How to play Go Tell Aunt Rhody on recorder

Go Tell Aunt Rhody 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.

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 Go Tell Aunt Rhody

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

The second line starts on high D straight after a G. Lift your thumb, left index and left ring fingers at the same moment, so only the left middle finger stays down.

Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.

About the tune

The tune began as a gavotte in Le devin du village, an opera Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote in 1752. Americans later sang it in the 1800s with words about Aunt Rhody's old gray goose.

Questions

Is Go Tell Aunt Rhody easy on recorder?

Yes. It uses only the left hand, though it does need the thumb off for high D.

What notes do you need for Go Tell Aunt Rhody on recorder?

B, A, G, high C and high D. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.

Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?

Yes. Every note in Go Tell Aunt Rhody uses the same fingering on Baroque and German recorders.

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