PHILIPPE BOLTON,  FACTEUR de FLUTE A BEC
    Première page (flûtes à bec etc.)

    Medieval, pre-baroque, and baroque recorders

 Version française
Home page
Recorders page


Can we really speak of a Ganassi fingering system?

Sylvestro Ganassi's treatise, La Fontegara, contains three charts for high notes above the normal range for a recorder of the time (an octave and a sixth). Each one is identified by a maker's mark on the left

Ganassi's high note tables

In the following picture each note has been coloured differently to facilitate identification. Alternative and missing fingerings are more easily seen for the three recorders on which Ganassi experimented. These fingerings use the second register to the top of the second octave, followed directly by the 4th register for higher notes. However the last illustration below reveals some exceptions.

For more information about registers see the page on how recorders work.

Ganassi's high note tables

In the next picture the notes and fingerings have been taken out of their original tables and grouped together for easier comparison. The maker's mark is shown on each instrument.

Ganassi's high note tables

Two of the high notes in Ganassi's tables seem to belong to the 3rd register, which is uncommon for recorders of the first half of the XVIth century. They are coloured in the following chart.

Ganassi's high note tables

Back to the historic fingerings page Back to the Ganassi recorder fingerings page

Philippe BOLTON,
le Grand Portail, F-84570 VILLES SUR AUZON, France
TEL +33 4 90 61 86 11   FAX +33 4 90 61 97 82  

Bilingual home page (recorders etc.)