong connections between our brains and the nerve pathways used to send instructions to the fingers. To achieve that (I plan to explore this more in a future blog post) requires lots of repetition, and in my experience, the process of memorising such patterns definitely seems to be harder for some people than others.

Memorising scale and arpeggio patterns presents a particular challenge for players of wind instruments. With the piano or a string instrument, there’s a logical visual pattern as you work your way up and down the keyboard or fingerboard. In contrast, each note on a wind instrument of any type requires a different combination of fingers. Yes, moving between some of these is fairly logical. But I’m sure you’ve noticed how that logic disappears when it comes to cross fingers (particularly flat and sharp notes) or the upper extremities of the recorder!

An additional challenge we face as recorder players is the limited range of our instrument. Most woodwind instruments can play scales covering at least a two, and sometimes three, octave range in all keys. In contrast, the recorder can comfortably manage a handful of scales at two octaves, but for most intermediate level players an octave and a half is the limit. This means scales come in different shapes to maximise the range we cover, either turning at the top or the bottom of the instrument. Remembering which scale follows which pattern is an additional thing to learn and can add extra stress to the process.

For my Score Lines subscribers I created scale sheets showing some of these patterns, which can be downloaded from your Members’ Area. I’ve linked to the treble recorder sheet here, but if you’d like access to all of them please feel free to subscribe here - it’s free and there are lots of other exclusive goodies for you to download besides the scales!

While learning scales and arpeggios from memory is undoubtedly desirable, I would argue that playing them from music is probably just as useful for most amateur recorder players. One of the most important skills to develop is sight reading (I’ve written a blog about this here) and being able to recognise scale patterns and convert them into fluent playing is a great way to achieve this. As with most skills, do this by starting slowly and gradually building up some speed.

How fast should I play them?

As with so many things, it depends! If you’re using a scale to develop your tone you might do best to play it very slowly - perhaps four beats on each note. But if fast playing is your aim you’ll need to take a different approach.

When I first started having lessons with Philip Thorby, I spent about three months solely working on slow scales and other exercises as we focused on developing my tone and legato playing. Ok, this may sound rather extreme, but I was aiming for a career as a professional player so it was absolutely necessary. My technique certainly benefitted from this approach and I finally began to understand scales and arpeggios in a way that set firm foundations for everything I was to learn later. Taking this approach with even just one scale and arpeggio can be hugely beneficial if it helps you focus on the foundations of your technique.

The most important thing is to play your chosen scale or arpeggio correctly from the very beginning. If that means you start out playing each note at a metronome speed of just 60 that’s absolutely fine, as long as the notes are 100% right. When you can consistently play all the notes fluently and cleanly at that speed, gradually increase the tempo until you reach your desired tempo, checking at every point that you’re still maintaining the same consistency and precision. A metronome is a really useful tool here to hold you at one speed.

How often should I practise my scales?

I’m a big advocate of little and often. Having a huge practising splurge on your scales just once a week makes it difficult to achieve consistent results. A much better way is to programme in short, frequent practice times - maybe five or ten minutes every day. This way you remind your fingers of the correct patterns at regular intervals so they become habitual more quickly. Perhaps even keep a recorder out at all times (a plastic instrument can be handy if you prefer to put away your wooden recorders) so you can pick it up and play a scale for a minute or two every time you walk by.

Which variety of minor scale should I practise?

Minor scales come in two different species - harmonic and melodic. Harmonic minors use the same notes whether you’re ascending or descending, so they’re slightly easier to memorise. However, they also include an augmented second interval (the 6th and 7th notes, which sound vaguely reminiscent of a snake charmer’s flute), circled in red below, which is less commonly used in western music.

A Harmonic Minor

In contrast, a melodic minor scale raises the 6th and 7th notes by a semitone on the way up and returns them to their original pitch on the way back down. This is an added complexity to memorise, but these melodic shapes (hence the name) are more frequently found in the music we play. For this reason, if your plan is to practise them with music and you only have time to work on one type of minor scale I’d recommend the melodics as a priority.

A Melodic Minor

Using scales and arpeggios creatively

Most readers of this blog won’t be looking to become professional recorder players, so being able to play in every key with total fluency and at high speed is probably not your aim in life! But you can still use these patterns to improve your playing and have some fun along the way. Here are a few ways you could use them…

Vary your tempo according to your intention

If you want to improve your tone you need to focus on quality rather than speed. For this I would pick an easy scale (perhaps no more than one sharp or flat in the key signature) and play it really slowly. By simplifying the notes you free up your brain to think about breathing deeply and blowing freely, producing the best possible tone on each note. Perhaps spend four slow beats on every note before moving on to the next, breathing as often as you need to, always focusing on using the optimum breath speed for each fingering.

