Recorder Fingerings

Contents

• Standard Fingering
• Bass recorders
• Trill Fingerings
• Alternative fingerings
• Recorder Ranges
• A useful utility

Standard Recorder Fingering

Fingering Bass recorders.

The bass recorder in f  follows the alto fingering but is pitched an octave lower, though there are some slight differences. Similarly the great bass in c follows tenor fingering.
The music is written on the bass clef an octave below its pitch.
The written range for the bass in f is as given on the right. The ranges of recorders from sopranino to contrabass may be found here.

Trill fingerings

A series of special fingerings are often used for trills to make trilling easier - mostly to avoid some of the complications of the cross fingerings used in the recorder. These can be found using the Recorder digits utility, available for download.

Alternative fingerings

The recorder also has a variety of alternative fingerings. A comprehensive list may be found on the Recorder Home Page.

Recorder Ranges

The sopranino in F sounds one octave above the alto and is written one octave lower than it sounds
The contrabass in F sounds one octave below the bass and is written at pitch.

A useful utility

Recorder Digits is a utility which gives all recorder fingerings, standard and alternative, with trills shown. It is available for free download from the owner's website.