Elementary Music Teacher Blog

Recorders gained popularity in schools in the 1950′s and are still a great instrument to teach to young children today. Students learn rhythms, how to read music… and how to put those two together along with fingerings. They also learn phrasing, breathing, tonguing, melody and many other musical concepts.

Right now, my 3rd and 4th graders are playing recorders. My 3rd graders are just getting started on the fingerings and putting rhythms and note reading together. They have been practicing rhythms all year, reading notes since December and now they are ready to have recorders in their hands. 4th graders worked on rhythms all year, reviewed treble clef notes beginning in January and just started bringing their recorders to play in class.

The recorders I use can be found at http://www.peripole.com/items/view/1018 and I highly recommend them. They are very professional student recorders. For only $4.25, each student gets a recorder, carrying bag, halo neck strap, cleaning rod, joint grease and a fingering chart. In my district and the surrounding ones, this is the brand of recorders used at the middle school level as well as elementary. So ideally, if purchased in 3rd grade, these recorders can last students all the way through 6th grade!

Wondering how to teach recorder and get your students excited about it? Well, look no further. The Recorder Karate method by Barb Philipak is a highly motivational and rewarding way to teach recorder to young students. Here is what Music K-8 says about this product:

“If you are looking for a classroom-tested, carefully planned recorder method, look no further. Or if you already have a favorite method and would like to add special magic and amazing motivation for your students, this unique kit is the answer. It has everything you will need to get started with young recorder players, including music, certificates, and other reproducible materials.

At the heart of this method is a positive reward system in which students receive colored “karate belts” (not included) to hang from their recorders for each progressively more difficult tune. Stories from the hundreds of teachers who have tried this method rave about the success it has created with all types of students in a variety of settings.”

Before I became the music teacher at my school, the students dreaded the recorder unit. But with the Recorder Karate method, both my 3rd and 4th graders LOVE recorders and ask me about playing them all year long!

If you only teach recorders to one grade, I implore you to teach them to at least two. Only 4th graders learned recorders with the previous music teachers, but during my internship experience, I saw the benefits of having more than one grade learning the recorders. It has been so easy teaching the recorder unit to my 4th graders this year, because they already have previous knowledge and experience. They are so much more successful this year! If you are using the Recorder Karate method, I split the belts up between the two grades – 3rd learns the first 4 belts (white, yellow, orange, green) and 4th learns the last 5 (purple, blue, red, brown, black). Trying to get all 9 belts in one grade is tough and many students struggle. I like more success, and so do my kids.