ARTS minister Baroness Blackstone defended the humble recorder this week after new research showed that pupils regard it as “boring” and “uncool”.
The music-loving Labour peer said youngsters should be encouraged to follow her grandchildren’s example. She said: “I have three grandchildren at a Tower Hamlets primary school and they are all playing the recorder and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. I heard a little girl playing it on the radio this very morning and it sounded beautiful.”
The survey of 1,209 pupils, conducted by academics at Keele University, discovered that children would prefer to play instruments associated with popstars or musical role models.
“Children do not associate playing the recorder with their musical role models in the adult world,” said research author Dr Susan O’Neill. They regarded it as being unsuited to the music they would like to be able to play, she added.
