how many instruments are too many.

so violin is her first instrument, but she is best at singing, with sax and piano she is starting out and finding them easy.

If she is going into music seriously at some point she probably needs piano. Singing is always good and if she is good at it, don't think that will take up too much of her time.

At some point she may have to decide between violin and sax. Especially if she is doing sax + clarinet or sax + clarinet + flute.

dd is 12 now so 3 years further on and I have to say it would be difficult for her to fit in daily practise of 5 instruments and singing on top. Now she is at the point where there is a lot of vocab to learn for languages each week, Latin has leapt to a much more more difficult level and moving fast now. There is also a lot more required rote learning of facts at this point which you have to get to grips with, longer reading passages, essays. It all takes up more time than at primary. Still, so long as you H.E. , maybe you can make that work.

Atm dd has 2.5 hours orchestra rehearsal twice a week. You also have to get there and get back which is about an hour either way - and the evenings are gone. The whole business of music is taking up a lot of her time (and mine) and you can't do everything, so in the end something has to give.

I think sometimes less is more but as you have said the instruments are lying about and the instruction costs you nothing. She does sound as if she has a knack for learning instruments. I would try and get her onto a high level on one instrument and let the others take a back seat if possible.

Well, you'll go with your own priorities I'm sure, but I'd have thought that for instruments which naturally group together - like the sax and the clarinet, it's not a big stretch to play both. Similarly if she were playing violin and viola - lots of people do. And most musicians also sing. And most musicians play the piano too. So it's not all that unusual, in my experience.

But I wonder if she's a bit young yet to go with the scattergun approach? - maybe after she's achieved higher grades in the first three, say, then branch out - you may be in danger of diluting here time too much.

( I speak as parent of a DD who is grade 8 in 4 instruments, also plays kit and sings)

My DD is 7 and plays two seriously - she is about to do Grade 4 Recorder, and is between Grades 1-2 Flute and Music Theory. She can play the piano reasonably well for her age, but doesn't want lessons, and dabbles with the treble recorder and ukulele. She's asked for a violin, and we have said no, because realistically she only has time to practise two properly. I imagine being older and HE, the OP's daughter might manage lots of instruments more easily though.

oh no, don't run her down. If she is good, she is good.

It is true if the instruments are there, it would be odd to say she cannot try them and if your dh can teach her and it costs nothing, why not?

morethan - do you have music running through your head at all times? Almost all the time I do. I don't normally let it come to the front, and I quite often have to concentrate on it to work out what is 'playing' but its there. When I've been doing something more full-on musical (eg 12 hrs of orchestral rehearsals over a weekend) it will be much closer to the front of my mind - normally I am to be found singing my part, with the rest of the orchestra playing in my head - most peculiar for those listening because I play viola so rarely have 'the tune'. Its a bit like having an ipod on shuffle all the time - but it is unrestricted by memory space or batteries

Morethan, what level is she at on her first study instrument? Which one is her first study, anyway?

If the impetus is coming from her, then I would relax and let her get on with it. If you have instruments lying around and a teacher on tap then it's not costing you anything, and she is lucky to have those opportunities. Music is one of very few careers where you can get seriously stuck in as a child, and there are some who really do know that's what they want to do at that age. Maybe she's one of them.
DS was obsessed with maths from the age of 7 and ate, slept and breathed maths in every spare moment from then on. He found time to do all the normal stuff too and isn't just a total maths geek with no friends or other interests. He knew that's what he wanted to do and loved doing it - no harm in that.

she is probably a musician in the making. What is normal anyway? Most dc learning instruments have no ambition to be a musician or hope of making a living as a musician so if she is different, maybe she is spot on and this is the right thing for her.

I would say if you seriously want to be a musician , you are looking at a minimum of 2 hours a day on your instrument definitely from 9. Competition is so stiff these days, less than that would make it close to impossible I reckon. At the conservatoires, she'll be competing for places against dc from Asia and elsewhere for whom 5-6 hours a day throughout childhood is normal.

