Lesson 11: F-sharp and Cross-Fingerings
- Play F#5 and F#4 with the correct cross-fingerings.
- Play B (in both octaves on your alto staff) with the correct cross-fingerings.
- Play a G major scale and a melody in G.
- Play a C major scale (alto's home key) and a melody in C on your alto staff.
The cross-fingerings are not flaws of the recorder. They are why the recorder sounds like the recorder.
F-sharp is the first note that does not lie in a simple stack. You play it by lifting one finger and adding another below — the “forked” or “cross” fingering that gives every Baroque-fingered recorder its slightly unequal scale.
The cross-fingering is the first finger pattern that does not lie in a simple stack. You play it by lifting one finger and adding another below — the “forked” or “cross” fingering that gives every Baroque-fingered recorder its slightly unequal scale. On your alto staff this fingering produces B, a natural that fits the alto's home key — only the naming differs from the soprano's written F#.
F#5
B (upper)
The upper-octave F# is the more common of the two. Thumb half-vented (the Lesson 3 pinch); all three left fingers down, as for G; on the right hand, skip the index finger and cover the middle finger's hole.
The upper-octave B is the more common of the two. Thumb half-vented (the Lesson 3 pinch); all three left fingers down, as for the C on your alto staff; on the right hand, skip the index finger and cover the middle finger's hole.
F#4
B (lower)
The low F# is rarer but worth knowing: index skipped, middle AND ring down, left fingers as for G, thumb fully closed instead of pinched.
The low B is rarer but worth knowing: index skipped, middle AND ring down, left fingers as for C (on your alto staff), thumb fully closed instead of pinched.
Long tones on the low F# first, then F#–G–F# slurred, listening for matched colour.
Long tones on the lower B first, then B–C–B slurred on your alto staff, listening for matched colour.
The first major scale with an accidental — F# replaces F.
On your alto staff this is C major (alto's home key) — no accidentals, since soprano's F# transposes to your natural B.
Play: London Bridge
A traditional English nursery tune in D major — the single F# is all you need. It appears as a neighbour note: soft, not emphasised.
A traditional English nursery tune, reading in G major on your alto staff — soprano's written F# becomes your cross-fingered low B. It appears as a neighbour note: soft, not emphasised.
Now play these
- London Bridge (full)
- The complete melody with the second strain.
- Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
- D major, in a lilting 6/8 — F# woven through the whole tune.
- Yankee Doodle
- G major, with F# as the leading tone. Bright, march-like.
- G major on the page becomes C major on your alto staff (no accidentals). Bright, march-like.
When the G major scale plays evenly at quarter = 80 and F# does not stand out as duller or quieter on a phone recording, move on to Lesson 12.
When the C major scale on your alto staff plays evenly at quarter = 80 and the cross-fingered B does not stand out as duller or quieter on a phone recording, move on to Lesson 12.
F# muffled or unequal? See troubleshooting.