Most "why does my recorder sound like this" posts here come down to one of four sounds. Here's what usually causes each, for soprano or alto.

1. It jumps up and squeals. Too much air, nearly always. The note flips into the octave above. Blow as if saying "doo", and on low notes check the thumb hole is fully closed, because a thumb that's open a crack does the same thing.

2. Low C or D grunts, or won't sound at all. A hole isn't sealed. Press each finger down, lift it and look at the pad: a sealed hole leaves a full round mark, and a half circle means that finger is off centre. Then play G and walk down one finger at a time with the same soft air. The note where it cracks points to the finger to fix. On most people's recorders it's holes 6 or 7.

3. A clean note, but the wrong one. A finger is in the wrong place, or the chart doesn't match the recorder. F is the classic: Baroque F is a fork (5 open, 6 and 7 covered) and German F isn't. To check which you have, compare holes 4 and 5 counting from the top: on Baroque, hole 4 is the smaller one.

4. Fuzzy or breathy, worse as you go on. Water in the windway. Cover the window with a finger and blow firmly once to clear it. Warming the head joint in your hand before you start helps it happen less.

Disclosure: I make Piper's Songbook, a free Android app that listens while you play and says which note it heard and which finger to fix, so I've had to think about how each of these sounds to a microphone. The mods said a link is fine, so here it is: https://pipersongbook.com/app?s=reddit&utm_campaign=r-recorder-1023 (iPhone waitlist on the same page).

What did I miss? I'm sure there's a fifth.

........And I hate pear wood. There, I said it and expressed my suffering.

Neste tutorial para Educação Musical vamos aprender um dos grandes sucessos da música portuguesa atual: "Saloia" de Nuno Ribeiro! Como sempre, o tema foi adaptado para tocar a melodia na Flauta de Bisel com um foco pedagógico muito especial: o trabalho prático do COMPASSO COMPOSTO (6/8).

I'm a violinist who's been messing around on a $10 soprano recorder for about a year (mostly just playing easy excerpts from Bach cantatas), but now I want to go further in my playing. I love baroque music and want to be able to play more baroque recorder repertoire, but I'm not sure how I can develop my technique to reach that level. I'm going to buy an alto recorder and I want to know what I should work on as soon as I get the instrument. Any advice is greatly appreciated!