One player performs on a recorder alone before a panel, marked out of 100 on tone, intonation, fingering accuracy and musical shaping, with entries grouped by age.
Recorder Solo is the single-player class for the recorder, the simple fipple-flute that most children meet first in school music lessons. One player walks on, performs a prepared piece alone or with a piano accompanist, and leaves while the panel marks the performance. Because the instrument is cheap and quickly learned, it is one of the most accessible solo instrumental items an organiser can run.
On the eTalenter templates it is an individual item open to boys and girls together, with no language attached. A Sri Lankan school music and dance competition runs it in two classes, Junior Solo for ages 11 to 14 (Grades 6 to 9) and Senior Solo for ages 15 to 18 (Grades 10 to 13), each with a ten-minute allowance. An Australian eisteddfod runs it in many age bands, from 7 and under with three minutes, through 10 and 12 and under with three to four minutes, up to 15, 19, open and 35-and-over classes with four to five minutes, and adds team classes with seven minutes.
A round is simple to run: players are called in order, each performs a set or chosen piece, and the panel marks each one before the next entrant. Players may choose a descant, treble or other member of the recorder family where the organiser allows it, so the programme should say which sizes are accepted. A strong entry is a piece the player can finish cleanly at a steady tempo, not the hardest piece they can attempt.
Organisers run it because it needs no equipment beyond a music stand and a chair, gives younger and beginner players a first solo stage, and lets one music programme cover a very wide spread of ages and abilities.
Where Recorder Solo is run
On the eTalenter templates Recorder Solo appears in two events: an Australian eisteddfod and a national school music and dance competition in Sri Lanka. The first spreads the item across many age bands with a separate team class; the second uses two school-grade classes. Recorder is otherwise most often found in school music programmes and in youth music festivals across the English-speaking world, though this page only records the two templates above.
- Australia
- Sri Lanka
Key facts
- Individual entry, open to boys and girls together on both templates; language is not set
- Marked out of 100 on both templates
- Time limit runs from three minutes for the youngest bands to five minutes for open and adult bands in the Australian programme, and ten minutes in the Sri Lankan school classes
- Age classes range from 7 and under to 35 and over in Australia, and Junior (ages 11 to 14) and Senior (ages 15 to 18) in Sri Lanka
- The Australian programme also has team classes with seven minutes; the Sri Lankan template has a separate Recorder Group item
- Related page: Recorder Group, the ensemble version of this item
On eTalenter, Recorder Solo is filed under Music and typically scored with Marks. It appears in 2 ready-made event templates — each one can adjust its time limit, age-group assignment and scoring setup independently.
Across the templates that use it, Recorder Solo is most often entered as an Individual competition, typically scored out of 100, commonly time-limited to 3–10 minutes where a limit is set.
The scoring method the templates attach to this item, and what that scale means. The category this competition is filed under when a template is installed. Others in this category: Classical Vocal, Light Music, Folk Song, Western Vocal, Instrumental, Group Song, Devotional Song, Patriotic Song eTalenter matches an item to its criteria on the words in its name, and creates exactly these when the template is installed.How it is scored
Where it sits
Judging criteria installed for it
What judges look at in Recorder Solo
What a Recorder Solo panel is actually weighing up, and where the marks are usually won or lost:
- Tone and breath control: a clear, steady sound without squeaks or breathy notes wins marks; over-blowing the high notes, which makes them sharp and shrill, loses them quickly
- Intonation: recorder notes drift sharp with a hard breath and flat with a weak one, so the panel listens for pitch that stays true across the whole piece
- Fingering and articulation: clean note changes and even tonguing; covering holes only half-way or rushing the fast passages costs marks
- Rhythm and tempo: a steady pulse and a tempo the player can hold to the end; slowing down at difficult spots shows in the marks
- Musical shaping: phrasing, breaths in sensible places and changes in loudness that follow the style of the piece, not a flat note-by-note reading
- Where marks are won: an accurate, well-shaped piece at the right level beats a harder piece played with mistakes; going over the time limit can also cost marks in some programmes
Treat these as the judging focus, not a fixed rubric: publish your own weighted criteria for Recorder Solo under Scoring Setup, or start from the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide.
How to prepare for Recorder Solo
How entrants and their teachers usually get Recorder Solo right on the day:
- Choose a piece that suits the player’s age band and can be played cleanly at the performance tempo, and check which recorder sizes the organiser accepts
- Practise slowly with a metronome first and raise the tempo only when every note is clean
- Warm the instrument by breathing through it before playing, because a cold recorder plays flat; keep it clean and dry between runs
- Mark the breath points in the music so phrases are never broken in the middle of a line
- Work on the weakest passage on its own for a few minutes a day instead of replaying the whole piece
- Time a full run from walking on to the last note and keep it inside the class limit, allowing for tuning and setting up the music stand
- If a pianist accompanies the player, rehearse together at least twice, and bring a clean copy of the music for the accompanist and the panel if the rules ask for it
- After a loss, compare marks with the winner on tone, intonation and phrasing and take the lowest one into the next season
Events that run this (2)
Ready-made templates that already include this competition. Installing one sets it up for you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Recorder Solo judged individually or as a team?
Across eTalenter’s templates it’s most often run as an Individual entry, though an organiser can set either participation type when assigning the item to an age group.
Is Recorder Solo the same as Recorder Group?
No. Recorder Solo has one player marked individually; Recorder Group is an ensemble item marked as a team. Check which class the organiser offers for your age.
Which size of recorder can I play?
That depends on the organiser. The templates do not fix a size, so read the programme and ask before entering if it is not stated.
How long can the piece be?
It depends on the event and age band. The Australian programme allows three to five minutes for solo classes, and the Sri Lankan school classes allow ten minutes. Follow the limit printed for your own class.
Can I play with an accompanist?
That is the organiser’s rule, not the item’s. Many programmes allow a piano accompanist, but check the rules and arrange a rehearsal if so.
Similar competitions
Items whose names share a word with this one — usually the same discipline in another form.
Want the full judging picture? Read the full instrumental music competition judging criteria guide, or browse every music competition item.
Try Recorder Solo in eTalenter
See every ready-made template that runs Recorder Solo, and install one as a live event — age groups, rules and scoring included.
