Recorder31 Day 13 | Top Tips for New Recorder Players

Perhaps you're feeling inspired by the wonderful music and interviews we've been sharing in this year's Recorder31, and you're feeling ready to make your first steps towards becoming a recorder player... If so, today's blog is just for you!

We’ve put together our ten top tips for new recorder players – informed by decades of experience not just as sellers, but also players, of the recorder, The Early Music Shop’s team are true experts and we are always here to support you on your recorder journey. Throughout, we've tried to note where we can help, be it through our unrivalled catalogue of recorders or sheet music, or the events we run.

Ten Top Tips for New Recorder Players

1. Choose the right instrument!

There are so many to choose from, so this may seem a daunting task at first. To start with, we recommend setting a budget and deciding whether you want to learn on a C instrument (soprano or tenor) or an F instrument (alto – or bass or sopranino, although we find these aren't ideal starting points). Most people start with a soprano and expand from there, but this is definitely not the only way.

Plastic instruments are reliable, quality options and require much less maintenance than their wooden equivalents. However, you may feel a wooden instrument offers more subtlety of sound and a more rounded tone.

The very best way is to try a variety of instruments and you are welcome to contact us any time for bespoke, personal advice from our specialist team, or to visit either of our UK showrooms to try instruments in person. We also have a huge (and expanding) range of bespoke audio demos helping you decide online.

Click here, or on the image below, to discover all recorders at The Early Music Shop.

2. Choose a good tutor book

A good tutor book can guide you through the basics and make sure you are using the right fingerings right from the beginning. Our tutor book, Recorder for Beginners: The Tudor Way, by celebrated music educator Paul Harris, teaches you soprano (or tenor) recorder using fragments of early music, connecting you with the recorder’s rich history from the very first note.

The wonderful Sarah Jeffery has lots of brilliant tutorials on her YouTube channel Team Recorder, and a tutor book published by Hal Leonard last year which comes with exclusive digital assets such as backing tracks and bespoke video lessons.

Click here, or on the image below, to discover all recorder sheet music at The Early Music Shop.

3. Get some lessons

Even if you don’t intend to have lessons long-term, we really recommend finding a teacher to help get you started. They’ll be able to make sure you’re not practising any bad habits and provide you with inspiration, advice and encouragement to help you on your recorder journey. You'll be amazed how far you progress in just a few lessons!

If you’re in the UK, there’s a list of teachers on the ERTA UK website, or your local branch of the Society of Recorder Players should be able to point you towards someone in your area.

4. Find out how to look after your instrument

Our Recorder Yearbook & Maintenance Guide gives you everything you need besides the music itself – a brief history of the recorder, our expert care guide for wooden recorders, interviews and a diary of recorder events.

Your recorder will also come with maintenance advice from the manufacturer which we recommend following carefully, especially when it comes to playing in new wooden instruments. You’ll get more happy hours of playing if you treat your recorder with care!

5. Find inspiration

The recorder world is FULL of wonderful musicians performing such a range of music from medieval, renaissance and baroque to modern, folk, jazz, pop, and more – you’re bound to find lots to enjoy. Check out our exclusive Recorder31 playlists on Spotify (with more to come later in the month) – along with this week’s blog on new releases, all of which are available on CD from The Early Music Shop.

6. Join (or form) an ensemble

There’s nothing better than playing music with other people! The energy and spark that comes from an ensemble session, even an informal one with no intention of performing in public, can be a real encouragement as your playing progresses. Aside from the satisfaction of musical collaboration, you’ll probably find you learn a lot from the other members of your group, and vice versa.

If you're in the UK, there's regional branches of the Society of Recorder Players in most areas of the country, as well as u3a groups, and ensembles of all shapes and sizes all over the place.

7. Work on the three fundamentals

The three fundamentals of producing a sound on the recorder are tongue, fingers and air. Spend some time on each of these in your practice sessions – working on finding the optimal airflow for each note, practising finger coordination (this can be done away from an instrument!), and paying close attention to the articulation at the start (and end) of each note you play. Your teacher and/or tutor book will help you decipher all of this further!

8. Play music you already enjoy

If you’re starting a musical instrument, it’s fairly safe to assume you already enjoy music! So if you’re an avid listener, try playing some of your favourite music on your recorder – it's a satisfying feeling to reproduce a melody you already know and love. The aforementioned Paul Harris tutor book is great if you’re into early music, and Sarah Jeffery’s Hal Leonard Recorder Method also brings in some modern pop tunes. Or, if you prefer to learn aurally, why not play along to your favourite tracks by ear?

9. Go to concerts

Live music is so rewarding and inspirational for musicians at every stage of their journey. Find out where your nearest early music festivals take place as there’s bound to be recorder players in the line-up. And show some support for your local venues and concert series – you might even meet some like-minded musicians in the audience!

If you’re UK-based, we highly recommend the London International Festival of Early Music which takes place each November – this year’s performances include recorder players Eun Sol Lee and Erik Bosgraaf – and the free exhibition features many of the most famous recorder makers in the world. Find out more here!

10. Go to a festival or course

Building on the last point – why not take yourself off on a course where you can play with other recorder lovers?! There’s lots to choose from around the world – again, if you’re UK-based, we travel to a range of courses around the country which feature massed playing, conducted sessions, workshops, talks and more.

At this point, we’d be silly not to mention The Early Music Shop’s very own recorder festival, the Saltaire Recorder Weekend, which is next taking place on 4-6 June 2027. There’ll be loads to choose from and plenty of sessions suitable for players of all abilities. It's a friendly event and you'll be made to feel very welcome even if it's your first time attending a recorder festival. Find out more here!

What did we miss? In just ten pointers it’s impossible to cover everything – so if you have any top tips of your own, or things you remember from when you started playing, let’s expand the advice in the comments below…

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Today we are continuing the theme of entry level recorders with the Yamaha 302B Soprano, a high quality, reliable entry level recorder for anyone interested in getting start with the instrument or music in general.

Press play below to hear what this resin model can really do!

Don't let the ABS resin body fool you into thinking this is "just" a beginner's plastic recorder. Modelled on historic 18th-century Rottenburgh designs, the 300 series features an arched windway that gives it a surprisingly refined, focused tone with genuine resistance to blow against. As you listen to the clip, pay attention to how even the sound remains from top to bottom: it avoids the shrillness common to cheap instruments, delivering a rich, centred voice that allows for real musical expression. Click here to find out more about this instrument!

Listen to this recorder!

Van Eyck Nightingale: