Piper's SongbookHow to play Wedding March on recorder
Wedding March (the main theme) uses 12 notes on the soprano recorder: G, high C, high D, low E, high E, high G, high F♯, high F, high A, low C, high B and very high C. The first line goes C″ B′ F♯′ A′ G′ F′ D′ C′ D′ G D′ E′ C E G C′ E′ G′.
- Notes
- 12: G, high C, high D, low E, high E, high G, high F♯, high F, high A, low C, high B, very high C
- Level
- Cross fingerings
- Time
- 4/4, about 100 beats a minute
- Source
- Felix Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Op. 61, 1842
Wedding March 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
Letters only, for printing or copying
- C″ B′ F♯′ | A′ G′ F′ D′ | C′ D′ G D′ | E′ C E G C′ E′ G′
- C″ B′ F♯′ | A′ G′ F′ D′ | C′ E′ D′ E′ | 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 Wedding March
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 theme opens on very high C: pinch the thumb and keep down only your left index finger and your right index and middle fingers. The fourth bar is a run from low C up to high G, so cover every hole firmly for low C and blow very gently before climbing.
Learn one line at a time. Play it slowly until every note is clean, then join it to the next line.
About the tune
Mendelssohn wrote the Wedding March in 1842 as part of his music for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. It became a wedding favourite after Victoria, the Princess Royal, chose it for her marriage to Prince Frederick William of Prussia on 25 January 1858.
Questions
Is Wedding March 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 Wedding March on recorder?
G, high C, high D, low E, high E, high G, high F♯, high F, high A, low C, high B and very high C. Tap a note to see its fingering on its own page.
Do these fingerings work on a German recorder?
Mostly. high F♯ and high F are 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 the theme excerpt in the Wikimedia Commons book of Romantic orchestral themes and the Mutopia organ arrangement, in the original C major. Last checked 6 October 2026.