To expect my neighbour to stop her son playing the recorder in the garden?

Such hate towards the recorder! I do think it’s a little antisocial, but I think music should absolutely be encouraged.

my son is a violinist, he’s not great but improving. I remember as a child feeling shame and embarrassment about my developing skills and I stopped. I’m determined my son won’t feel the same. We have to go through being rubbish to get better, it’s simply how it works.

Telling children not to bother practising because it will never get better does though. It’s appalling on many levels.

Hating the sound of a recorder does not make you anti-music.

Thats awful. Are you a teacher? (I am - retired). For a teacher to be so anti music and discouraging is appalling.

Which is probably the reason his parents sent him out into the garden practice in the first place.

I know a lot of adults who routinely play the recorder in their spare time. Look up the Society of Recorder Players. How many do you know who regularly play the flute (me and several people I know, but I bet you don’t know many) or the tuba, or the oboe, or any instrument other than guitar.
Level of popularity means little anyway. Not sure what point you’re trying to make.

Why does he have to become professional to make beautiful music? Isn’t it enough without monetising it?

While I agree the child should practise indoors if at all possible, the level of distaste for music and the arts on this thread (and in society in general - so many philistines) is really sad. Think about the significant moments of your life - music almost certainly played a part. It’s on all tv and film. Where do you think that comes from if not small children playing a small instrument badly for a while?

How sad. I was at a social for my concert band last night. We got talking about instruments we could okay apart from our band one, and what we played first. Almost without exception these musicians (some where music has been part of their professional life, all who have gained immense pleasure and social connection from it) started on recorder in primary school. It would probably be even better if it could be taught by musicians who actively valued it instead of people who appear to resent it though.

It really isn’t. Professional recorder players make a beautiful sound. It so definitely one of the worst in the hands of a novice, agreed - but if you do t go through that phase you’ll never get top musicians. I don’t just mean on recorder. Learning the recorder is the first exposure to creating music many people have. Many of them go on to learn something else.
Stopping it (as at leat one poster has said they’ve done) is a bit like saying it’s sooooo boring hearing their child stutter through a first level reading book so every time they start just hide the book (or better, throw it away). Shortsighted.

Music is so good for mental development too, even if nothing further comes of the recorder playing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-is-music-good-for-the-brain-2020100721062

I agree he should probs play indoors in this case though.

I agree with this. Young people's participation in music making and the funding for it is absolutely dire in the UK at the moment. We risk having a generation who will be bereft of all the short term and lifelong benefits that making music can give them, other than those whose parents have money.

Recorders are cheap, small and robust enough that they are accessible for children from even the poorest and most chaotic families. Nobody should be discouraging them from picking one up and having a go.

No problem. I quite like the idea of a recorder ensemble, I’d forgotten but that was definitely a part of the Music Cup at school!

Poor little blighter! If he doesn't practise he won't get any better 🙃

We've always encouraged our kids if a musical interest is shown as generally love music - classical , rock, pop and for DH jazz.

I'd be more patient OP but my views are contrary to a lot of others on this thread.

He’s never going to get better if he can’t practice, is he?

HELL NO!!! That's mental torture. His mother probably can't stand the row in the house so makes him go outside.

You're fortunate.

My mum occasionally stuck be in the back garden with my piano accordion.

Ah right, you were picking up on the ensemble comment. :-) Sorry.

I know, I was quoting you as an example of what OP could potentially look forward to - sorry that wasn’t clear.

Please don't tell your students that. Please.
It was the instrument on which I learned to read music and first learned the joy of making music together in groups.

It led to a lifetime of music making and bringing others togethet to make music. A small acorn from which great oaks grew and spresd their branches to many communities.

Please dontbsay this to them. You could be cutting off something very important. If more people made music together there would be less conflict. If more young people had the opportunity to make music together their confidence and ability to cooperate grows and there is a mass of evidence that their academic results improve.

I know your post was meant to be a joke ... I get that. But maybe there is more at stake than you think.

@MumofSpud That's horrible, hope you are not a teacher. I used to run a recorder club and it was to give kids who had no chance to learn an instrument some of the joy of achieving that, getting better at something, playing in a group and performing. Every instrument requires work to get better. I didn't allow any random screeching of it as I knew adults would just slag it off if they heard that. Music is so powerful and not every child can have the opportunity to play a £20k harp or a beautiful £10k silver flute, both of which are a bit easier on the ear to start with. Happily, a £15 recorder can take you to grade 8. (Not the five pound ones, they are rubbish I admit.) Music is more than being a professional, there's so much evidence of the benefits for every child, whatever their intended career, any education 'professional' who dismisses the power is very ill informed.
Sadly, most people give a recorder as a joke present to annoy parents etc. I'd happily teach any child who wanted to learn.

At school I call the recorder the instrument of the devil and tell students there’s no point practising as it will still sound bad (I am not a music teacher!)
Having said that I can still play ‘Bobby Shafto’ from memory 45+ years after learning.
There was a recorder exam for schools in my area in the 70s and we had to playBobby Shafto INDIVIDUALLY one after the other - parents were invited - like the world’s worst show - there were over 100 of us playing the same ‘tune’.

Just heard this programme trailed on the radio. It's on at 4pm this afternoon. The radio has been listening to you all!

Look up the Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet. Drown him out with them. And invite him in to yours to hear them and make the point that he can sound like them if he stops overblowing and covers the holes with his fingers properly, ALL THE TIME. Make that point to his Mum too...

Good idea. They might broadcast a nice recorder concerto to give the kid some inspiration

Get the radio on next to your open window and listen to Classic FM to drown it out.

Hopefully he will retreat back indoors.

This would be really unpleasant and it is selfish of his parents to inflict it on other people deliberately.

But as he's just a kid, it's less than an hour and at some point he will likely move on as the recorder is a shit instrument, I wouldn't say anything. Best hope he doesn't take up drumming though...