Recorder Duets Intro

Duets for Recorder and other instruments

Click on a title for a printable PDF file.

We have created accompaniment parts for some of the public domain melodies from our ebook, 40 Mezmerizing Melodies.

Accompaniment parts for duets use bass notes, a bass line, counter melody, arpeggios, harmony, and rhythmic pattern.

We have tried to keep the accompaniment parts simple. Melody is number one and should stand out in front.

The limited range of the recorder makes it a challenge to compose backup parts. Personally, because good smooth high notes are difficult to attain, we prefer to keep within a 17 note range on the recorder [whether a soprano, alto, or tenor recorder]. This limits the use of arpeggios. [Arpeggios are a dream on our 4 ½ octave harps.]

For added interest, melody and accompaniment parts can be switched the second time through. Or parts within a piece after a certain number of measures or after a specific musical phrase can be switched.

We read years ago that in the medieval era the first time folks heard polyphonic music, music with harmony or counter point they were so overwhelmingly moved that they fainted. Layered music is Divine!

We hope you will enjoy weaving sounds together.

We hope you will compose some of your own arrangements -

Paul and Brenda Neal

Click on a title for a printable PDF file.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All of these duet melodies are in the public domain. We hope you will find some of these melodies to be inspiring and enriching.

For some of the duet melodies we have taken the artistic liberty to revise some parts of the melodies. We have added some intros, endings, interludes, and ornaments. For some melodies, we wanted to have a piece be a little longer and to add a little variety. For some other melodies we strove for easier playing, possibly a simpler more basic elegant melody statement, avoiding accidentals, or a smaller range of melody notes. For two melodies we have added original interludes, The House of the Rising Sun and The Jasmine Flower.

Since reading music notation does not come easily to either of us, we tried to make the notation as large as possible. Larger is easier to read.

We used Score Writer, a more economical notation program to notate these melodies. We are not musical notation professionals. It is possible that we may have made errors. And, we may not have achieved optimal presentation. We hope that the large easy to read notation will make up for imperfections.

Please email if you have any comments or questions. We'd be very interested to hear if you have one or more favorites. And, are there some other melodies that you love?

twoharps@gmail.com

Paul and Brenda Neal

Two Harps

Please note: For some of the recognizable melodies, especially the classical ones, the changes or additions we have made may not be your preference. If that is the case, it is possible to find simple to complex free printable scores online.

Music is a Parallel Reality. Music a refuge.

Music expresses beyond words.

Paul and Brenda Neal



Click on a title for a printable PDF file.

Note for Alto Recorders -

From our ebook 40 Melodies, we suggested to use music written in the Key of C -

A Radical Suggestion

Pretend the Alto Recorder is in the Key of C. Why on earth would we have the audacity to suggest this extreme departure from reality? The reason is that the musical range of the soprano and tenor recorders, being in the key of C, are notated nicely in the middle of the treble musical stave.



The Alto Recorder, on the other hand, with the lowest note on the first space of the treble clef requires reading, decoding, notes on lines above the stave. We, personally, find this more difficult to read. [We will admit that we are not good sight readers.] Therefore, if we are playing a melody written in the Key of D, for example, we realize that it is really in the Key of G.



This is only a problem if one is playing with other musicians playing different size recorders or different instruments. However, if one is playing by oneself or duets with another musician who is also using this bogus system, there is no problem.


Click on a title for a printable PDF file.