I would love to say I have fond memories of teaching the recorder at school – that listening to an hour of six-year olds tooting away to Away In a Manager gets me warm and fuzzy. But that would be a lie. Anyone who has sat through a recorder concert will know that it takes nerves of steel and ear plugs – very, thick ear plugs.
Of course that may be true but the recorder remains one of the best instruments to learn to read music on. I do have warm memories of my own lessons playing the recorder and was delighted to find I can still play London’s Burning (except for the last night – please leave me a comment if you know what it is!)
My eldest is five and therefore the perfect age to start to learn an instrument. This set is perfect for her as it comes with everything you need to start to learn. It is also packaged like a toy and not something serious and boring. While some people would argue that you don’t need to market everything is gender colours this does make the set more appealing – it’s definitely much prettier than the brown one I had growing up. There are also fun stickers to personalise your recorder great for if a few children all have the same one.
The set comes with:
- High quality three-piece coloured Princess descant recorder.
- Recorder cleaning rod and carry bag with drawstring.
- Themed fingering chart with handy ‘Starting to Play’ tips.
- 60 peel-able themed stickers with which to decorate the recorder and music.
- Easy to understand ‘Starting to Play…’ tutor book and CD to begin playing straight away.
- It is suitable for ages 4+
I was lucky enough to be sent not one – but TWO princess recorders for the twins. Although they are younger than the recommended age – they still had lots and lots and lots of fun playing the instruments The good thing about recorders is that you just have to pick them up and blow – you don’t have to learn a tricky technique to play them. So they are perfect for toddlers as well.
So just for a special treat here are the twins playing their own special rendition of Twinkle twinkle. Let me know how long you can listen without turning off. I can manage 3 seconds!
Disclaimer: I was sent two recorder sets for the purpose of this review. The views remain my own and are honest.