Today I learned

Does it count as a #TIL if I am re-learning something? I am going to say 'yes' because I am applying it to something new.

The start of the journey

A few months ago I bought a soprano recorder. If you're thinking of one of those LOUD plastic ones from primary school, why, yes, that's exactly it.

I watched this short video comparing an amateur to a pro recorder musician and was intrigued. Was it just breath control? I had to find out.

So, I bought one online.

It arrived! And I... ignored it, mostly.

A few days ago I tried it again after a long hiatus. Initially the sounds were shrill, to the point that my dog barked and came to check on me.

I practiced breathing into the recorder differently. I tried sustaining my breath instead of restarting with each note (imagine the difference between humming hm-hm-hm-hm and hmmmmmmm). I played around with my finger placement.

To my amazement, it came out better than when I was a kid and was forced to learn it.

But I still wasn't convinced by the sound. I remembered from the longer version of that short video I linked, that there were different recorders with different note ranges. Web search time.

I decided I wanted an alto recorder, to "stop scaring the dog" I told my spouse.

The Alto

I bought it today!

But, wait? What did I learn? Breath control?

Uh, no. That takes longer than a 10-minute session of fooling around.

NO. I compared a music sheet with an alto recorder fingering chart and started translating the sheet music into notes (which I can then translate into tabs), so I could read it better. Because although we had music class every week for literal years, I couldn't remember how to read it off the top of my head. Tabs, it was.

So, I guess... the thing I learned was translating the sheet music into the fingering chart into notes/tabs?

Anyway, I am trying to learn Amazing Grace! But if I can figure it out, I might give Fly Me to the Moon a crack...

One step at a time...!

What musical experience do I have, you ask?

• some short-lived keyboard lessons as a kid
• some short-lived vocal lessons, also as a kid
• mandatory weekly music class from 5th grade to 2nd year of high school
• a misguided attempt at learning the ukulele in 2016
• plucking my kalimba since 2025 (I count this because I can play songs if I have the tabs in front of me lol)

So, do I have any reason to believe that I will be successful at this?

Not really. But the joy is in the journey, and I am already improving.

My take

I don't need to become a virtuoso at this. I just need to be minimally proficient that I can be like "ah, yeah, I can play the recorder." 😇