The Recorder: Au Clair de la Lune

This lesson was contributed by:

Helen Magri

This lesson is for:

Lesson Duration:

45 mins.

What should you expect from this lesson?

Students will learn to play the French melody Au Clair de la Lune. This lesson introduces notes F# (F sharp), E and D. Please note: your child is not expected to be able to play this piece of music fluently by the end of the lesson; this will require further practice.

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How to carry out this lesson at home:

Important: before starting this lesson, make sure your child’s recorder is clean.

Step 1
Warm up the recorder. Your child can put the mouthpiece of the recorder under their arm for a few minutes.

Step 2
Download the PowerPoint titled Notes B A and G.pptx Tell your child to practice these musical notes on the recorder. Make sure they are playing these notes with their left hand fingers. This is very important.

Step 3
Download the PowerPoint titled New Notes F sharp, E and D.pptx Tell your child to look carefully at where they need to place their fingers on the recorder for each note. Practice playing these new musical notes. Make sure they are playing with their left hand at the top of the recorder and their right hand at the bottom.

Step 4
Watch the featured video and listen to the melody Au Clair de la Lune. The melody is played once quickly (up to 0:33), then again very slowly for practice purposes. Play the quick version of the melody a few times and ask your child to try humming along so they learn the melody (you can also join in with them). Once your child is familiar with the melody, continue to Step 5. Please note: when your child is ready to practice playing the recorder with this video, they must follow the Baroque fingering which is on the left hand side of the video screen.

Step 5
Download the PDF Au Clair de la Lune.pdf and ask your child to practice the first line, slowly. Slow practice is very important when learning a new piece (remember how slow the piece was in the second part of the featured video).

Step 6
Watch this video then ask your child to try playing along. This video contains practice exercises for the first line of the melody, which uses notes G, A and B. It does not cover the middle part of the melody (the second line on the PDF) which uses notes F# E and D. Note: the last line of the melody is the same as the first line (which is repeated). Once your child can play these musical notes and exercises, go to Step 7.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWxlqNQoyRY

Step 7
Practice the middle part of the melody (the second line on the PDF Au Clair de la Lune.pdf). This should be done slowly, paying attention to where your child places their fingers. Remember, the left hand should be at the top and the right hand at the bottom. Practice this line a piece at a time, not the whole line in one go.

Step 8
Practice all of the middle line on the PDF Au Clair de la Lune.pdf

Step 9
Practice the whole piece, keeping a steady tempo (in other words, don’t speed up and slow down). It is better to play slowly and steadily, rather than playing quickly and then needing to slow down. Ask your child to play along with the second part of the featured video (which starts at 0:40). Remind them that they must follow the Baroque fingering which is on the left hand side of the video screen.

Step 10
Once your child can play along with the second half of the featured video, they can try playing the piece a little quicker, but always trying to keep a steady tempo.

You can follow the lyrics in French or the English translation on the PDF Au Clair de la Lune lyrics.pdf

All the resources you need to carry out this lesson at home:

Featured Video of the lesson:

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