My Recorder and Me
Recorder - Digital Sheet Music

Recorder Solo - Level 1 - Digital Download

SKU: A0.522192

Composed by Colin Kirkpatrick. Contemporary,Instructional. Individual part. 28 pages. Colin Kirkpatrick Publications #3130521. Published by Colin Kirkpatrick Publications (A0.522192).

My Recorder and Me consists of fourteen short and delightful pieces written especially for absolute beginners on the descant recorder up to students at elementary level. The pieces are intended as supplementary material to your usual tutor books. The music can be used with any number of players and the pieces remain in the lower register. Several early pieces use only the notes B, A and G and the key of G major predominates. Six of the pieces use only half notes (minims) and quarter notes (crotchets). The low C, a tricky note for many beginners, has been avoided almost completely. On the one occasion it appears, the note C an octave above is given as optional.

An MP3 file of all the piano accompaniments is also available at $3.99 as a separate publication. Just search for Item Number: S0.297757

Although the pieces are arranged in approximate order of difficulty you can play them in any order you want, depending on the musical needs of the student. Your students are sure to enjoy these pieces, which are both easy on the fingers and easy on the ear! The music is identical to that in the companion book My Flute and Me.

Several pieces have a few measures (bars) rest in the middle not only to give the player a break and add musical contrast but also to give the experience of counting empty bars during the music. When space allows, piano cues appear in the solo part. Some of the later pieces in the book have good performing potential and could be strung together in any order to create a small suite.

Every piece has a short piano introduction so that the student can sense the tempo and musical style before playing. The keyboard accompaniments have been kept as simple as possible with the minimum number of notes. Dynamic markings (e.g. piano and mezzo-forte) are used from the start, but phrasing has been omitted from the solo part. This is because the teacher is usually in the best position to suggest phrasing within the physical capabilities of each student. Slurs have been employed sparingly and only when necessary.

The book includes a well-known folk lullaby from Wales and a lively folk song from Thailand which is known by all Thai people because it’s taught in elementary schools throughout the country.

The music has been converted into pdf files at 1,200 dpi which will produce professional looking printed copies of high quality. However, the output quality will also depend on your own printer settings and capabilities. The publication consists of a teacher's book (18 pages) and a student's book (8 pages) both contained in the same pdf file. The sample MP3 (click on the “Listen” button above) contains recordings of Starting Tune (No 1); Nice ‘n Easy (No 2); Waltzing Around (No 7) and Donkey Trot (No 12).

The composer, Colin Kirkpatrick studied at London’s Royal College of Music. After graduation, he followed a career in music education and composed music as an active sideline. His publishers include Boosey & Hawkes, Novello, Paxton, Schott, Oxford University Press, Belwin Mills and Intrada (Netherlands). His music has been performed and broadcast all over Europe as well as in Japan, Thailand, Australia and the USA.

He was a High School Music Director for about fifteen years and then became a Music Education Adviser for local government, with the added responsibility for training teachers and overseeing the instrumental service. He has written articles for magazines in both the UK and the USA and holds MA (Hons) and PhD degrees.