Yes, it's a real musical instrument. And some professional musicians have made it their life's work. But playing the recorder is too much fun to leave to professionals. So...
Here are my friend Jill Turney and I, playing a Telemann canonic sonata at her Klutz company holiday party.
Here is the Kokopelli Konsort also playing at a Klutz company holiday party.
I prefer to play early music, mostly Baroque and Renaissance, which was composed with recorders in mind. Some favorites: Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi, Handel, Corelli, Michael East, Orlando Gibbons, John Dowland.
I started playing as a beginner in a class taught by Marion Rubenstein and still play regularly in small ensembles of friends I met in class. I also belong to a special interest music group of the local branch of AAUW and am an associate member of the Midpeninsula Recorder Orchestra.