January is the month when many teachers decide to teach a recorder unit for Grade 3, 4 and 5. Denise's preference is to start recorder in January of Grade 4. The students have had another year of musical instruction, the hands are bigger, and they progress more quickly than students who begin in Grade 3.
It's important for students to be competent at the following before beginning the recorder:
- Reading rhythms
- Reading notes using letter names
- Have good handwriting skills
Note Toss Game
Practice note names with the Note Toss Game! It's a fun way to start the class with your students: Note Toss!! - Treble Clef Level 3
Find additional levels by scrolling down!
We have another version to help your students remember recorder fingerings: Note Toss!! - Recorder Fingering Game
To aid students in both identifying and reinforcing notes on the staff, explore our staff unit for additional resources, including printable worksheets, interactives, and videos at this link: Staff Lesson on MusicplayOnline
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This can also be found by going to Units > Theory > Staff Lesson. |
Here's a sample worksheet available in the unit: Staff Lesson 1 - The Staff and the Treble Clef
Explore more resources by going to Instruments > Recorder on MusicplayOnline!
There are a variety of categories within the recorder section, including Introduction to the Recorder, Recorder Kit 1, Recorder Kit 2, Blues Cats, Jazz Cats, Poison Recorder, and Holiday Songs for Recorder. We suggest beginning with Recorder Kit 1 for an optimal start.
The images below are examples of the format you can expect to encounter across the songs in the kits:
The animated videos feature note highlighting for easy follow-along, while play-along videos showcase both the score and recorder fingering. Projectable slides, available in regular and Kidsnotes versions, include recorder audio and accompaniment tracks. Complementary resources such as teacher materials, arrangements, interactives, and PDFs provide additional support.
Our most recent videos made by Denise, "Recorder Rap" and "Recorder Finger Fun", are both featured in the introduction to the recorder series.
If you are interested in printed versions of these materials, you can find them on our Musicplay Store site:
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Musicplay Store: The Recorder Resource Kit 1 MusicplayOnline: Recorder Kit 1 |
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Musicplay Store: Recorder Kit 1 Student Book Price: $5.00 (minimum order of 5) |
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Musicplay Store: The Recorder Resource Kit 2 MusicplayOnline: Recorder Kit 2 |
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Musicplay Store: Blues Cats Recorder MusicplayOnline: Blues Cats |
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Musicplay Store: Jazz Cats Recorder MusicplayOnline: Jazz Cats |
