ABRSM’s survey of more than 1,000 children aged 5 to 17 shows the recorder at 16 percent in 2024, down from 28 percent in 2014
Only One in Six Children Now Plays the Recorder: Electric Guitar Rises, Flute Doubles and a Teacher Mourns Briefly
ABRSM’s survey of more than 1,000 children aged 5 to 17 shows the recorder at 16 percent in 2024, down from 28 percent in 2014
By Hannah Miller, music teacher and satire writer, prat.uk
Monday, Lunchtime, Recorder in Hand
Dear diary, I have read the Express and Star report of 30 April 2025 on the ABRSM survey, and I am holding a recorder as I write, out of respect. The ABRSM, the exam board of the Royal Schools of Music, surveyed more than 1,000 children aged 5 to 17 and compared the results with its earlier research. The recorder was played by 16 percent of children in 2024, down from 28 percent in 2014.
I am nineteen. The recorder is how I started. I am, I suppose, part of the vanishing generation.
What Went Up
The article gives figures for two risers: electric guitar, at 17 percent, up from 13 percent in 2014, and flute, at 15 percent, up from 7 percent. It says drums, violin and ukulele also rose in popularity, though it gives no figures for those. Piano and keyboard remain the most popular.
The most given-up instruments, it says, were piano at 16 percent, keyboard at 13 percent and recorder at 11 percent.
The ABRSM’s Chief Executive
Chris Cobb, the ABRSM chief executive, is quoted: “Children get to play an instrument for the first time in large classes.” He said schools are now considering other instruments, including the ukulele and acoustic guitar.
He also said: “The tragedy is that the same research shows how young people disengage from music learning.” The article says this happens when pupils move to secondary school and when they start GCSEs.
The Report’s Line
The article quotes the report: “Instrument choice and the range of instruments taught by music teachers is widening.” The report links this to changing learner tastes. I find the sentence calming. It says that the recorder is not being punished, only joined.
I have decided to believe that.
A Defence of the Recorder
The recorder is cheap, light and forgiving. A child who learns it can read music, count and blow, and can do all three on the bus. It does not need a lesson room or a plug socket. It has a long history that even a teacher of nineteen can respect.
Whether it should be the first instrument for everyone is a different question. I do not have the data to say, and the article does not claim to.
The Disengagement
The saddest line in the report, to me, is the one about disengagement. Children are keen at primary school and leave as they move up. I have seen it in my own lessons. A pupil who loved the xylophone in Year 4 sits in Year 9 with their arms folded and says it is boring.
I have no cure. I have a rule: let them choose the first piece. It has worked about as often as it has failed.
What I Will Try
I will offer an electric guitar and a flute to the same class, and see who comes. I will let the ukulele have a turn. I will not take the recorder away. It can be the quiet friend in the corner.
I am told that variety keeps children in the room. That is, at least, what the ABRSM report suggests.
Evening
The recorder is back in its case. The kettle is on. The neighbours, I think, are relieved.
Goodnight, diary. Blow gently.
A Note on the Date
The article is dated 30 April 2025 and reports the 2024 figures, so it is not new. I include it because it is the best recent source I have for a trend that teachers still talk about. If a newer ABRSM report exists, I would like to read it, and I would be grateful for a link.
I was nineteen last year too. Some things do not change.
Playground Report
At playtime, I asked six children which instrument they would most like to play. Three said guitar, one said drums, one said piano and one said a trombone because it looked funny. Nobody said recorder. I am not sure what to conclude, except that a sample of six is not a survey.
The ABRSM survey had over 1,000. I have six, a clipboard and an urge.
Homework
Homework, pupils: compare the three comic takes on the same overseas property story. Manila News, the London Prat (see https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and Bohiney each start from a recognisable market fact and wink at you through the exaggeration. Then find more at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try NewsBiscuit, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/