In 1988, musical inventor Graham Lyons designed the Lyons C clarinet. Lighter than its traditional counterpart and with the keys much closer together, this innovative plastic instrument proved a hit in music education settings, particularly as a classroom instrument. With its impressively robust construction and mellow tone, the Lyons clarinet also benefitted from being pitched in C instead of the traditional Bb; it was more convenient to integrate into whole-class ensemble lessons along with keyboards, guitars, flutes and other C-pitched instruments.
In 2008, Graham co-founded Nuvo alongside CEO Max Clissold, and the Clarineo was born! As an evolution of the Lyons C, it experienced similar popularity and helped spawn a whole range of instruments that all follow the same key philosophy: enabling children from all walks of life to experience the power of making music together.
Now one of the top classroom instrument manufacturers in the world, Nuvo’s beginner range has proven popular with educators for its quality, longevity, and suitability for whole-class ensemble teaching with the help of their WindStars method.
What makes Nuvo instruments so good for education?
Nuvo instruments are designed specifically with primary education in mind, offering a practical and engaging solution for whole-class music teaching. All instruments are pitched in C, making them ideal for ensemble work and simplifying the integration of Nuvo’s comprehensive WindStars education resources (more on that later). This consistency across the range helps teachers deliver structured, effective lessons with minimal setup and faff!
Unlike many traditional wind instruments, Nuvo products are tailored to younger players — they’re lightweight, easy to handle, and quick to produce a good sound from. This allows students to make faster progress with less time spent on mastering difficult technique, and more time focused on core musical skills like listening, breathing, and ensemble playing.
Nuvo instruments are extremely music department-friendly: they’re durable, easy to clean, and available in a variety of bright colours, adding a sense of fun and personalisation. While all models provide a stepping stone toward full-size woodwind instruments, their real strength lies in how effectively they support group learning at the primary level.
Harness Nuvo in your classroom with the WindStars method
WindStars is Nuvo’s book-based classroom programme, supported by online music and materials. Created by expert music educators, it’s accessible even to teachers with no experience of wind instruments. The books use both standard notation and Nuvo’s unique iconic notation, making them suitable for a wide range of learners.
The three-level programme offers a holistic, cost-effective way for generalist and specialist educators to teach basic musicianship. Free supporting resources – including videos, backing tracks and printable files – are available on the Nuvo WindStars website, enhancing the learning experience.
For more on how the Nuvo WindStars method gets students playing together, read our in-depth article here.
The best way to purchase Nuvo for the classroom?
Simple – our Nuvo WindStars class sets! These packs include an assortment of Nuvo instruments as well as the WindStars books, making for a convenient and cost-effective way to get these brilliant musical tools into classrooms.
For example, for children with little-to-no musical knowledge, the WindStars 1 mixed class set is a perfect place to start. Stepping up a level, the Nuvo WindStars 2 Clarineo class set of 10 also represents excellent value, and for more diversity in your ensemble, try the Nuvo WindStars 2 mixed class set of 24 instruments.
Why Nuvo instruments are a sustainable option
We’ve previously discussed why plastic instruments are surprisingly sustainable options for music departments, but here is a quick summary:
Manufacturing carbon footprint
Extracting oil to make ABS resin consumes less energy than mining nickel, zinc and copper, which are used to make traditional flutes and clarinets.
Durability and lifespan
Whilst metal instruments often become bent out of shape or dented, ABS keys are tough and relatively elastic; they can flex but will return accurately to original shape. Nuvo instruments can last a lifetime with affordable spares that are easy to replace yourself, greatly reducing maintenance costs.
Cleaning and hygiene
Plastic instruments are easy to keep clean by fully immersing in hot soapy water from time to time. In contrast, traditional metal instruments require more careful maintenance. For example, a metal flute must be cleaned and dried after each use to prevent moisture buildup, which can lead to corrosion and tarnishing. Moreover, it will regularly need a more precise, thorough cleaning which takes time and requires good knowledge of the instrument.
Find out more about the sustainability of Nuvo’s instrument range below.
Nuvo sustainability credentials
The 5-year extended parts warranty
At Chamberlain Music, we're committed to ensuring that Nuvo instruments continue to deliver exceptional performance for. Nuvo’s entire range is designed to be easily repaired without sacrificing quality and integrity; that's why we offer the option to extend the standard parts warranty from the standard 1 year warranty to 5 years, simply by filling out an extended warranty form.
Exploring the Nuvo instrument range
Recorder
Nuvo's take on an entry-level classic, available in various colours and including reward rings, a fun feature to help kids celebrate reaching learning milestones. A high-grade plastic construction provides superior durability to many typical first recorders.
Recorder+
The recorder becomes even more accessible for beginners with the addition of silicone flap keys to ensure the holes are always covered. This creative adaptation opens up all sorts of opportunities for children with SEND – a simple idea, but one that only Nuvo has!
