Play Country Dances: Recorder Book

Bonsor has taken one of music's most important historical dance collections and made it genuinely playable for young recorder students. The careful grading means students move through material that builds naturally, rather than jumping between unrelated pieces. This is a collection where fun and technique reinforce each other.

These tunes carry the energy of Renaissance England: sprightly, community-minded, and built for repetition and joy. There's a lightness to country dances that invites students to play with rhythmic clarity and a sense of forward motion, even at a modest technical level.

Young recorder players at the elementary level who need motivating material beyond beginner method books. Teachers will appreciate having authentic historical repertoire carefully calibrated by difficulty, offering students dances they can genuinely play rather than simplified arrangements.

• Maintain consistent articulation across the phrases; recorder dance music lives in clear, bouncy tonguing that brings out the character of each tune.
• Let the natural phrasing of the melody breathe; these are dances meant to move bodies, not rush through measures.
• Pay attention to dynamics even in early tunes; subtle shaping keeps simple melodies alive and engaging.

Ideal for a school assembly, informal concert, or end-of-unit celebration where a short historical repertoire set would add character. Pair several consecutive tunes for a mini recital program that shows students' growing range and confidence without requiring extended technical display.

• Reading and sustaining notes in the lower and middle register of the descant recorder
• Playing through repeated sections with consistent tone and articulation
• Understanding rhythmic patterns typical of English country dance forms
• Recognizing phrase structure and musical phrasing in simple melodies