If she can managed 3-4 hours a day, maybe in two blocks so she is a bit fresh, why not?

Mind you if she put all that effort into 1-2 instruments, she'd go far, wouldn't she?

It sounds like your DD is very keen - I wish mine would do that much practise!(she is 13). All the time she is happy with what she is doing I wouldn't worry. I used to worry that my DD might be missing out on other things, but with some discrete time management on my part we seem to manage a healthy balance and she still manages to do a lot of normal teenage stuff, and more than enough TV chill out time. Add to that she has made some great friends through music and at her age at least some of the attraction is the social side.

It's the practise time that will probably be the issue, especially when they want to start playing each instrument in different groups and ensembles and all the concerts that go with each instrument, suddenly there are no evenings, weekends or holidays left!

My DD learns violin/viola and sax/clarinet and has the same teacher for each pair of instruments, but they tend to focus on one at a time while just keeping the other ticking along. We generally find that when working for exams one has to give for a while otherwise there just isn't enough time but so far it has worked well. Getting more difficult to manage as she is now working for the higher grades though. She also learns piano when there's not too much else going on (rare!) but is working at much lower level to the other instruments.

Worth all the effort though, she is doing something she really loves.

(Mind you I have just said to no to her asking to learn the trombone which apparently is unfair!)

DD1 is 14, DD2 is 9. :)

Adding clarinet is a no brainer. Adding flute might be more tricky since the ombuchure (I can't spell) is very different, but yes, most players and teachers do often double/triple. This is why DD1 tits about with the sax and, to be fair, the clarinet a bit. But she can, because DS plays clarinet and sax so we have those instruments lying around (we have one genuine decent spare clarinet, they share the sax). Getting to grade 3 level on the flute might be more tricky than you anticipate - but it depends whether she cracks the tone issue speedily or not, there are also 'puff' issues. DD2 is taking grade 3 flute this term, she only started learning flute last February so she has made very quick progress, but she wasn't able to do the two octave scales till recently because of the puff issue (she could play the pieces last term). She also still can't play bottom C or C# because her hands are too little, and this would be a factor going higher than A'' too, at this point, I think. Grade 3 is where the high note stuff kicks in more. There are, IMO, significant technical differences between flute and the other two, but if you start playing all of them young these are less of an issue. For me, playing clarinet and sax is quite difficult (I was diploma level flute in my youth, my first study was recorders though) but that's because I'm old and haven't got the time or inclination to crack the technique differences.

I think she is HE. Is that right, more than? In which case maybe the time is there.

I did 3 - grade 8 on all, qualified to teach the strings, music degree.

BiL is a professional composer - he went to Chets - played 2, could pick up more or less anything else and be able to sightread through an orchestral symphony given 30mins.

Piano is essential. If she really wants to push the boat out, do one string, one woodwind and one brass on top of that - that would be a good grounding. You need to do 30mins on each every day - more than 4 is not manageable on top of normal school.

DD1 takes 4 seriously, but she also plays guitar/uke well enough to perform and she dabbles in sax, but that's just for a laugh really. DD2 who is slightly younger than your DD takes 3 seriously, and will be starting piano in the autumn. She also additionally plays a variety of ukes , but no guitar, she's just too small physically. I think doing 4 seriously is more than enough to be honest. DD1's piano (4th study and very much the poor relation) would be better if she had more time to spend on it.

don't think I know anyone having lessons in more than 4. That is violin and viola (same technique), piano and voice (boy 13) violin, piano, harp, voice (girl 10)

Problem I see is at secondary level and with increasing proficiency - more demanding practice pieces and more homework/study time. I f she will have to drop 2-3 in a few years, is it worth embarking on it?

I would say no more than 3 (I have a music degree and dh went to a conservatoire) and that includes singing.

The exception would be flute & piccolo or piano & harpsichord etc. instruments that orchestral players are expected to be able to double in.

She can't possibly have the time to practise any of them properly! I think even 4 is pushing it. Jack of all trades etc...