Number of children playing recorder halves in a decade

Times

30-04-2025

The humble recorder has been a gentle introduction to musical performance for generations of primary school children. Now it risks going the way of the lute and the harpsichord as it falls out of favour among young musicians.
A survey has found that the number of children playing the recorder has almost halved in a decade, from 28 per cent in 2014 to 16 per cent today. Instead, schools are using the ukulele or guitar for class music lessons.
Parents may be spared squeaky renditions of London's Burning at school concerts but experts have said that the decline is part of a wider problem of pupils not spending enough time playing music, despite the benefits.
Research by ABRSM, the music exam board, found that there are fewer people currently playing an instrument than in previous years.
The survey of 1,000 children, 1,000 adults and 2,000 music teachers, published on Wednesday, revealed that the sharpest drop in pupils learning music came at the ages of 12 and 15.
It found that 84 per cent of young people identified making, learning and engaging with music as key to their mental health, while 74 per cent said it benefited their social lives and 53 per cent that it was important for their career ambitions.
Singing remained overwhelmingly popular at school, according to the research, as 54 per cent of children said they sang in music lessons. However this was a decrease from the 66 per cent who said they sang in 2014.
The piano remained the most popular instrument taught by private music teachers, but there was a greater range than a decade earlier — with the ukulele, acoustic guitar, viola, cello, trumpet, electric guitar and drums all widely taught.
The flute in particular saw a significant rise, increasing from about 5 per cent to 12 per cent of learners.
Eighty-seven per cent of music teachers said that music was important to the wellbeing of their pupils, as did 80 per cent of people of all ages.
Of those who did not learn an instrument, 29 per cent said the cost was a barrier. Fifteen per cent of people used their phone or tablet to make music and eight per cent uploaded videos of themselves performing to the internet.
Chris Cobb, the chief executive of ABRSM, said: 'The mental health benefits of music are hugely important at a time when mental illness is so rife but there are so many other benefits too. The tragedy is that the same research shows how young people disengage from music learning, both when they shift to secondary school and when they start GCSEs.'
Of the decline in recorder playing, he said: 'Children get to play an instrument for the first time in large classes. The recorder has been great for that but schools are now looking at other instruments that can be used — the ukulele and acoustic guitar among them.'
The recorder dates back hundreds of years, according to the Society of Recorder Players, with Henry VIII owning 76 of the instruments.
The first composer to specify the recorder in a composition was Giovanni Battista Riccio, from the late 16th century.
The society's website says: 'By the 1690s, the recorder was played by amateurs and professionals, Handel, Bach and Telemann included it in orchestral works and chamber music. It was seen on the stage and in the pit in the theatres in London, tutor books were published regularly and recorder makers were kept busy.'
It adds that Led Zeppelin used a recorder quartet in Stairway to Heaven, and the instrument was also used by the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.