If speed is your motivation, again begin at a modest tempo but focus on keeping your fingering even and well coordinated with your tonguing. Perhaps use a metronome to ensure you maintain a consistent tempo. As you perfect each speed setting, switch up the tempo by a small amount and repeat the exercise several times. If you begin to stumble, take the metronome down by a couple of notches and refine your playing before moving on. Be methodical in your approach and you’ll be surprised how much progress you can make in a fairly short space of time. If you’ve built up a good turn of speed with an easy scale why not take the tempo back down again and try it with a more complex key signature?

Experiment with different articulation patterns

The music we play often contains a wide variety of articulation, from long tongued passages to intricate patterns, where small groups of notes need to be slurred here and there. It’s a good idea to begin by practising scales and arpeggios smoothly tongued, staccato and in long slurs as these all demand different technical skills.

Alongside these single technique scales I recommend you also practise patterns that require you to mix slurring and tonguing - you can see some of my suggested patterns below. These are the sort of patterns you’ll encounter in the real world and if you can apply them to your scales they’ll seem less scary in context. These are just a few of my ideas, but don’t be afraid to come up with your own variations.

Four varied articulation patterns you could try out

Be playful

There’s no reason why you must always play complete scales. Don’t be afraid to be playful and creative. Breaking a scale down into groups of four or five notes, running up and down, may help you really master the transition between specific fingerings more quickly. Once you’ve got that fluency you can then glue these small groups back together into complete scales. For instance, you could break up the F major scale shown below like this:

Breaking an exercise like this down into bitesize pieces is a recognised technique, called chunking. It’s immensely useful as a means of building up fluency and consistency, allowing our brain to focus more efficiently on small amounts of information.

Explore different note patterns

Bored with just whizzing up and down your scales as printed? Why not add some variety and explore them by playing the notes in a different order? For instance you could play each one in thirds like this…

You could follow the same principle with fourths and fifths too, although these are harder….

If you’ve learnt every key how about mixing them all up together? One of my favourite challenges is to go up one scale, then move up a semitone and come back down the next one - for instance upwards through F major, down via F sharp major, up via G major, down via A flat and so forth. The same exercise is possible with the minor keys too. If you can play both of these fluently you can award yourself a generous gold star!

Major keys

Minor keys

Finally, look for the satisfaction in a scale played really well!

You may not feel the need to learn scales in every key, and for less experienced players such an aim may be too ambitious anyway. However, there’s a satisfaction to be gained from playing even one or two of them really well, even at a slow tempo.

Scales and arpeggios can be a valuable opportunity to find a contemplative zone, focusing on a simple task done to the best of your abilities. I enjoy spending a few minutes at the start of a practice session playing scales really slowly, closing my eyes and listening to my tone. I focus on the quality of my sound, tailoring the speed of my breath and the strength of my articulation to suit each individual note. By doing this I reinforce the good habits I’ve learnt over the years, as well as warming up mind, fingers, tongue and lungs before I move onto more demanding music.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about scales and arpeggios. Are they something you avoid at all costs, or have you cultivated a love for them? Perhaps you’re still on your journey to becoming a zen scale-master? If you have tips you want to share with others or experiences you’ve found useful over the years please do leave a comment below.

Sounding Pipes, Edition 6

With Christmas almost upon us, for this edition of Sounding Pipes I’ve gathered together another eclectic collection of music for you to enjoy during the festive break. Some of them are standalone works, while others are longer programmes you can escape into if you need some time away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas.

J.S. Bach - Cantata: Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme BWV 140

Netherlands Bach Society, directed by Jos van Veldhoven

As recorder players we often ‘borrow’ music from other sources to expand our repertoire - undoubtedly an enjoyable way to broaden our musical horizons. If you’re going to do this I think it’s important to also explore the original source of your music, whether that’s via live performances or recordings. One of my consort videos this week was a trio movement from Bach’s famous Wachet auf Cantata so I’m beginning this edition of Sounding Pipes with a wonderful recording of the entire cantata.

Most people will have at least a passing familiarity with the melody from this cantata’s most famous chorale movement, even if that awareness comes from a series of adverts for Lloyds Bank from the 1980s! That movement is of course just a small section of a much longer work, so this live performance helps put it into context. If you play a lot of Baroque music (and most recorder players do) I encourage you to listen to repertoire from this period as more than just background music. It doesn’t necessarily need to be played on recorders - music for any instruments or voices can help us learn more about stylish phrasing and articulation, especially when performed in a historically informed way.

