Just an important announcement I felt I should make. To anyone who is thinking to themselves “I love music. I want my child to develop musical abilities. I want my kids to grow up being able to express themselves making creatively audible noises. I remember playing the recorder when I was young, and I want my little girl/boy, even at age 3, to begin enjoying such an experience.”
If you’ve had any of these thoughts, you may have looked at the Little First Act Discovery – My First Recorder. Click the link. See how cute the kid looks? See how happy he is to be able to create music? See the list of amazingly simple tunes your child will be able to perform before family and friends, proving once and for all that your kid is the cutest thing since sliced bread (the cute kind).
It’s a lie.
That kid was totally faking it. He wasn’t happy. Or at least, his parents weren’t.
Granted, the recorder definitely makes noise. But even from a trained recorder playing professional (I played 2 years all-pro in my elementary days.), the notes available don’t allow for much of any actual music to be played. I did learn that by covering the bottom hole, you can play notes a little more agreeable to the human ear, but still off by quite a bit from anything you could piece together into a song.
Giving this recorder to your child will do nothing but encourage bad pitch recognition, make your ear drums want to pack their bags, and teach your future musician that Mary Had a Little Lamb is best played with sharps and flats that aren’t anywhere near the Barney song they’ve heard before.
And you will want to break it. But your kid may give you the fake “this musical instrument fulfills something within me” smile similar to the child in the link above. Don’t buy it. I have yet to gather the emotional strength it takes to shatter the thing….but when I do….I will rest easier.
That is why I’m warning you, before you make the purchase. Or open the present from a loving relative. Quick…exchange it for something else before it’s too late!!!
ps. Today, Ruby Anne turns ONE YEAR OLD!!! We now officially have a 3 year old, a 2 year old, and a 1 year old. Whew. 🙂
words from wick 
But the recorder is one of the most request items in our bookstore. It is required by the schools. It's not that bad is it?
haha…it's pretty horrible indeed. But perhaps we just got one from a bad batch. Try one yourself, and let me know!!