A little challenge

How to play Yankee Doodle on the recorder

The American song from the 1700s. It's quick and bouncy, and uses F#, which has a special forked fingering. It uses 7 notes: low D, low E, F#, G, A, B and high C. Below are the notes with their rhythm, and the fingering for each one.

▶ Practice Yankee Doodle with Recorder Hero

Free, in your browser: it listens as you play, shows which finger to fix, and goes at your own pace.

The notes

GGABGBADGGABGF#GGABC'BAGF#DEF#GG

Longer blocks are longer notes; a line marks every four beats.

The notes as letters

G G A B G B A D G G A B G F# G G A B C' B A G F# D E F# G G

C' and D' are the high C and high D. All for a soprano (descant) recorder, with baroque (English) fingering.

Fingerings

low D

Thumb hole covered, holes 1 2 3 4 5 6 covered

low E

Thumb hole covered, holes 1 2 3 4 5 covered

Thumb hole covered, holes 1 2 3 5 6 covered

Thumb hole covered, holes 1 2 3 covered

Thumb hole covered, holes 1 2 covered

Thumb hole covered, holes 1 covered

high C

Thumb hole covered, holes 2 covered

Filled holes are covered. The left hand is on top (thumb behind, holes 1–3), the right hand below (holes 4–7).

Tips

Say "doo" into the recorder for each note: the tongue starts every note, so repeated notes sound separate.
Blow gently, like cooling soup. Too much air makes a squeak an octave up.
Cover the holes with the soft pads of your fingers, not the tips, so no air leaks out.
Low D needs the gentlest breath of all, and every hole sealed: if it squeaks, check your bottom fingers first.
F# is a "forked" fingering: cover the thumb and holes 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, leaving hole 4 open.
For high C, lift your first finger (hole 1) and keep the thumb and hole 2 covered.

▶ Practice it now

How to play Yankee Doodle on the recorder

The notes

The notes as letters

Fingerings

Tips

More recorder songs