Those of us who play modern band/orchestral woodwinds are familiar with a system in which, within a family of instruments, a notated pitch always corresponds to a certain fingering. No matter how large or small the instrument, the same fingering always corresponds to that same written pitch, even though the smaller instruments produce higher sounding pitches and the larger instruments produce lower sounding pitches. For example:

	E-flat clarinet	B-flat clarinet	A clarinet	Bass clarinet
Notated pitch
Fingering
Sounding pitch

This is convenient for clarinetists because, essentially, they only need to learn one set of fingerings to be (in that respect) prepared to play any instrument in the clarinet family. Note also that even the bass clarinet is notated in treble clef, as are its even lower cousins. All the major modern woodwind families (flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and saxophones) use this approach: consistent clefs, and consistent correspondence of notated pitch to fingering. The transposition is a function of the instrument’s size.

Because of the prevalence of this system in the Western woodwind tradition, it’s an understandable error to assume that the recorder family is notated in the same way. But recorders typically use a different system, in which each instrument is notated in concert pitch, and the fingerings change depending upon the instrument. Or, to be more precise, each instrument is notated in a sort of “concert pitch class,” since some of the recorders are notated as transposing by one or more octaves, but a notated C always produces a sounding C. Bass recorder and lower are notated in bass clef. Here are the most common ones:

	Descant (“soprano”) recorder	Treble (“alto”) recorder	Tenor recorder	Bass recorder
Notated pitch
Fingering
Sounding pitch

Recorder players must learn two sets of fingerings, one with the instrument’s lowest note being C (for descant and tenor recorders), and one with the instrument’s lowest note being F (for treble and bass recorders), and must be prepared to read in two clefs.

The reader who contacted me described a musical theater situation in which a part for treble recorder had been erroneously notated as if the recorder were a transposing instrument: the copyist treated the treble as a band/orchestral instrument “in F,” so the player had to use C fingerings to produce the correct pitches.

The reader asks:

Is this notation common practice in Broadway shows? It would seem counter-productive to me; it’s both incorrect notation for the alto recorder and also makes it more difficult to play the part on flute if necessary (as is surely often done). The only questionable benefit would be making it slightly easier for someone who had only played soprano recorder to pick up an alto.

I’d love to hear your experience and opinions on the matter!

I have seen it done both ways. My preference is that recorders are notated with the non-transposing system for the sake of consistency with the existing recorder tradition; it doesn’t make sense to me to put the burden of adaptation on those who have actually made the effort to learn to play recorders properly. But for the sake of accessibility, it might be wise to provide some kind of ossia or cue notes, for recorder dabblers who either haven’t researched the instrument enough to know its tradition or haven’t spent the time in the woodshed to learn both sets of fingerings.

I hope that helps!

Related posts:

1. Understanding woodwind key nomenclature systems
2. Masato Honda plays recorder
3. The woodwind doubler as orchestral utility player

This project developed from my own need to quickly and easily create fingering diagrams for the woodwind instruments that I play and teach. Frequently I find myself scribbling saxophone altissimo fingerings onto a scrap of paper during a private lesson, cutting-and-pasting at the photocopier to put together simplified charts for a woodwind methods class, or penciling cryptic markings into musical scores to remind myself which pinky finger to use.

And so, I’m pleased to introduce the Fingering diagram builder. I hope you’ll take it for a spin.

[One caveat: it currently doesn't work in any version of Internet Explorer, due to IE's lack of support for SVG graphics. If you're an IE user, I hope you'll consider downloading an excellent, free alternative browser and give the Fingering diagram builder a try anyway.]

Here’s a taste of what the Fingering diagram builder can do.

I created and downloaded this array of some of my favorite F-sharp fingerings in under two minutes (really). Click to see them larger.

flute	oboe	clarinet
bassoon	saxophone	recorder

These six instruments are immediately available, but I hope to add a few more soon. Hit me up with your requests.

