Anne's Alto Recorder Page

 


Here's my first music video!

 

  


I love the sound of the alto recorder, but I have found it difficult to find tunes that have been arranged for it.

When I first began to play this instrument, I bought several instruction and tune books which seemed to have plenty of interesting music. I spent a lot of time learning the fingering for these tunes, but when I tried to play them at jam sessions I found that the other musicians were never playing tunes in the key that I had learned.

It seems that some authors who put out books for alto recorder just take tunes made for soprano recorder and change the key to make the fingering the same. This is a really easy way to make one book into two, but it's a little frustrating for the musician!

I decided to look for tunes that could be played on the alto recorder in their usual keys. I found plenty, including some that won't work on the the soprano recorder. Many are traditional tunes; some are arrangements of fiddle tunes that I have written. I am posting the sheet music here for other alto recorder players to enjoy.

 
Traditional Tunes - use freely!
  Title   Comments
Star of the County Down   Irish; This version is in 4/4 time; the tune is also sometimes played in 3/4 time.
Halting March   An Irish tune; also known as the Pikeman's March.
Angeline the Baker   An old time fiddle tune; play fairly quickly.
The Boys of Wexford   An Irish fiddle tune played in the upper register.
The Queen's Jig   A fairly easy single jig.
The Skye Boat Song   A Scottish lullaby - a beautiful melody, and easy to play.
Down by the Salley Gardens   A traditional Irish melody, originally titled "The Maids of the Mourne Shore".
The Minstrel Boy (The Moreen)   This old Irish air was given lyrics by Thomas Moore.
The Swallow's Tail Reel   An Irish reel; not to be confused with the Swallowtail Jig.
Childgrove   An English country dance tune. Play with a heavy beat.
Hard Times Come Again No More   An American folk melody by Stephen Foster, 1854.
Si Bheag Si Mhor   A beautiful melody by the Irish musician Turlough O'Carolan.
The Barren Rocks of Aden   A Scottish polka. Both an easy and a more complex version are included.
The Rose Tree   This is an American version of an originally Irish tune.
Killavil Fancy   An Irish reel.
The Silver Spear   A reel very commonly played at Celtic sessions.
Y Gelynnen   A perky Welsh hornpipe.
The Munster Cloak   An Irish waltz
The Kerry Polka   An Irish polka popular at sessions.
The Blarney Pilgrim   An Irish jig - with just one really high note!
Bride's Favourite   Another Irish jig that I like.
The White Cockade   A fairly easy tune for alto or soprano recorder.
Cockle Shells   This is the tune to a 1701 Playford dance. It has a lot of upper register notes.

Anne's Tunes - for non-commercial use.
  Title   Comments
The Barefoot Sailor's Hornpipe   Bouncy.
The Wandering Son   A slow lament.
November Midnight   A slow, gentle tune.
Vera May's Waltz   Played lightly.
The Umbrella Tree   A double jig in E minor. Fairly difficult.
The Sprig of Mint   A reel in A mixolydian.
The Flowered Path   A fairly slow jig.
The Mazarine   A jig in the key of A - watch that G#!
The Oak and the Gypsy Moth   A D minor tune, medium speed.
Middle Road March   An easy tune - works on the soprano recorder as well.
Natalie Needs a Nickel   The world's silliest slip jig.
Second Reflection   A moody waltz



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