How to play Hickory Dickory Dock on recorder

Hickory Dickory Dock 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 Hickory Dickory Dock

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

Each half of the first line climbs F♯, G, A, A, B, high C♯ to high D. For high C♯ take your thumb off and keep holes 1 and 2 covered. For high D lift the index finger too, so only your 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 rhyme first appeared in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, published in London in 1744, as "Hickere, Dickere Dock". Walter Crane printed it with this tune in his picture songbook The Baby's Opera in the 1870s.

Questions

Is Hickory Dickory Dock easy on recorder?

It is a good second or third tune. Both hands play, and the low notes need gentle air.

What notes do you need for Hickory Dickory Dock on recorder?

B, A, G, high D, F♯, low E, low D and high C♯. 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.

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