Lesson 18: High E and F

• Produce E5 and F5 cleanly without overblowing.
• Produce upper A and Bb (on your alto staff) cleanly without overblowing.
• Play a melody that climbs into the upper register and back.

• Lesson 3 — upper register thumb-pinch.

• E5 and F5 fingerings.
• Range extension.

The thumb's half-vent is the recorder's octave key.

E5 and F5 are the upper-octave twins of E4 and F4: the same finger pattern below, but the thumb is half-vented to crack the octave. Half-venting is the trick that beginners struggle with longest — too much vent and the note skips up another octave; too little and it falls back down.

The upper A and Bb on your alto staff are the upper-octave twins of the low A and Bb you learned earlier: the same finger pattern below, but the thumb is half-vented to crack the octave. Half-venting is the trick that beginners struggle with longest — too much vent and the note skips up another octave; too little and it falls back down.

The half-vent is created by rolling the thumb slightly downward and bending it, so the nail edge cracks the hole open by a millimetre or two. It is a feel, not a measurement.

E5

A (upper)

Thumb half-vented; on the front, the same fingering as E4 but offset by the thumb pinch.

Thumb half-vented; on the front, the same fingering as the lower A on your alto staff but offset by the thumb pinch.

F5

Bb (upper)

Thumb half-vented; the forked F shape below. The trickier of the two — you may need to refine the thumb opening over several attempts.

Thumb half-vented; the forked Bb shape below. The trickier of the two — you may need to refine the thumb opening over several attempts.

Play: a melody that uses the whole range

The line below climbs from G4 up to F5 and returns. The work is in the connection: every half-vent must arrive without an octave crack.

The line below climbs from C up to the upper Bb on your alto staff and returns. The work is in the connection: every half-vent must arrive without an octave crack.

Now play these

Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Mozart's serenade. The melody reaches into E5 and D5 territory.

Scarborough Fair

English folk ballad reaching up to D5 and E5 in the second strain.

Spring (Vivaldi)

The opening of Vivaldi's most-famous concerto. Brief excursion to E5.

When E5 and F5 speak cleanly on demand — no octave cracks — move on to Lesson 19.

When the upper A and Bb on your alto staff speak cleanly on demand — no octave cracks — move on to Lesson 19.

Octave cracking? Thumb half-vent the usual culprit. See troubleshooting.