Do children still learn the recorder at school

[Daisychainsandglitter]

I have very happy memories of learning the recorder from reception and I played it through to year 6. I played it all the time and must have driven my parents mad!
My DD (nearly 6) has shown an interest in learning. She informs me that no children learn the recorder at her primary school bit they do learn other instruments. A quick e bay search throws up lots of vintage recorders and the books I used to learn from in the early 90's. Is this still a thing in schools?
Did anyone else think they were really good at something as a child and were actually pretty awful?

@losingmymindiam you can forget your best teacher mug this year

They don't even go to school now...

I just had a flashback of the brown and cream Aulos recorders and their mustard yellow bags!

Ours haven’t. I just bought one for biggest, to help with sight reading. Wish I hadn’t. It’s really hard to get a non screechy note out of it!

Dd learnt at school the headteacher taught it and every church service they played while parents arrived, let's just say it paid to arrive last minue😂 ds learnt penny whistle as his head was Irish and taught it.

I learned the recorder in the early 1980s. I loved it. Most of us had plastic ones but a couple had wooden ones. I also played the tenor recorder with a little key you pressed down for lower c.
I think kids have other things they do now - my 2 were never interested

Oh, DS1's music teacher hasn't let that get in the way of a bit of practice, epythymy. She will of course be getting socks for Christmas from us. :o

However, I'm liking the sound of Porpentia's alfresco approach to this.

I bloody loved learning the recorder in school and progressed into the ‘advanced’ recorder which meant I got to play alongside the piano during hymns. I thought I was the bees knees. Shame if kids don’t get the opportunity to join a club/have lessons as sometimes it’s the only experience children get to learn an instrument.

The first thing I did when we bought DS's recorder to play him my awful version of Mary Had a Little Lamb. He was delighted.

We not only had recorders when I was growing up but also a year of tin whistles.

My poor parents.

I agree it's a great opportunity and start into musical instruments.

I went on to learn the clarinet and trumpet. It was a brilliant experience.

The recorder is a fantastic introduction to reading music and it is easy to switch to other wind instruments. Played properly it can sound lovely . With most instruments the first year is pretty awful but you have to push past it ! My sons are doing it and are in year 2

Yes unfortunately!! (Lighthearted!) I seem to have a child in the year that learns it every year, I hand it back to school with a big smile on my face and the next year another one brings it home 😩🤣

Thankfully not - I can still remember the disgust of having to use one still wet with someone else’s spit & if you were really lucky you’d get one with so much saliva in it from the previous child it would dribble out of the end

Please tell me they're not giving children Recorders. I thought that was declared illegal by the UN Court of Human Rights back in the early 90s.

I taught myself aged 5 and went on to play flute and saxophone amongst other instruments. I remember playing in assembly with the piano!

As a teacher I taught recorder club for a while. I really enjoyed it but for some reason had one boy who came who was, essentially, a "naughty" boy in school so, while he wasn't too bad during the club, was still disruptive enough to make me wonder why on earth he was there voluntarily after school!

Well, don't blame the recorder but the player for the awful sound. Listeing to beginners in other instruments can be "challenging". But good recorder playing is great!!

Hated the recorder.... i was actually a good student and practiced and stuff but it just sounds bad.... and the spit coming out in cold days!!!!! Oh dear

Wouldn't the xylophone be a better option?! It can be small, wood or other material (don't know if they go by different names...). Even DCs little toy one sounds lovely

My son learned in Year 4, but he didn't enjoy it.

@Stanzasranza - did you go to school on the south coast - we had an advanced recorder group at school that did - in multiple parts - the best introduction to orchestra and chamber music..

I loved learning the recorder and we had a wonderful teacher and I encouraged DC2 to take it up when they were interested (partly by buying good second hand instruments so they weren't quite so squeaky).

The teacher at DCs school is a professional oboist and did explain in assembly that she would recommend parents told their children to practice playing into a cushion against a wall. Advice well worth having......................

Yes, one term in Y2. Absolutely pointless unless your child already has music lessons for violin or piano and has a basic understanding of reading music.

The ones who were interested moved to play the flute from Y3 onwards.

I remember sitting on my GDs lap and tunelessly playing something.

I asked him why he'd closed his eyes and he said he was just enjoying it more. Poor man was probably thinking 'this is fucking hell'

Part of my old job was teaching recorder to groups of primary school children for two days a week! I got tinnitus from this! It can truly be an awful sound but the kids loved it 😝