18,00 €

MVB 32E: “Second Book for the Soprano Recorder”

From the first note on, the recorder-bear accompanies the learner through the complete three volumes of the method book for the Soprano Recorder. Altogether you will encounter 150 pieces of music for several voices, including the lyrics, and learn about the relevant techniques of breathing, posture, articulation, and playing together, as well as handling and cleaning your recorder. Additionally, you will find advice concerning successful practicing and performing. There is also space for further exercises and your own music. The method book offers teachers an extensive compilation of motivating sheet music that is compatible with different methods of teaching. In German-speaking regions the German edition is well-established and considered a standard work.
First Book Third Book
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Foreword
Dear parents, colleagues and teachers,

children should be able to proudly exclaim “I can already play my recorder!” after their first anxiously-awaited recorder lesson. Motivation through success and ensemble playing are two important principles in this method for Soprano recorder.

Unlike other recorder schools‘ methods, in this school every piece is written for ensemble (two or more voices) and many pieces have a rhythmic accompaniment. This means that all musicians are included in the music, as soon as they start to learn to play. Thus automated playing of the learned notes, without attention to the other musicians, is avoided. Children should experience hearing their own essential part in the ensemble. Development of their rhythmic sense should be promoted from the very beginning. A melody will only ring true when there is freedom of interpretation of the printed music combined with good rhythmic sense.

This schoolbook includes age appropriate progressively ordered material in a clear, understandable order. All accompaniments are written for the students and are playable at their current technical level. There are no difficult teachers‘ parts. For musical balance, when there are three parts, the teacher could play the lowest part on a lower instrument, for example a tenor recorder. All symbols are explained when introduced. Necessary information is available in clear fact boxes. Other educational supplements are deliberately avoided so that the teacher is not limited to a particular methodology. The pictures for coloring allow the children to personalize their own books.

“First Book for the Soprano Recorder” is the first of three volumes. It can be used for individual instruction, but is best suited for group lessons for children six years old and older. It has been tested over several years. Ideally, the group size should be 2 or 3 children, with a maximum of 5 children, in order to ensure good comprehension of melody, harmony and rhythm within the entire work - regardless of whether the recorder remains the student's main instrument, or becomes a secondary instrument.

Musical notation is abstract. At the beginning, well-known songs are introduced; only gradually will melodies be learned from the notation. Therefore it would really be helpful to sing the songs before playing them, which is why the lyrics are consistently printed. Since atonality is foreign to children, and since children‘s musical development parallels the course of musical history, atonality should be avoided in music lessons for children. Likewise, children don‘t need the currently pedagogically popular ‘creative tone play’. However if the children wish it, this can be useful in the classroom and the newly-discovered notes can be charted together. However, one should be aware that very few children will practice bird- twittering or siren-tones etc. on the recorder at home.

Children often have greater tolerance for imperfection than their teachers. It is pointless to assign a song again when the child is satisfied with his own performance. That‘s why there are enough exercises available, so that the same technical problem can be practiced again in the next piece. To ensure new skills are acquired, they are always introduced in easier pieces. The “Neues Spielbuch für Sopranblock- flöten”, a book with duets for 2 Soprano Recorders from the same publisher (MVB 36) offers more exercises that complement this book. In order for practicing at home to be effective, teachers should work with the children to prepare pieces well in the classroom and explain good practice habits, such as “practice this difficult section five times first, then go on to the whole song.” It would be beneficial for the children to meet privately between lessons to practice. This promotes not only musical success, but good relationships, and it may be decisive for any future decisions to continue in music.

Posture
The recorder is played sitting or standing in a natural, upright posture. When sitting, the legs shouldn‘t dangle, but both feet should rest on the floor. The shoulders should be relaxed, the elbows should hang down, neither pressed against the body nor unnaturally raised and the head should face straight ahead (to the horizon). The music book is upright and at least one meter away at eye level. The music book should not lie on the table; the child must not bend forward.

Breathing
The advantage of a wind instrument is the need to learn to breathe correctly. We breathe in alignment with the musical phrases, and not when we run out of breath. At the beginning of a piece or at a new phrase, instrumentalists and singers always take a breath. The wind-instrument player must also consciously inhale. It is important that the cue breath indicates the character of the following piece. A breath should not be made to last as long as possible. The students should practice the cue breath for each piece.

