Instilling a love for music

The recorder may not be the sweetest-sounding instrument in the world but Donald Young School music teacher Karen Wilde believes the experience it gives her students is priceless.
Wilde teaches the recorder to children in grades four through eight at DYS although students there start learning the basics of the instrument in grade three.
“I like that it’s very portable, and it’s an inexpensive instrument compared to others so each kid can have their own,” she said.
Inexpensive is an understatement. While a typical high school instrument like a clarinet or a trumpet costs several hundred dollars, a good recorder can be purchased for less than $10.
“For the most part, the students have their own [instrument],” Wilde said, noting the school keeps a few spares on hand mostly for those who forget theirs at home.
“It’s one of the only instruments you can do that with,” she remarked.
Recorders also are easy to learn, Wilde noted, with a fairly wide range of notes that match that of a soprano vocal range.
“You can pick up a tune early,” she said. “It’s a personal satisfaction thing with the students. They say, ‘I can play this song.’ That’s a big thing.”
Fifth-grader Jennifer Shaw, who has been playing the recorder for two years, said the lessons at school help with her piano playing.
“I learn new notes [from recorder class] and what the names of them are,” she explained. “It helps me more.”
While Shaw didn’t know if she’ll end up taking band in high school, she does really likes music and would like to continue with her recorder or piano studies as she grows older.
For Wilde, that’s exactly what she hopes the recorder lessons will do for her students–act as a starting point for futures years of instrumental study.
“What they have then is a background of experience,” she enthused. “Even though they’re playing something different, the note reading stays the same.”