Lesson 22: C-sharp and the Key of D Major
- Play C#5 cleanly in scales and in context.
- Play F# (on your alto staff) cleanly in scales and in context.
- Play a D major piece end-to-end.
- Play a G major piece (the alto-staff reading of soprano's D major) end-to-end.
- Lesson 21 — key signatures.
- C-sharp.
- D major key signature.
- Sharp-side reading.
D major is the key the recorder loves most after F.
D major is the key of two sharps — F# and C#. It is one of the recorder's most resonant keys, partly because the home pitch (D) corresponds to fingerings that are largely open. Folk dances, Baroque allegros, and a great deal of recorder repertoire live here.
On your alto staff this lesson reads in G major (one sharp, F#) — the transposed reading of soprano's D major. The home pitch (G on your staff) corresponds to fingerings that are largely open. Folk dances, Baroque allegros, and a great deal of recorder repertoire live here.
C#5
F#
Thumb on, on the front only the second finger DOWN, but with the right index DOWN as well — another cross-fingering. The chromatic neighbour above C natural.
Thumb on, on the front only the second finger DOWN, but with the right index DOWN as well — another cross-fingering. (Same fingering soprano calls C#.) On your alto staff this is the chromatic neighbour above F natural.
The tonic triad. Three notes that define the key.
The tonic triad on your alto staff: G–B–D, the three notes that define G major.
Play: a piece in D major
Pachelbel's Canon — the most-played piece in D major. The opening phrase is built on the descending tetrachord that gives the canon its grounding.
Pachelbel's Canon — the most-played piece in D major. On your alto staff it reads in G major; the opening phrase is built on the descending tetrachord that gives the canon its grounding.
Now play these
- Pachelbel: Canon in D
- The complete melody. A study in D major.
- Minuet in G
- From the Anna Magdalena notebook. G major but with a related sharpened-leading-tone moment.
- Bach: Minuet in G (BWV Anh. 114)
- The original. Same melody, with a fuller version of the second strain.
When the D major scale plays evenly at quarter = 80 and C#5 lands cleanly between B and D without an audible dip in volume or tone, move on to Lesson 23.
When the G major scale on your alto staff plays evenly at quarter = 80 and F# lands cleanly between E and G without an audible dip in volume or tone, move on to Lesson 23.