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left handright handthumb · behindT½123456½7½bellleft handright handthumb · behindT½123456½7½bell
C4sounds C5Thumb on

Baroque (English): F is a fork. On the recorder, hole 5 is bigger than hole 4.

SongsAuld Lang Syne
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2 more songs need notes this instrument does not have. Changing the size or key brings some of them into reach.

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Scottish traditional melody, sung to these words since 1799. Public domain.

27 notes · C4–D6 written · sounds C5–D7 · 27 notes · The descant: the recorder in every school bag. In C, and it sounds an octave above its written part.

Tap a note, or slide along them to slur from note to note in one breath. On a keyboard the letters on the notes are the ones to press — Q is the bottom note and they climb a semitone at a time.

RecorderFree · printable · plays in your browser

Auld Lang Syne — Recorder Notes

Auld Lang Syne, written out for the recorder as letter notes with the fingering drawn under each one and set up above on the Soprano. Press Play to hear it, Practice to learn it one note at a time — the recorder waits for you — or Play along to keep time with it.

  • Notes56, 7 pitches
  • RangeG4–A5
  • Key hereC major
  • Tempo96 bpm · about 40 s
  • LevelEasy

Can a recorder play Auld Lang Syne?

Yes — every one on this page plays it. The check is made note by note against what each one can actually sound. Where the tune does not fit as the library writes it, another key or octave is tried, and the table says which; where nothing fits, it names the notes that are missing.

  • Soprano✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · loaded above
  • Alto↕ Plays, movedPlayed an octave lower: C major, G4–A5 · load it
  • Tenor✓ Plays as writtenIn C major, G4–A5 · load it

Auld Lang Syne: recorder notes

The large line is the note, and the drawing is its fingering — a filled hole or key is one that is down. A dash holds the note another beat, an underline is half a beat, and a dot beside a note makes it half as long again. Each line is one phrase.

▶ Play it above

Auld Lang Syne — recorder notes (Soprano) · tonalics.com

The 7 notes it uses

Lowest to highest, with how many times each is played. Learn these 7 and you can play the whole tune.

  • GG4×3
  • AA4×4
  • CC5×16
  • DD5×8
  • EE5×13
  • GG5×6
  • AA5×6

What to expect on a recorder

  • It runs from G4 to A5, an octave and a whole step, using 7 different notes. That leaves 7 semitones unused below and 5 above.
  • 62% of its moves are a step or a repeated note. The widest is a major sixth, C5 to A5, at note 29.
  • E5, G5 and A5 need the pinched thumb, the half-covered thumb hole that gives the upper octave.

About the tune

Robert Burns sent the words to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788, describing them as an old song he had taken down from an old man’s singing. The melody now sung was paired with them in 1799; it is a Scottish dance tune, and it is sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve across the English-speaking world.

Scottish traditional melody, sung to these words since 1799. Public domain. The notes follow Wikipedia, “Auld Lang Syne” (engraved score), cross-checked against 1 other transcription. More about Auld Lang Syne →

Auld Lang Syne on other instruments

The same melody, in each instrument’s own notation. It is not offered for the handpan or ocarina, which do not have the notes.

More songs for the recorder

All 36 recorder songs · Christmas songs for recorder · The online recorder on its own

Playing it on a real recorder?

If it sounds wrong, check the instrument before the notes. The recorder tuner listens through your microphone and names what each note is actually sounding.

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