Corelli Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.8 Christmas Concerto

Dorothee Oberlinger and Tabea Seibert with Sonatori de la Gioisa Marca

While I’d like these playlists to be something you can dip back into at any time of year, I wanted to include at least one Christmas related piece. Corelli’s Christmas Concerto is another very famous work, originally composed for a trio of solo string instruments (two violins and cello) with string orchestra. It’s been purloined by many different instruments but this particular arrangement is one made back in the 18th century, when the work was still quite new. Playing the solo violin lines on recorders creates a very different soundworld, and this performance has oodles of energy and drive.

Anton Bruckner - Vexilla regis prodeunt, WAB 51

Quartet New Generation Genuin GEN89143

After all that Baroque energy we come another borrowed piece, but with an altogether calmer mood. Bruckner’s choral music often fits well on recorders - the range of the human voice is comparable to the recorder and his legato melodic lines suit the instrument comfortably. Here Quartet New Generation play Vexilla regis prodeunt on a consort of low recorders and their low, mellifluous tones are just magical. The end result is perfectly tuned and is distinctly reminiscent of an organ played on its flute stop. Take a moment to stop the world, close your eyes and just let this glorious sound wash over you!

Richard Harvey - Concerto Incantanto

Michala Petri (recorders) with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, directed by Jean Thorel OUR Recordings 6220606

If you’re not already familiar with Richard Harvey there’s a good chance you might either have heard some of his film and TV music or have heard his playing in the soundtracks of films such as Harry Potter or The Lion King. He’s a fantastic recorder player and his disc of Vivaldi recorder concertos was one of my favourites when I was a teenager.

In 2009 he composed Concerto Incantanto for Michala Petri and there’s undoubtedly some film music magic going on here. Listening to the work I also spotted echoes of more traditional recorder music, including a snippet (intentional or otherwise) from Walter Leigh’s Sonatina for recorder. So often recorder concertos are just accompanied by strings, but here Richard Harvey uses a broader colour palette, incorporating woodwinds, harp, celeste and percussion to create a fantastical soundworld. Digging around on the net I also found this adorable clip from the world premiere performance where he joins Michala Petri on stage, recorder in hand, to whip through a Handel trio sonata, playing on two sopraninos with strings accompanying!

In this YouTube playlist you get an added bonus as the album also includes Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Recorder Concerto and Gordon Jacob’s Suite for recorder and strings. I’ve featured the latter piece in an earlier Sounding Pipes playlist but it’s always interesting to compare different versions of works. The Arnold Concerto is a typically dynamic piece of music and one I once heard it in the presence of the composer himself in Harrogate when I was a teenager. I was blown away by his writing and naturally went to tell him how much I’d enjoyed it, although I seem to remember he seemed distinctly underwhelmed by my naive, youthful enthusiasm for his music!

The Flanders Recorder Duo in concert

Recorded on 24th October 2021

You’re no doubt familiar with the Flanders Recorder Quartet, but did you know that Tom Beets and Joris Van Goethem have continued performing as a duo since the quartet gave their final performance in 2018? Their enthusiasm for discovering fresh duo repertoire is infectious and their programming uniquely creative. Recent projects have included a CD, editions of the music they play and a new CD recorded with the composer Sören Sieg, which is due for release in 2024 - you can find lots of information about all of these on their website here.

The video below is a concert programme featuring a huge mix of repertoire, from medieval to the current century. Alongside music by Bach and Telemann, you’ll find Vaughan William’s Suite for two pipes (a welcome addition to the more familiar one for four), melodies from Renaissance Spain and Glen Shannon’s dynamic Slingshot. Both the music and the instruments are engagingly introduced by Tom and Joris, leaving me wanting to explore more of this music myself. If you’ve never met them in person, this is a great glimpse of their creative teaching style. If the chance comes to work with them I recommend you grasp the opportunity with both hands!

Find an hour to sit down with this in a comfy chair with a cuppa or a glass of something warming and it’ll be time well spent…

Morning joy

Short animated film directed by John Henry Hinkel.

Here we have something a little different, but still with a recorder connection. This short film introduces us to a recently widowed composer who’s depressed. His attempts to compose come to nothing until he finds himself being serenaded by a bluebird, whose voice is performed by recorder player Charlotte Barbour-Condini. The film contains barely a word of dialogue who needs language when music and storytelling are combined so beautifully….

That wraps up Edition 6 of Sounding Pipes and I hope you’ve enjoyed my selections. I know YouTube can be a huge time waster, but if you look in the right places it can also be a wonderful source of musical inspiration. If you have favourite performers you enjoy listening to why not share them in the comments below and we can all go exploring online - who knows, some of them may find their way into future playlists here!