Recorders are for Every Body

FEMEA District 1 Chair Emerson Oliver

I can’t play the recorder.

I have a degree in music education.  I have done all of my Orff levels.  I’ve been playing at least one instrument since age 5.  And my left hand has a limited range of motion, and I can’t feel two of my fingers.  Which means that on a recorder, there’s only a 25% chance that I’ll actually cover those two holes, and I’ll only figure out if I’ve missed once the right (or more likely wrong) sound comes out.

I can’t play a traditional recorder, but that’s not the only way to play.  I have a soprano recorder that I play with my right hand on top and a key assembly at the bottom - it looks a little different, but it has meant that I can play for my students, take my Orff levels, and play an instrument I thought was inaccessible to me.

There are a number of commercially available adaptive recorders (recorders that were created to be more accessible for musicians with disabilities) and DIY ways to make a recorder work for whoever wanders into our classrooms, and I’ve made a list of some of the best and most economical solutions for elementary music classrooms here.  

Everyone's body is different, and everyone has unique strengths and limitations - the same is true of disabilities.  Two musicians with the same condition on paper might need different accommodations to fit their individual needs.  There isn't one “correct” accommodation, and there certainly aren't any one-size-fits all solutions, only doing our best to create a recorder that this unique musician can use.

If you know of any other practical solutions, or want help troubleshooting how to best support a student, I would be delighted if you got in touch.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to enjoy (and/or annoy their families with) the recorder, and with a little planning and creativity we can make it happen for every body.

Before Looking at Products

• If the student is getting occupational therapy (OT) services, reach out to their OT to ask about what the student can do with their hands, and what barriers they might run into playing the recorder.

• Read their Individualized Education Program (IEP), if they have one.  Sometimes details will be there, sometimes they won’t, but it’s not a bad idea.

  
  

Commercially Available Adaptive Recorders

• Nuvo Recorder+

  • Useful for: musicians with trouble fully covering the holes, and range of motion issues.  I’ve also had a colleague tell me that a student with a strong sensory dislike of covering the holes on a traditional recorder enjoyed playing a Nuvo.

  • This is a soprano recorder with small silicone keys for each hole.  There are plugs in the bottom two keys, which optionally can be removed to play low C# and D#.

  • This recorder can be modified further if a musician needs a bigger target by gluing popsicle sticks (or something similar) onto the keys.

  • The keys are set up for a traditional hand configuration: left hand on top, 3 left hand fingers and 4 right hand.  Playing with non-traditional hand set-ups can be done, but means that the player is reaching slightly over the keys. The action isn’t high enough for this to be a significant issue most of the time. 

  • I’ve had more difficulty half-holing to get into the upper register with this recorder, as opposed to a traditional recorder.  Because of how the back hole’s key is constructed, I’ve found that I need to roll my thumb sideways, rather than down, but your mileage may vary.

    
    

• Aulos’ Adaptive Recorders (Soprano: A204AF; Alto: A309AF)

  

  • Useful for: musicians with shortened digits or missing digits, who can still fully cover a traditional recorder hole

  • This recorder lets the user spin the holes of the recorder to any orientation, and also has one fewer hole than a traditional recorder.

  • Once the ideal orientation for each hole is found, the pieces are glued in place (which means it’s not possible to adjust later).

  • The fingering is different for this recorder than a traditional recorder, because of the reduced number of holes.  Aulos has fingering charts for playing with a total of six, seven, and eight fingers.

    
    
    
    

    Triple Play Recorder by Makers4Good

    • Useful for: musicians with one unaffected hand (which plays on top), and one hand with loss of sensation, range of motion, muscle control, fewer digits, or even a completely missing hand; could also work for musicians with affected digits on both hands, depending on configuration (they need to be able to cover the thumb hole, four holes on the front, and then hit the keys with between 1-3 digits).

    • The Triple Play is a key assembly that can be glued onto the bottom three holes of a Yamaha soprano recorder, and creates not only a bigger target but also allows multiple holes to be covered by depressing one key.

    • This recorder is currently unavailable, but this is the model I’ve played for years, and you may be able to find one secondhand.

Other Physical Tools

• Add a Thumb Rest 

  • Useful for: strength and balance issues, reducing the amount of weight the top hand needs to support by transferring it to the bottom thumb.

  • Be sure the one you’re ordering fits the size and model of recorder you have 

  • Can take some of the weight off the top hand, but be careful with creating strain on the bottom thumb.  (Sometimes this can’t be helped - see below about adding a brace.)

  • Sometimes the thumb rest will slide around - the best repositionable solution I’ve found is repositionable mounting putty (or sticky tack).

• Add a Brace

  • Useful for: strength, balance, and other positioning issues, but usually doesn’t actually take any weight off the hands.  If a musician is using a non-traditional grip and having pain in their lower thumb, this could be a solution.

