Submitted by Connie Herbon, Iowa
Idea posted April 30, 2002
We begin with "Recorder Rap" and go through the physical steps as we say the directions at the beginning of each early class. ("...Left hand at the top - right below...")
The students have regularly seen me playing recorder since kindergarten, so they have that model imprinted. (Hopefully!) I remind them (often!) to keep the right thumb in place and let the RH fingers hover like little helicopters above the holes in readiness for when they are needed. They are usually ready to add ED in about three weeks, which would be a total of seven or eight classes of 40 minutes each. We always play by rote ahead of reading. I remember reading about using a rubber band around the recorder as a cheap, moveable marker for the right thumb.