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The recorder today
Where the recorder is played today: the classroom, early-music ensembles, new music, famous pop and rock songs, and a big online community of players.
Most people meet the recorder at school, but that's only the start of where it lives today.
In the classroom
The recorder is the first instrument for millions of children around the world. It's cheap, tough, quick to make a sound on, and plays one line of music at a time, which makes it a natural way to learn to read music (NPR). Fewer schools teach it than a decade ago, as some switch to ukulele or guitar: in the UK, 16% of children played the recorder in 2024, down from 28% in 2014 (ABRSM survey).
In concert halls
Professional recorder players perform Baroque concertos with orchestras and early-music groups, on recorders copied from instruments made 300 years ago. Players such as the Dutch virtuoso Frans Brüggen and the Danish soloist Michala Petri made the recorder a concert instrument again in the 20th century, and today's stars, like Lucie Horsch, record for major labels.
In new music
Composers keep writing for the recorder, using new techniques: playing and singing at once, special breath sounds, and big modern designs like square, boxy bass recorders. Recorder orchestras, with instruments from the tiny garklein to the huge sub-contrabass, play everything from Bach to film music.
In pop and rock
The recorder has a surprising rock history. Paul McCartney plays recorder in the Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill", Brian Jones played the recorder part of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday", and John Paul Jones layered several recorders in the opening of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven". Jimi Hendrix even played a recorder on "If 6 Was 9" (pBone Music).
Online
A big community of players shares lessons, play-alongs and duets online: recorder YouTube channels like Team Recorder teach players of all ages, and people learn from home with apps and games that listen as they play. Why a camera and a microphone help you learn ›
More from the recorder library
- Why a camera and a microphone are the best way to learn the recorderHow a microphone that hears every note and a camera that sees your hands give beginners instant feedback on the recorder, and why the recorder is a great first instrument.
- A short history of the recorderThe recorder's story in five minutes: medieval beginnings, Renaissance consorts, Baroque stardom, a long sleep, and its 20th-century revival as the instrument children learn first.
- Composers who loved the recorderFrom Bach's Brandenburg Concertos to Vivaldi's dazzling concertos and modern pieces by Hindemith and Britten: the great composers who wrote for the recorder.
- What to learn after the recorderMastered the recorder? The instruments that are closest to it, from the alto recorder and tin whistle to the flute, saxophone and clarinet, and what changes with each.
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