That's when a French-born instrument-maker named Arnold Dolmetsch sparked a recorder revival. He began promoting it as an instrument for teaching music in schools.

Just one more reason the recorder persists in elementary education after all these years. "It's an important instrument and shouldn't be discounted as a toy," Bollhoefer said.

Remember the recorder? It's that small plastic instrument — looks kind of like a flute or clarinet — that's often the first instrument children learn to play in school. Or, at least, they used ...