How it works
A recorder comes apart into a head joint, a body joint and a foot joint. You blow into the beak; the covered and open holes along the body change the note.
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Inside the head joint
The block fills the top of the tube, leaving a thin windway above it. Your breath runs along the windway as a flat stream, out across the window, and splits on the labium's sharp edge. That is where the sound starts.
The holes
The left thumb covers the thumb hole underneath. Seven finger holes run down the front: six on the body joint, one on the foot. On most school recorders the sixth and seventh are double holes, two small holes for half-covering.
- Turn the foot joint so its hole lines up with your little finger.
Questions and answers
What are the three parts of a recorder called?
The head joint at the top, with the beak and window; the body joint, also called the middle joint, with the thumb hole and six finger holes; and the foot joint at the bottom.
What is the hole on the back of a recorder called?
The thumb hole. The left thumb covers it for the low notes and half-covers it for the high notes, so it works as an octave vent.
What is the block in a recorder?
A plug fitted into the head joint, also called the fipple. Its flat top forms the floor of the windway, the narrow duct that carries your breath to the labium.