  • This is a rigid piece that holds the recorder a fixed distance away from the body 

  • Ways to get one:

    • 3D print one - here’s a print file, and some schools, libraries, and universities may have 3D printers you can use.

    • These can also be easily DIY’ed from layered cardboard

• Add an Adaptive Cuff

  • Useful for: muscle fatigue or grip issues; it could potentially be used by folks with partial limbs to stabilize the recorder with their partial limb, and cover the holes with the other.

  • Adaptive cuffs are essentially a silicone strap with two rings on the end, which can be slid onto an object, and makes it require less grip strength to pick up an object.  These can also be used on pretty much anything that’s long and slender and designed to be picked up, including mallets, instruments with handles like a maraca, writing utensils, etc.

  • When ordering, be sure to measure the circumference of the recorder, and the approximate length you’ll need the cuff to be.

  • Take care when positioning the cuff that it isn’t so close to the holes that it would interfere with a proper seal, and that it isn’t too loose or tight.

• Use (or Make) a Stand 

  • Useful for: musicians with significant trouble stabilizing the recorder - muscle weakness/fatigue, coordination issues, etc.

  • I don’t know of any commercial recorder stands, but I’ve rigged a few broken percussion stands with a spring clamp or something similar.  There are lots of creative ways you can rig a recorder so the student doesn’t have to support the weight of it, and what will work best is going to depend heavily on their mobility and posture.

• Use Foot Corn Pads/Cushions

  • Useful for: a musician with reduced sensation or anything else that causes difficulty locating the holes, but without strength issues

  • The corn pads that have a hole in the center (like these) can be applied around some or all of the holes of the recorder, to give tactile feedback when putting fingers down.

  • Depending on the size of the musician’s finger pads, they may need to use a bit more force to create a good seal - this is likely not a good solution for someone with hand strength issues.

Other Techniques

• Taping/Covering Select Holes

  • Useful for: musicians with significant trouble covering the holes and creating a good seal, and musicians with a significantly reduced number of useful digits

  • By using tape or something similar to cover certain holes, the student can either just play a single selected note, or use any useful digits they have to cover a more limited number of holes.

  • Consider using tape that matches the color of the recorder, to reduce the chances the child feels singled out.

  • This can be combined with many of the above adaptations (stand, larger target [like popsicle sticks on a Nuvo], adaptive cuff, etc.), and still gives the child an independent musical experience.

• Use a Virtual Recorder

  • Useful for: a musician with significant issues with blowing into the recorder.

  • There are a number of websites and apps that can electronically simulate playing a recorder.

  • Depending on what the student can use most easily, there are options that trigger notes by touch screen, or by keyboard.

  • For the more tech-inclined teachers, using something like a Makey Makey could open up a lot of possibilities for how a musician triggers the sound (bigger targets, more space between targets, what amount and direction of pressure triggers the sound, etc.).

  • A virtual instrument still gives a student an independent musical experience.

• Play With a Buddy (one person fingers, the other blows) 

  • Useful for: when none of the above is working

  • This should be a last resort - while the student participating with everyone else and playing a recorder is infinitely better than being excluded, this is not an independent musical experience, and greatly limits the amount of control the musician has over what they’re playing.

Thoughtfulness, Collaboration, and Occasional Power Tool Use

Children with disabilities are in a life stage where they’re figuring out how they see themselves and their place in the world.   Often they’re figuring out for the first time that they’re disabled and what that means, and also that there are adaptive tools that can help them accomplish things they thought they weren’t capable of.  The messages we send, with our words and our actions, can shape how they see themselves, and can also shape how non-disabled children view disability and the aesthetics of disability.

Exclusionary practices have historically been all too prevalent in our profession, and it’s alarming how common they still are.  I don’t want my students to ever have to sit on the side and observe or play a drum, because I’ve been there and it feels awful.  It teaches them that they aren’t capable, that their needs are a burden, and that their presence isn’t wanted.

As a disabled person, when I enter a space where my presence was clearly anticipated and planned for, where I can exist as my whole self without having to make my needs small or apologize for having to adapt something… it doesn’t happen as often as it should, but I feel so free when it does.  In educational spaces, it means I’m actually able to focus on what I’m doing and learning, rather than having to learn everything AND figure out how to make it work for my body and brain.

I want my disabled kids to have these kinds of experiences in music class.  I want this because it’s their federally protected right under the IDEA, but also because they deserve it.  I want my disabled students to believe that moving, and playing instruments, and taking up space in the world are as much for them as for the next person.  I want them to believe that the world should be accessible to them.  And when it’s not, I want them to know that the problem is with the world, not with their body or brain.

Giving this to our students takes thoughtfulness, collaboration, and occasional power tool use.  But if we’re willing to bring our empathy and creativity to the table, we can create musical experiences that work for every body.