page_title: Recorder (musical instrument)
section_title: Technique
hierarchical_section_title: Recorder (musical instrument) / Technique
caption_attribution_description: English: 2015 Fort Ross Festival at Fort Ross State Historic Park in Sonoma County, California
context_page_description: The recorder is a family of woodwind musical instruments in the group known as internal duct flutes—flutes with a whistle mouthpiece, also known as fipple flutes. A recorder can be distinguished from other duct flutes by the presence of a thumb-hole for the upper hand and seven finger-holes: three for the upper hand and four for the lower. It is the most prominent duct flute in the western classical tradition.
  Recorders are made in different sizes with names and compasses roughly corresponding to different vocal ranges. The sizes most commonly in use today are the soprano, alto, tenor and bass. Recorders are traditionally constructed from wood and ivory, while most recorders made in recent years are constructed from molded plastic. The recorders' internal and external proportions vary, but the bore is generally reverse conical to cylindrical, and all recorder fingering systems make extensive use of forked fingerings.
  The recorder is first documented in Europe in the Middle Ages, and continued to enjoy wide popularity in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, but was little used in the Classical and Romantic periods.
context_section_description: Although the design of the recorder has changed over its 700-year history, notably in fingering and bore profile (see History), the technique of playing recorders of different sizes and periods is much the same. Indeed, much of what is known about the technique of playing the recorder is derived from historical treatises and manuals dating to the 16th–18th century. The following describes the commonalities of recorder technique across all time periods.
caption: A woman and girl playing recorders at Fort Ross State Historic Park in 2015
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