Some of the instruments have cool options if you mess around with the “Keywork” toolbar. Here are a few of the most obvious examples:

The oboe chart has English horn keys, too.	The clarinet chart can do bass clarinet.	And the saxophone chart can accomodate a baritone’s low A (or even a soprano with a high G).

The “Options” toolbar lets you resize or customize the look of the diagrams:

Change the line thickness.		Use colors to show trills or optional keys.

The downloaded images are in .PNG format, which means they are compatible with virtually all current word processing, graphics, and music notation software. Plus the file sizes are small, so they can be easily dropped into an email or blog post. (You may have seen some early versions of these fingering diagrams appearing in my own blog over the past year or more.)

I’m interested in your feedback, so let me know if you run into any problems, or if you have an idea how the Fingering diagram builder can be more useful. Leave a comment below, or send me email.

And, be sure to subscribe to the feed so you won’t miss upcoming articles with tips and tricks on using the Fingering diagram builder.

1. Pennywhistles by Susato.

There are two schools of thought as far as what kind of pennywhistles are best. Some players swear by inexpensive whistles (of which Generation whistles are the quintessential example), because of their traditional, breathy sound. The disadvantage of these is inconsistency—you may have to play quite a few before you find one that plays in tune and responds well throughout its range. The advantage of these is that they are cheap, often under $10.

The other school of thought favors expensive, handmade whistles. These tend to play well in tune, respond well, and otherwise behave like a fine musical instrument should. They are also available in a wide variety of materials and styles to suit your taste. My favorites are the brass whistles by Michael Burke. But, of course, such craftsmanship comes at a price, from maybe $100-$400, or more for some rare and desirable whistles that aren’t in production anymore.

The plastic whistles by Susato are an excellent compromise for the serious musician on a budget. Here’s what I like about them:

• They have a pleasing tone, though some players complain that their sound is too “recordery”—a little more complex than some whistles.
• They play dead-on in tune, and are available in either tunable or non-tunable versions. The non-tunable are perfect if you know you’re going to play at A=440; personally I choose the tunable “Kildare” models.
• They are available in any key you want. This is huge overkill for Irish traditional music, but a real lifesaver for the woodwind doubler who might be asked to play something very non-traditional. Some keys are also available in more than one bore diameter, with the narrower bores giving a sweeter tone and the wider bores having a little more power.
• They are reasonably loud, which some trad players dislike but which suits most woodwind doubling situations.
• They’re quite inexpensively priced, between $30-$80 for the tunable versions and less for the non-tunable.

While I maintain collections of both “cheap” and “expensive” whistles, the Susatos are ideal for the situation when you need a whistle in an odd key, need it to play reliably in tune, and need it quickly without a large outlay of cash.

If you’re buying your first whistle, get one in “D.” I would suggest the Kildare small bore. Second and third whistles, probably one in C, then one in low D.

2. Recorders by Aulos or Yamaha.

While the recorder isn’t really an “ethnic” instrument, it should be at the center of every ethnic-woodwind player’s collection. The smaller recorders (soprano/descant and sopranino) work very well for evoking a medieval or Renaissance sound, and the alto/treble is a major voice of the Baroque period. Since they are fully chromatic instruments, they can also serve in a pinch when you don’t have a pennywhistle in the right key, or otherwise need a generic ethnic-sounding instrument that can do what a chromatic instrument does.

The finest recorders are handmade from expensive woods, and might cost several thousand dollars. But there are plastic instruments that give all but the most expensive recorders a run for their money, at a tiny fraction of the price. My personal favorites are by Aulos, and are replicas of Baroque instruments by Richard Haka. I recommend the slightly more expensive versions with the faux woodgrain, which dramatically improves their appearance but also adds a slight texture that makes them easier to hold. The soprano can be had for under $40, and the alto for under $60. I like the Aulos instruments for their complex, reedy tone which works well for solo playing, especially if you’re interested in tackling some authentic Baroque solo repertoire. The comparably-priced 300-series recorders by Yamaha are, to my ears, more pure-toned, and maybe a better choice for ensemble playing.

