Encounters

Do extra terrestrials exist? Who knows! But this music is sure to captivate your recorder players either way. Theremin, sound effects, synthesizers, muted trumpets, and other wind instruments paint a simple, yet imaginative, picture: A spaceship descends, extra terrestrials are present, then the spaceship takes off. An encounter.

Fun childhood memory – when I was a passenger in the car with my dad, he would often whistle and hum at the same time as we took the highway exit ramp. This whistle/hum produced a unique sound effect, implying our vehicle was a decelerating spaceship. A memorable dad thing to do indeed. While composing this music, I thought that sound would be a perfect fit, so I asked my dad to record himself and send me the audio. The SFX intro on the accompaniment recording is my dad's actual whistle/hum, and it turned out great! Good job, dad – and thank you for the fond memories.

"Encounters" has two recorder parts, but you don't need to use both. Recorder 1 uses only GAB and the piece sounds great with just this part. Our recording has just part 1 sounding, but we also provide an alternate full version online extra MP3 that includes both recorders 1 and 2. The recorder 2 part is definitely optional and uses B, C, C#, and D. While most never learn C#, don't let it scare you. The fingering: left hand only, first and second fingers only (no thumb). The hard part is doing this without dropping the instrument. An alternate fingering for C# is: left hand only, thumb only (no other fingers), which is also difficult to do without dropping the instrument. Either fingering you use, appropriately adjusted neck straps (sold at MusicK8.com) can help with holding the instrument.

Recorders have easy rhythms. Except for a few repeated eighth notes on beats 1 and 2 in measures 18, 20, 22, and 24, it's all quarter notes and half notes. If the eighth notes are too difficult, simply alter those beats to quarter notes instead. Or, take the opportunity to teach your students how to count eighth notes so they can play it as written.

If you would like to follow along, the piano/recorder score is available online, along with the alternate full version MP3, and both recorder part PDFs.