How Do You Find Other People to Play With?

One of the great joys of playing the recorder is the ability to play with other recorder players. Not only is it musically rewarding, it can plug you into a whole community of curious and interesting people. I’ve seen amazing connections made in the recorder world, sometimes across multiple lines of difference.

Perhaps because of this, one of the most common questions I get asked as a teacher is how to find people to play with. Depending on your geographical situation, the struggle can be real! (I’m looking at you, Wichita!) The truth is that for every city with a vibrant, active recorder chapter, there’s another one in which you might be the only recorder player you know.

Even if you do live an area where other players are plentiful, it can be tough to find a good match in terms of availability, personality, and playing level. As with any human relationship, there’s never a 100% perfect match, but I have noticed that more successful playing relationships tend to be aligned on at least two of the those three elements.

So how do you find your recorder people? Here are some strategies I’ve seen work in the wild.

Use Recorder Society resources

If you have a local Recorder Society chapter, it’s kind of a no-brainer that you should start attending their meetings. At meetings, you’ll encounter wide variety of players, many of whom are eager to make more music! I have seen many students find and form longstanding regular playing groups at monthly recorder society meetings. Some of these groups are even gigging!

If there isn’t a Recorder Society chapter in your area, try searching for, and reaching out to, individual players in the American Recorder Society (or your local version’s) database (membership required). You never know if you might find a good match near you! I’ve even seen people use the directory to find folks to play with while traveling. (As with any situation in which you’re meeting people from the Internet, use good judgment. But I will say it’s a rare villain that regularly pays their American Recorder Society dues!)

Talk about your recorder playing

I kid you not: I have had two different students who happened to be discussing their recorder playing with a neighbor when the neighbor suddenly reveals that they, too, play recorder! Both of these casual conversations resulted in long-term playing relationships. Basically, you never know who plays recorder. And you’ll only find out if the subject comes up in conversation.

Ask your teacher to matchmake

If you study with a local teacher, you can ask them if there’s anyone in the area who might be a good playing match for you. Though I do confess that, as a matchmaker, I have a mixed record. I matched one trio that spectacularly imploded, but I also introduced a pair who are delighted to be playing regularly together. You win some, you lose some!

Grow your own

This is an underrated strategy I’ve seen work time and time again. If you don’t have someone near you to play with, consider handing someone you already know a recorder and a method book. Chances are you already match well with this person with regard to personality and availability, so all that’s left to do is to get them interested in playing! This tends to work especially well when your victim AHEM prospective collaborator has a musical background. (As a bonus benefit, you get to practice doing some teaching –and there’s nothing like teaching others to help solidify your own abilities!)

Faraway play

This is a newer option, and it does require some tech savvy. But did you know that there are low latency platforms out there that enable near-simultaneous playing over the Internet? They are not perfect, and there are a host of caveats (it works better if you’re geographically closer; Internet speeds really matter; you need Ethernet and headphones). But it’s pretty amazing to be able to play a duet with someone the next major metro over! If you know someone who is a good playing match in every way except geographically, and you’re both willing to invest some work in setup, this could be a huge win for you! I use the app Farplay.

Happy playing!