Recorder Player: The Jack of all Trades

Jack of all Trades

 Jack of all trades... we all know the saying, but as recorder players we patently ignore its message. It couldn't possibly apply to us if we take our obsession seriously, or could it? Many of the relatively simple questions I am asked regarding recorder problems can be explained in some way as operator error. Does the problem begin with our recorders, the number of them we are expected to play, or our perspective? I'd like to spend a few moments exploring the latter.

 If you play both the guitar and violin, and someone asks you about the number of instruments you play, the obvious answer is two. The answer is the same if you question a violinist who also plays the viola. How bout you, the recorder player? Disregarding any other instruments we play, recorder players invariably refer to the recorder in the singular, not the plurality they actually play. If you add up the number of recorder sizes you actually play, do they add up to one? Why do we pretend they should be counted unequally? A tenor sax looks an awful lot like an alto sax, but ask a saxophonist if they are they same instrument and he will quickly tell you they are two completely individual beasts.

 A master violinist is expected to play only the violin. She learns over time every aspect of her instrument, every nuance, its flaws as well as its strengths. Years of training on the same instrument teaches her how to coax every possible desire she can dream up, even as far as exploiting the instrument's weaknesses. Yet recorder players, even as beginners, are expected to play multiple instruments. There is little functional difference between the violin and viola as compared to the tenor and alto recorders. They play similarly, yet you read for them differently. And although the two bowed instruments might seemingly be the same no violinist sees it that way. As recorder players, we regard all recorders as simply variations on a theme. From the Lilliputian garklein to the Brobdignagian contra bass we somehow consider them the same instrument.

 While you might not play every size, I'm going to guess you play at least four of them. How are we to surmount the myriad complexities of the entire recorder family if we regard them as one and the same. Even if we accept the desire to specialize on all sizes, how could we if we own and play multiples of every size? How many sopranos or altos to you own? Can we be masters of that many instruments? Is it possible for us to learn all the subtleties of every recorder the same way a violinist might learn on a single violin? I offer a simple fix to this problem of instrument diversity. While most of us won't give up our collections, or alter the practice of playing everything always, perhaps all we need to do is change perspective.

 Let us begin to approach every recorder size as its own personality. Accept that the tenor is a completely different animal than the sopranino or the alto. Find enjoyment in knowing you play not one, but many instruments. Learn to breath and play each recorder as it yearns to be played. Learn to control the instrument in your hands and not an idea of one that isn't. Feel its intricacies, learn its subtleties, and accept its limits. Caress its unique form and voice. Delight in the tonal color only that instrument possesses and with the dedication it deserves. Approach each recorder as the individual it is and relish confidently that although you might be a Jack of all trades, with patience and a new perspective you may cease be a master of none.