Learn the recorder online, for free

The recorder is the first flute for millions of people. At RetroX1 you learn the soprano in C with baroque fingering on every note, a 3D recorder showing the holes and Practice, which checks through the microphone whether you got it right.

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Recorder fingering

The soprano recorder has seven holes on the front and a thumb hole on the back. To go down the scale, cover the holes from the top. For high notes the thumb is half open, and some notes use half-holing. The site shows each case under the note and on the 3D recorder.

How to practise

1. Start with long notes and the first left-hand notes.
2. Play the scales slowly, watching the fingering.
3. Pick a basic song and play along; then turn on Practice with the microphone.
4. Speed up only when you are steady.

Recorder songs

Folk songs, traditional children's songs and public-domain classics to play along:

• Au clair de la lune — Tradicional francesa
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star — Tradicional
• Frère Jacques — Tradicional francesa
• Jingle Bells (chorus) — James Lord Pierpont
• Jingle Bells — James Lord Pierpont
• Mary Had a Little Lamb — Tradicional
• Ode to Joy (theme) — Ludwig van Beethoven
• Happy Birthday — Tradicional
• Minuet in G (part A) — J. S. Bach
• Canon in D — Johann Pachelbel
• Peasant Dance — Ludwig van Beethoven
• Gnossienne No. 1 — Erik Satie
• Greensleeves — Tradicional inglesa
• Gymnopédie No. 1 — Erik Satie
• Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 114) — J. S. Bach
• Ode to Joy (Symphony No. 9) — Ludwig van Beethoven
• Für Elise — Ludwig van Beethoven
• Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 — Frédéric Chopin
• Air on the G String — J. S. Bach
• Ave Maria — Franz Schubert
• Carol of the Bells — Mykola Leontovych
• Clair de Lune — Claude Debussy
• Maple Leaf Rag — Scott Joplin
• Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 — Frédéric Chopin
• Sonata K. 545 (1st movement) — W. A. Mozart

Keep going

See also the flute exercises, the flute sheet music and letter notes and the fife.

Frequently asked questions