Syncopated Saunter
by Dan Thieman
This cool and relaxed rock tune saunters along while providing your recorder players a way to focus on syncopation. Recorder notes used are GAB. Fewer pitches allow for more brainpower to be dedicated to the rhythms.
The general form of the piece is ABA. The first two phrases for recorder (measures 5-8 and 9-12) are rhythmically simpler with three measures of quarter notes/rests followed by one measure that has the syncopated figure – a warm-up of sorts. The next two phrases (measures 13-16 and 17-20) use the syncopated figure more extensively. Then the B section begins at 21, and finally, back to the A section at measure 29.
We recommend listening to the tracks a few times to establish how the syncopation feels/sounds. If learning the syncopated rhythms on the recorder is too difficult, consider clapping through the rhythm of the entire recorder part first, then add the recorder. The goal for reading and performing syncopated figures is that these note duration combinations (8th-quarter-8th) are seen as a group. This is similar to the way we read and comprehend words rather than individual letters.
The score and recorder part PDFs are available on our web site, free to subscribers.
Text is taken from Music K-8 magazine.