I bought my first Alto Recorder and i'm really confused. The lowest it can go is a F right? What if I want to play a C D or E in the same octave? This website http://recorder-fingerings.com/en/F.php?t=mHoh.1ML.aBar.2A tells me how to do it in the first octave but those notes are clearly higher while they should be lower.
For example I used to play this melody in my Soprano Recorder: B,G,E,F#. How should I play the E here?
Sorry if the answer is straight forward and thanks for any help.
The alto recorder in F is a fifth lower than the soprano in C. As you say, the lowest note is F. If you have a melody to play that goes lower than F, you can't play it in the same octave as your low F- you have to play it an octave higher.
That would mean, for your example, that your first note B is not the lowest B of the alto, but in the second octave, fingered 1/2 thumb, 1 2 3 5 fingers. Because the alto is not an octave lower than the soprano (the tenor is) you cannot always play soprano melodies an octave lower.
Or, if there's no particular reason to play your soprano melody in the same key, you can simply pretend the alto is a soprano, finger your melody accordingly, and it will come out sounding the same, but a fifth lower.
When the notes in the piece are lower than an F, I play the whole thing on my alto recorder at an octave higher. This usually works well for typical melodies (i.e., Christmas songs), but I'm not brave enough to try it with a more complicated piece.
