AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
You know that great-sounding instrument kids learn in elementary school, the recorder?
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: If you somehow managed to escape attending one of these concerts, the recorder is a woodwind music instrument. It's got a thumb hole and seven finger holes. And when it's played by a gaggle of children, it often sounds like, well, you tell me.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: According to a new report, though, from the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music in the United Kingdom, the number of kids learning the recorder has dropped.
ESSEL LINTON: There's definitely been a shift in our curriculum.
RASCOE: That's Essel Linton, a music teacher in Annandale, Virginia. She says the use of the recorder has declined in American classrooms, too, out of necessity.
LINTON: During COVID time, we were restricted in using the wind instruments.
RASCOE: Makes sense - other instruments had to substitute. Linton, for example, turned to the ukulele. She says other teachers used digital technology on computers to teach young virtuosos.
LINTON: My colleague and I brought recorder back with our third graders. We started it back, like, two years ago. And the students love it, but there's definitely other opportunities. So I could understand that there might be a notice of a decline.
RASCOE: That might be music to your ears, but Linton says when it comes to learning to play an instrument, there's really no comparison. The recorder reigns supreme.
LINTON: You know, it's affordable. You can purchase a pretty decent plastic recorder instrument for less than $10. You know, it's portable. The kids pick up on it pretty quickly.
RASCOE: And it means kids can quickly master that old favorite, "Hot Cross Buns."
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: (Singing) One a penny, two a penny, hot cross buns.
LINTON: It requires three pitches, going from one note to the other next to each other, so I feel like that's just the first song that everybody knows.
RASCOE: Fun fact, it also shares a melody with "Three Blind Mice." As a music teacher, Linton also has to listen to a lot of this. So does she like it?
LINTON: Yes, I love the recorder, especially when they play well. So I mean, I would say the very first time we teach recorder to third graders, I kind of have to mentally prepare myself.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
RASCOE: Most kids learn to play the recorder as a bridge to other wind instruments like clarinet or trumpet. But the recorder is no child's instrument. Many of the great composers wrote music for recorder, like Johann Sebastian Bach.
(SOUNDBITE OF AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA PERFORMANCE OF BACH'S "CANTATA NO. 182")
RASCOE: Essel Linton played in a recorder ensemble when she was growing up in South Korea. She says it's a shame that most students don't continue with recorder after the third and fourth grades. If they or anyone practice and learn to use their breath properly, they could grow up to play the recorder as well as Essel Linton.
LINTON: (Playing recorder). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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