Now I'm a believer that if you have a good recorder, whatever colour it is (like the Yamaha pink, blue, green ones, and now also red in conjunction with Classic FM), it doesn't matter.

I was watched by school inspectors at the end of last year, who liked what I was doing, except I was criticised for using coloured recorders. They said it'd mean the children wouldn't take the recorder seriously in the long term.

I don't think that's at all true, but what do you all think?...

For school use coloured recorders are a very good idea. I used to use stickers to brighten up the children's instruments and also so that they did not get mixed up when we put them down on the tables. Anything that encourages kids to take pride in their instruments has to be good and if they like playing a pink or a purple recorder with a fluffy hairband around the foot joint then I think that is fine. When the time comes for them to take exams or to move on to larger sizes they may want second more conventional instruments but if they sound ok and are at concert pitch I don't mind what coulour they choose as long as they enjoy music making.

This raises the question of what colour a recorder is supposed to be, especially a plastic one. Even a 'proper' wooden one could vary from almost white to almost black, with various shades of brown in between, depending on which wood it's made from, and if it has been stained or not. I'd say recorders are one of the most variable, if not the most variable, of woodwinds in terms of their colour.

Are they saying they should be black because 'proper' woodwinds are black (clarinets/oboes)? If so it's them who are not taking the recorder seriously, saying it has to be a certain colour before it will be respected.

Maybe they would prefer them to be playing ukeleles?

Plastic recorders that are made to purposely look like wood are disgusting and just look fake, whereas black/pink/blue/whatever-coloured ones are at least being honest!

If you could get pink wood, I'm sure they'd make pink wooden recorders and they'd work just as well as any others, so why can't the same be true for plastic?

Emsoboe went through a period of playing on one of the Hornby transparent recorders and it definately hasn't effected how she views Recorder. How stupid of the inspectors ot make such a remark without any evidence. To be honest it doesn't suprise me!!

Maybe parents, like inspectors, are less inclined to take the recorder seriously if it comes in brightly coloured plastic... and that might be more of a problem.

So far as the children are concerned, I'm with notmusimum and you. My daughter has enjoyed playing on sparkly recorders, and still aspires to a "Hello Kitty", but has nevertheless just passed grade 6.

Good job you weren't teaching Uke as goodness knows whatthey would have made of the Sponge Bob and other wildly decorated ones

Personally I don't see what's wrong with adding a fun aspect to music and if a coloured recorder is what tickles your fancy then why not....?

So long as it sounds ok the rest is down to what is aesthetically pleasing to the individual surely?

No-one criticises the wide variety of colours and shapes on electric guitars for example....

I play multicoloured Yamaha descants. They don't seem to make me, my teacher, friends and family or AB examiners take the recorder less seriously. If Yamaha made translucent coloured trebles in the same series as the descants, I'd be happy to use one (or two, with the bits swapped around...)
Those Yamahas are as reliable as anything I've come across and chances are I'll be using one in my next exam too. I have a nice wooden Dolmetsch descant too which is generally fine, but not quite as predictable, so I've not used it for exams.

Better for kids to play on a coloured instrument which makes a good sound than a plain one with poor tone or that can't be played in tune. A cheap wooden one (the sort you can get from some toy stores and similar, not by a recognised maker) may look more like a "proper" instrument, but the experience of making a good sound on a responsive instrument, even if it is a coloured plastic one, is far more likely to encourage kids to continue with recorder as a serious instrument in the long run.
Most parents won't want the expense of buying a decent wooden recorder and not all young kids would look after one properly. So plastic Yamaha, Aulos, Dolmetsch or similar instruments are a more sensible choice.
The translucent ones may even have an edge over the rest as kids can see how the condensation builds up, so it should be easier to show them how warming it up before blowing into it reduces that and therefore reduces clogging.

That had never occurred to me Teigr (that is, the translucency of the recorders showing up condensation, not warming recorders up ). It's always good how you can pick up useful bits of info here, thanks for that!

Can't see how the colour makes any difference. Unless, people get on the silly "recorders are not proper instruments" bandwagon, which is so ridiculous.

Now I really want a pink wooden recorder.

There is a beautiful wood known as pink ivory and it is rare. I would love to commision an alto made from it.

It can be used for very finely worked designs. Have a look at this beautiful piece:

As long as when a kid gives me their descant recorder I can play the thing in tune, I don't really care what colour it is. The most important thing is that they enjoy learning.

Provided they progress, and get to the stage where they realise a recorder is a bone-fide musical instrument and not a plastic toy, what colour they originally start with is not the issue.