3. Flutes by Doug Tipple.

I’m a big fan of these transverse flutes made by Doug Tipple. They are made from regular hardware-store variety PVC pipe, but they are seriously playable instruments, and have even been used in Broadway productions of “Tarzan” and “The Lion King.” In a blind test, I think these can easily pass for wooden or bamboo flutes, with the advantages of tunability, stable pitch, and consistent response.

The “Tipple-Fajardo wedge” is a nice touch, and for a few extra dollars makes a nice improvement to pitch in the second octave (which is otherwise a problem with cylindrical flutes). Mr. Tipple also makes available an optional lip plate, which apparently makes the tone more like a thicker-walled wooden flute; personally I skip this option since I’ve got wooden flutes and I like the Tipple flutes for their slightly more rustic sound. Additional options are to have the flute made with a joint between the left and right hands and to have the bell end extended (the “eight-hole” flute). These are only necessary if you prefer the ability to adjust the hand position for comfort or like the balance of a longer flute.

The Tipple flutes are available in almost every key (no B flute—maybe if you asked nicely?) at prices ranging from $55-$85. Start with a low D model if you don’t already have bamboo or wooden flutes.

Happy holidays!

• Some solos with the UGA Jazz Ensemble on clarinet, alto saxophone, and flute
• Some stuff from my November recital:
  • Excerpts from the Poulenc flute Sonata
  • Excerpts from the Britten Six Metamorphoses after Ovid for oboe
  • An excerpt from the Schumann Romances for oboe
  • An excerpt from the Feld Elegy for soprano saxophone
• And a little holiday fun, with me playing four recorders of various sizes

Anyway, in the video below, Mr. Honda makes surprisingly effective use of not one but four recorders (in order of appearance: alto [or "treble"], sopranino, tenor, then sopranino again, alto, sopranino, and finally soprano [or "descant"]). The video is a little over ten minutes; if you’re the impatient type, make sure you at least catch the soprano segment at about 8:20 where he uses an electronic harmonizer. Pretty cool.

Here’s the video. A little additional commentary below.

A few gear observations. The recorders appear to be some of Yamaha’s plastic models, which are excellent instruments and quite inexpensive. They have a very pure sound, which works well for what Mr. Honda is doing, and which also works well for consort (recorder ensemble) playing. My current favorite high-end plastic recorders are by Aulos, and have a reedier, more complex sound that I like for Baroque solo playing. I’ve got a set of Aulos recorders sized from Garklein (smaller than sopranino) to bass; maybe someday I’ll decide I need a set of Yamahas, too.

I’d be curious to know more about his microphone setup. The headset mike plus another mike on a stand seem to work really well.

And the fishing line contraption is a slick idea, if visually a little silly. A while back a composer friend wrote me a solo piece using seven instruments, including several large ones. The logistics were a nightmare. Too bad I didn’t have the ingenuity (or strong enough fishing line!) to suspend them all.

A few technique observations. Mr. Honda’s playing on all his instruments is extremely polished, but I can’t help but recognize in his playing some of the recorder issues that I also struggle with: weak low notes, tenative high notes, chirpy articulation, awkwardness in chromatic passages. I’d like to think I’m a fairly strong recorder player (and so, certainly, is Mr. Honda), but it’s the subtle things that separate a jack-of-all-trades like me from a serious recorder specialist.

I think the reason the recorder sounds fairly natural in this context is because we’ve hear these kinds of pure, near-sine-wave sounds frequently in this kind of music, but usually played by synthesizers (Mr. Honda is a masterful EWI player, too).

Not much about Masato Honda on the web (yet), other than his Japanese-language website and lots of YouTubeage. This one is fun (you’ll recognize the tune if you watched the recorder video): he plays baritone saxophone and what appears to be most of a flute, suspended; he plays something else in this clip, too, but I’ll leave you in suspense. Suffice it to say that it’s a feat of doubling I haven’t felt the need to explore. Enjoy!