Pops and Shows: Recorder from the Beginning (Book & CD): Pops and Shows CD Ed.

It has taken a while to be able to play these tunes but my recorder club kids are now able to do so and love them. The lion king is a particularly favourite.

A great book - the CD is excellent for playing along to. There is a wide variety of tunes for all tastes and abilities.

The book is great, the tunes pretty easy to play. The Cd not so great. Not easy to follow, no count in to begin and backing track played on various instruments. You need to have the basics mastered to play the tunes and I didn't personally find the CD very useful

Does the job

All the John Pitts books are very carefully edited as being suitable for the range on whatever recorder they are specified for. This is is for the descant range and players may enjoy being able to learn the themes from musicals such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King" etc... I would recommend, though, that it be used alongside a more graded-in - difficulty book such as John Pitts "Recorder from the Beginning Bk 2" rather than as a diet alone. For some students the play - along CD may encourage more home practice.. Always remember though, that the recorder is such a beautiful instrument with great potential that you should endeavour, at all costs, to find yourself an excellent teacher. Good tone production, articulation, breathing skills, accurate intonation and rhythm etc should not be left to chance!

Good selection of songs. A little difficult for absolute beginners, however not so difficult that it put me off. I just did a bit more practice on some easier songs first. Excellent if you're looking for an alternative to classical music.

Pleased with this book as it's a refreshing change from my medieval recorder tunes and nursery rhymes. Not tried the CD yet. I'm looking forward to playing "On My Own" from "Les Miserables" one of my favourite shows. There are 19 tunes thoughout.

I wanted a music book that had popular tunes for my recorder and this was pretty good. There were one or two that were not as familiar, but on the whole happy with the content, condition, price and delivery time