DooD
A fun and popular way to introduce single reed skills at an early age, and a natural alternative to the recorder for novice musicians. The DooD has a clarinet-like mellow tone, and retains the fingering patterns and silicone key flaps of the Recorder+.
TooT
Also a good recorder alternative, the TooT is a perfect gateway to ultimately playing the flute. The Toot features Nuvo’s “Firstnote” lip plate which can be used in the early lessons while the student is learning posture, fingering and playing simple tunes. When ready, the Firstnote can be replaced by the regular lip plate which is also included. Like the DooD, the TooT follows a recorder fingering pattern, and both are increasingly popular in primary music classrooms.
jSax
The jSax serves to enable newcomers to develop embouchure skills which will be directly transferable to a full-size saxophone. The jSax is fully chromatic, but for beginners or those with smaller fingers, there are a set of plugs (training wheels) that completely seal the tone holes and will assist in the first stages of learning the jSax.
jFlute
Lightweight and simplified, the jFlute plays chromatically with a standard flute fingering down to low D and, if required, can be upgraded with a C foot joint. Like the TooT, the jFlute comes with a Firstnote lip-plate, and it also features an inline “donut” head joint, which brings the keywork closer to the body whilst keeping the lip plate and keywork in a line.
When the students are ready to progress further, the handy upgrade kit supplies you with both the C foot joint and a straight head joint to improve both the resonance and the range.
Another step up is the Student Flute. A little over half the weight of a typical flute, fully chromatic, and with a straight head joint, the Student Flute features silicone pads for comfortable playing, also eliminating any issues caused by nickel allergies. It includes the standard and 'Firstnote' lip-plates too, giving students the choice depending on their own stage of development.
jHorn
The jHorn is Nuvo’s first venture outside of the woodwind realm, providing an astonishingly lightweight way into lower brass playing. Much smaller and lighter than a tenor horn or euphonium, the jHorn is a good tool for teaching proper lower brass embouchure without forcing primary students to lug around an instrument which is far too heavy for them. Replacement tuning pipes mean they can be played in C or Bb, the former ideal for adding a new dimension to whole-class ensemble lessons, the latter more suitable for integration into standard brass groups.
Clarineo
The Clarineo is the original Nuvo instrument. Based on the education-focused Lyons C clarinet, the Clarineo has been hugely popular in schools for years, and for good reason. Pitched in C, it’s easier to teach in the classroom alongside other instruments, and much lighter and smaller than a Bb clarinet with easier finger stretches as a result. Despite simplified keywork, the Clarineo still boasts a fully chromatic three and a half octave range, meaning students feel good progression before needing to move on to a fully-fledged clarinet.
Have you seen the NUVOBand instruments?
NUVOBand is the next step up in woodwind playing, a perfect evolution from the original Nuvo instruments. Nuvo have taken their expertise in making plastic, sustainable, modular student instruments and transferred it into making full-size flutes and Bb clarinets. Despite each having a full chromatic range, they are incredibly light, usually around half the weight of a ‘standard’ equivalent.
Such drastically reduced weight encourages proper posture during extended practice sessions for even the youngest players, which is fantastic for their technical advancement. Ingraining the right habits from the early days of learning an instrument is so important in the long term, and NUVOBand provides a strong helping hand in this regard.
Find out more about NUVOBand here!
A word on reeds
Nuvo make their own plastic reeds, compatible with the DooD, jSax, Clarineo and NUVOBand clarinet. These last significantly longer than traditional cane reeds and feature a locating rib to help students correctly position the reed on the mouthpiece. Nuvo’s reeds are available in three different strengths, all of which can be found here.
If you want to give your students the experience of playing on traditional cane reeds:
- DooD, jSax, Clarineo – these fit with Eb clarinet or Bb soprano saxophone reeds.
- NUVOBand clarinet – works with a traditional Bb clarinet reed, and you can even use a standard German style mouthpiece!
Accessories for schools
To make the smoothest possible use of Nuvo, we recommend a couple of particularly useful extras for schools:
- Stands and storage – having these available reduces the already small risk of lasting damage even further! Both the wall hanger and the desk racks are sturdy and popular solutions to the perennial problem of keeping instruments safe and ordered in classrooms
- Spares kits – over the long lives of these instruments, bits are inevitably going to get lost occasionally. The spares kits give you plenty of options for fast replacement in a comprehensive, cost-effective package.
In conclusion…
By taking a fresh look at form, mechanisms and materials, Nuvo delivers value for money and value for the environment. These plastic instruments are designed to last for generations: easy to clean, quick to repair, and ultra-robust, it’s no wonder that Nuvo’s range has proven popular with schools and music hubs looking to inspire their students from scratch!
