Piper's SongbookHow to play America the Beautiful on recorder
America the Beautiful uses 10 notes on the soprano recorder: B, A, G, high C, high D, low E, low D, high E, high C♯ and F. The first line goes G G E E G G D D E F G A B G. The same tune is used for Materna.
- Notes
- 10: B, A, G, high C, high D, low E, low D, high E, high C♯, F
- Level
- Cross fingerings
- Time
- 4/4, about 88 beats a minute
- Source
- Music by Samuel A. Ward ("Materna", 1882); words by Katharine Lee Bates, 1895
America the Beautiful recorder notes with letters
Each box is one note, with its fingering underneath: filled holes are covered, a half-filled hole is half covered or pinched. Wider boxes are longer notes. A ′ mark means the higher octave, so D′ is high D. Bar lines are drawn as thin rules.
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4
Letters only, for printing or copying
- G | G E E G | G D D E | F G A B | G
- G | G E E G | G D D D′ | C♯′ D′ E′ A | D′
- G | E′ E′ D′ C′ | C′ B B C′ | D′ B A G | C′
- C′ | C′ A A C′ | C′ G G G | A C′ G D′ | C′
Sheet music
Written pitch for soprano recorder, which sounds an octave higher. Press play to hear it on a recorder sound; the slow setting plays at 60% speed.
Fingerings for the notes in America the Beautiful
Hole 0 is the thumb hole on the back. Holes 1 to 3 are for the left hand, 4 to 7 for the right. These are Baroque (English) fingerings.
How to practise it
Two notes in this key need care. F in the third bar is a cross fingering: cover the thumb, all three left fingers and the right index, ring and little fingers, with the right middle finger lifted. C♯ in the second line is the thumb off with the left index and middle fingers down, and it leans straight up to high D.
Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.
About the tune
Samuel A. Ward, organist at Grace Church in Newark, wrote the tune in 1882 for the hymn "O Mother Dear, Jerusalem" and called it "Materna". Katharine Lee Bates published her poem in 1895 after a trip up Pikes Peak. The two were first printed together as "America the Beautiful" in 1910.
Questions
Is America the Beautiful easy on recorder?
It is an intermediate piece. It uses cross fingerings or half holes, so learn those notes on their own first.
What notes do you need for America the Beautiful on recorder?
B, A, G, high C, high D, low E, low D, high E, high C♯ and F. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. F is fingered differently on a German recorder; the diagrams above are Baroque, and the linked note pages show both. A recorder whose hole 4 is smaller than hole 5 is Baroque.
More recorder songs
Notes checked against Materna as printed in The Everyday Song Book (1927), compared with the Musica Viva transcription by Frank Nordberg; in C. Last checked 6 October 2026.