The next cheapest melodic instrument would be a 6 hole flute, but that takes a bit of practice just to make a noise. Recorders make noise for anyone that can breath. It’s the wood sticks of instruments, anyone can use them, most will learn some tiny amount about music, and a very tiny number will learn actual musical skills.
I’m not sure who actually is/was inflicting recorders onto whom here.
It was inflicted on both groups by the school district.
The worst part is that schools use the recorders with “German” fingerings which make a C major scale dead easy, but anything else is a nightmare.
So it’s next to useless for actually learning to play recorder, too.
But EXTREMELY useful for learning C flute
Probably Big Recorder. They’ve got their hands in lots of industries.
The next cheapest melodic instrument would be a 6 hole flute, but that takes a bit of practice just to make a noise. Recorders make noise for anyone that can breath. It’s the wood sticks of instruments, anyone can use them, most will learn some tiny amount about music, and a very tiny number will learn actual musical skills.