Music & Education Talks: Oh No, It's the Recorder!

Hi, I'm Stephanie, and together with Virtual Sheet Music, I firstly wanted to thank those of you who last month took time out of your busy days to get in touch. It's really appreciated. My musical musings today will look at the apparently idiotic use of recorder as a pedagogical tool. Now, given that in every school, region, state and indeed country has different approaches to music instruction and learning, some of us will obviously be more in alignment on this particular topic than others, as we have different backgrounds. Nonetheless, I think there might be some elements that at least give food for thought for all of us. And if nothing else, it will be interesting to hear the perspectives of those of you who work in or have experience as students or parents, another paradigm.

So, let's begin. Picture the scene. Parents smirk and feign horror when their children arrive home from school proudly holding up their recorder, or worse, blowing it. My daughter did this last week. Non-classroom teachers quietly giggle as their classroom music teachers enter into a roomful of 25 recorders, or is that 25 children? And of course, there is no end of professional musicians from conductors to recorders who have not at some point in their career made cheap snide or condemning remarks about this instrument. So, what's all the fuss about? Let's firstly start off with the idea of education generally, as it is in schools that a recorder seems to particularly flourish. Now, as a result of working in schools for the last 15 years, I've experienced firsthand that the underlying notion or principle behind education is simply this: Access. Access to ideas and knowledge, practices. And the application behind a variety of different subjects that have been identified and built upon over the centuries. Access means opportunities for everyone, no exceptions, everyone. So, when I think of access in music education, I interpret this as referring to the obligatory state class activities. I'm not referring to private lessons or aspects of music education, our electives, or indeed activities that rely on the goodwill of teachers and parents. As much as these are all incredibly important, both in our schools and indeed in our local communities, they don't unfortunately embody this idea of universality. So, I'm going to leave those to the side.

Now, any country vaguely boasting a democracy must have access, this idea of universality for all. At the heart of education, as it is here, the imbalances that exist between the haves and have-nots can at least be partially mitigated. So, what's all this political rant about, and how does it fit in with the recorder? Well, the recorder costs very little. For families short on cash, and this is increasingly the norm unfortunately, recorders may actually be the only mean to providing any kind of instrumental education for their children. Access. Who can begrudge the cost of a recorder? A violin, bass guitar, piano? These are all quite other matters. And by the way, freebee apps likewise have the advantage of access. But only if the family in question, or indeed the school can afford an iPad or smart pad per child. Getting back to the recorder, the recorder also has a natural advantage; I would say almost Darwinian advantage of being virtually unbreakable. For both schools and families on tight budgets, this is a real plus. Accidents happen frequently in large classes and more sophisticated instruments require pricey repair jobs, and by the way, who would pay for that? Repairs mean that both instrument and pupil are out of action, and the involved pupils are therefore at risk of falling behind. This also renders the ensemble increasingly unwieldy for the teacher or musical director. Now, of course, by all means, blame the teacher unable to maintain discipline and control. But if you ask me, concentrating simultaneously on the group performance, the musicality of the group, then looking at individual contributors, either in terms of assessment or giving individual help, or even just setting objectives, together with looking out for 25 precious instruments. Well, to me this seems like a totally unreasonable expectation placed upon the shoulders of teachers.

By comparison, the recorder can be dropped, taken apart, used as a sword, a substitute dummy conductor's baton, drumsticks, whatever you want, and with the exception of using it as firewood, it continues to hold its own. Students' instrumental access is maintained, together with the unity of the ensemble and teachers simply have a less onerous time juggling musical and educational matters. Now another advantage of the recorder is that it is highly portable. It's small and light. This offers the student in a generic music class the possibility to work at home. This is so important for reaching performance objectives, because often class consolidation is not enough. Students, through homework, have the possibility to get better quicker and consequently they have greater levels of interest and motivation. I call that a win.

Now, the final plus re: the recorder is that it's just great for the smaller person. Instrumental fatigue is not really an issue. Fingers reaching finger holes presents little challenge. Sound production doesn't require major changes to the mouth and face muscles. And actually, you can achieve quite a lot quite quickly. You know, we live in an age of instant gratification; so quick results must be born in mind when considering generic instrumental studies. So, cheap, unbreakable, portable, relatively easy to play. Add this to the already well-known advantages instrumental learning offers, and you've got a very strong musical tool indeed. Now, as I've already said, I'm talking about the advantages of a recorder from a standpoint of generic state classroom activities. In such a context, I personally feel that the recorder gives greater democracy, as well as additional musical perspectives and opportunities, and all without the very real nightmare of cost. As for it being a horrible instrument, well don't forget that old saying: "A bad workman blames his tools."

I've put some links below just to emphasize the point, though you may have other links you wish to share with me. Now, warning the last link is, to say the least, a little tongue-in-cheek. So now, over to you, what do you think? Does recorder still have a place in 21st century general music education, and, if not, what would be your solutions? Maybe I've missed out some essential points. Maybe the recorder isn't the problem, so much as the educational systems that require this instrument. Whatever your thoughts, please do get in touch with me here at Virtual Sheet Music, and let's start discussing. Bye for now.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

Thank you for your comment, question or request!

Comment/Question deleted successfully.

Post a comment, question or special request:

Comments or questions must be between 3 and 10,000 characters long.

You may: Login  or  

Otherwise, fill out the form below to post your comment:

Add your name below:


Add your email below: (to receive replies, will not be displayed or shared)


For verification purposes, please enter the word MUSIC in the field below

---