We always breathe through the mouth! The muscle responsible for controlled breathing - in and out - (inhalation and exhalation) and timbre is the diaphragm. It is like a vaulted dome and separates abdominal and chest areas from each other. When inhaling the dome is flattened, the abdominal muscles expand and the abdomen tangibly and visibly bulges. During exhalation, the abdominal walls pull back together and the diaphragm arches again. It supports the air stream. For children the idea of active breathing leads to inhalation using the upper part of the lungs, which raises the shoulders. Control of the diaphragm is essential to good control of the air flow. A better mental picture is that the air flows into the lower part of the lung. The importance of breathing exercises, such as the following, should not be underestimated. Breathing mastery affects not only the beauty of the musical tone, but also positively affects the overall interpretation and even seemingly, the development of fingering technique.

Exercises:
A) Relax the diaphragm:
1. pant with open mouth like a dog,
2. “Ch Ch Ch” like an old steam railway.

B) Inhalation:
1. Inhale as though you were peacefully savoring the scent of a flower
2. Let air flow into the mouth as though pleasantly surprised

C) Breath Control:
1. Blow the seeds of a dandelion away, but hold a little air back
2. Blow a candle flame with an even breath so that it bends over, but doesn‘t go out.

Practice Sessions
Breathing exercises lead not only to proper breathing, but also to the possibility of physical and mental relaxation. They should normally be practiced right at the beginning of the practice session so that the child gets used to the sequence of practicing both at home and during the lesson:
1. Relaxation and breathing exercise; 2. Scales and triads (see Volume three); 3. Exercises or studies; 4. Performance pieces.

Articulation
The different types of articulation are consciously introduced in the third volume. Until then, the goal is to produce the “non-legato” tone, which is the normal way of playing the recorder, in which the tones are slightly separated from each other. In songs where there are several notes for one syllable phrasing marks are left out, in order to avoid an unpleasant legato where only the first note is tongued.

Ensemble Playing
A fundamental principle of this recorder method is ensemble playing, right from the beginning. Individual parts can be played by other instruments. In addition to offering awareness of all the ensemble voices, ensemble playing offers opportunities to practice these important skills: First, the instruments must be tuned to the same pitch. The tuning must be performed with a very even breath, a breath with the same intensity breath as for the following piece. The lowest recorder gives the tuning ‘a’. The other recorders are tuned by drawing out the top piece of the recorder. Moreover, important notes (such as the initial or final note, etc.) should be compared. If there are fixed-pitch instruments (e.g. piano, harpsichord, organ, accordion) also playing, they give the tuning ‘a’; guitars and string instruments are tuned to the recorders. The children should closely monitor the tuning of the instruments. As soon as possible they should be allowed to express their opinion of the tuning. Also the children should practice giving the cue for the ensemble, using a deliberate inhalation and no words. Intonation can be checked at important notes. Study pieces can be performed at regular intervals.

Performance
Performance gives children an important opportunity to develop confidence. If possible a group rather than a soloist performs a piece that is easier than their current technical level. Thus there doesn‘t need to be any big fuss - we play simply for the enjoyment of the audience. Nevertheless, even the smallest recital is an important and serious event for the students. Performance offers the possibility of better and longer preparation of a piece, compared to the everyday compromises where a piece is laid aside when the interpretation is good enough for the current level. We perform in a standing position and the music stand is brought slightly lower than during practice, so that the music projects well to the audience.

Care and Maintenance of the Recorder
Respect for his own instrument is important for the seriousness with which a child pursues his musical training - especially when it is as unpresumptuous as the recorder. Therefore, the children should know:
The recorder is a valuable musical instrument which must be well maintained. Direct sunlight, heat and cold should be avoided. The cork portions of the middle piece of the recorder should be frequently rubbed with Vaseline, especially when the parts make a cracking sound as they are gently twisted together. A new instrument should not be played more than 5 to 15 minutes a day, so that the wood gets used to the damp and warmth of the breath. Before playing at home or in class it is very important that the recorder is warmed up, in a pocket or under a sweater, especially the head part. In this way we can avoid or reduce the formation of condensation in the windway which could make the flute sound hoarse or even get blocked. After playing, the individual parts should be wiped dry and left in the open box to dry.

Proper care of the instrument and its music will increase the love with which they are played and handled.

I wish you, and your children, students and pupils happiness and success in music.
Johannes Bornmann
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