Singing or Piano with Violin

I'd say piano too.
I see that she's started singing lessons at school but tbh I think singing in a choir is good enough at her age, although no reason to stop the lessons.

Piano is excellent for dexterity with both hands, and reading LOTS of notes at once (obviously not to start with but she'll probably progress quicker because she can already read music) - this is useful for many more things than just music, I've found.

Also, piano is a self-accompaniment instrument, iyswim - and is more useful for singing along to than a violin.

I started lessons at 7, and would say that is about the right age, although my first teacher was crap. My next teacher was far better! 8 or 9 would be ok, but I wouldn't want to wait much longer. I've really appreciated being able to play the songs I want to sing, and also to record my own accompaniment when I started playing the double bass (and later, the 'cello), neither to any great standard, although I achieved Grade 6 in double bass (and played in a school orchestra, but with an instrument like that, you're welcome most places! )

OP I could have written your post myself. DD nearly 8 started violin and then piano but really wanted to do singing. In the end (and against our better judgement ) we let her have singing lessons too but haven't dropped the other 2. She has to practice piano and violin more and we fit in singing when we can! Piano is quite hard going in the earlier grades - but both DS (14 and 13) now play piano for pleasure much more than their orchestral instruments so IMO it's been worth it - and was worth starting early so that by the time they are teenagers they can pick up and play a wide range of music of their own choice as well as graded pieces (both around G7).

I'm a teacher of both violin and piano. I started violin at 7 and piano at the age of 10, when I was working on grade 6 violin. It might have been difficult starting much later (e.g. 14) because school work increases, but the difference in my literacy level and musical experience when I started piano meant I caught up a bit with violin and, though I took grade 8 a few years later on piano than on violin (17 vs 14), my marks were higher.

The other thing is that the two are completely different to teach, to the extent that while I'm a violinist I find it easier to teach piano. The pedagogy is way more straightforward. Many violin teachers will play the piano reasonably well - to at least grade 6 standard, say, and be able to accompany beginning students - but not feel competent to teach piano. My own first violin teacher was a first-study pianist. At conservatoire, students usually specialise; my degree is a university one, where piano was also a prerequisite for players of other instruments.

Experimenting is great, and keyboard is the most appropriate instrument to experiment on, as there can be many different facets to it.

Keyboard is fun but the technique of playing is different from piano. Our DS started on organ (aged 2) then had his own keyboard, with a synthesizer facility, at 7.

Piano style and technique CAN be learned on a keyboard that has touch sensitivity, but only in a limited way. A good electronic piano or decent acoustic piano is necessary to start to develop any serious piano skills, and ideally I would think as soon as possible after age 7.

It takes years to learn to play ANY instrument well!

But if she wants to concentrate on violin, she is obviously learning a certain amount about music. It therefore would not be impossible also to learn some basics of piano or keyboard from good tutor books, at least until she can judge how much time and effort she wants to put into an additional instrument, and how it fits in around other commitments. Then consider lessons later, if she wishes.

I'm not remotely musical, but my Daughter is a singer so I'll give you our story if it helps.

My Dd started singing lessons at 12 and her teacher identified her as having potentially good classical voice. She never really enjoyed her lessons with this particular teacher so after two years she stopped the lessons. In the meantime she had been accepted into a national singing organisation so she spent many hours rehearsing and performing in their chorus. Last September at 15.5 she started lessons again with a very experienced teacher and her voice is now developing at a galloping pace. A couple of years of physical and emotional maturity has helped, along with a growing enthusiasm for the operatic world.

She's now auditioned and been accepted into a 2nd National organisation and is part of two other local groups. Singing is her life! She's skipping the early ABRSM grades and taking G5 in June, then hopefully the theory test later in the year. In hindsight piano lessons earlier on would have helped massively with this.

Overall, I'm very glad she didn't start singing any earlier than she did and her voice hasn't been disadvantaged because of it. I'm pretty sure her current (and very well respected) teacher wouldn't touch a child before 11-12.

adarkwhisper

I can totally agree with this, my dd has a gift for singing, her voice is really astonishing, and it is very mature for her age.
We are so wary of not allowing people to push her voice and found that singing teachers per se were very hit and miss tbh.
Unsuitable material, encouraging reaching for low notes and leaving the natural voice.
it is what she wants to do as a profession so I don't care who tells her to push harder, sing unnaturally I'll take them on
I heard the head of a conservatoire vocal dept state that when they finished there, their voices were ready to begin to develop. She said that the thirties were when the voice had properly matured. In fairness, this was classically trained voices.
Singing is lovely for dc and even having lessons is ok if they aren't being pushed and the emphasis is building suitable repertoire and gaining musicianship.

Yes I do. As a pp said many singing teachers won't take on students under 16 for this reason. A child's vocal chords are delicate and easily damaged so post puberty is better. Choral singing teaches harmony and puts far less pressure on individual voices than singing lessons. That said, group lessons might not be so bad, as long as there's no too much emphasis on solos, as 'belting it out' too often is frequently what causes the damage

I'd say piano too, but I don't think there is any desperate rush unless you think your daughter has potential for a musical career. Children who already play one instrument to a decent level often pick up second and subsequent instruments rather quickly, especially if they are a bit older and/ or very motivated.

I don't agree that singing lessons can damage a young voice if the lesson is taught by an experienced teacher who knows about pedagogy & physiology

However most young children are unable to process/understand much about actual singing technique other than the basics of starting to develop pitch etc. They learn through fun games a&e exercises best at a young age often delivered better in a group situation.

Where you run the risk is an inexperienced teacher who doesn't necessarily know how to explain a particular technique properly or a child attempting to do something that is beyond them at their stage of development.

At 7 my dd was doing violin, piano and singing she added saxophone at 9.

singing lessons can be a bit of a waste at this age as there is so little they can do and unless the teacher is a specialist could cause more harm than good.
Any good teacher won't train the voice until 16+ so until then you benefit from good musicianship and a growing repertoire, that you can also gain from a good choir. There are very few specialist singing teachers, it took us 4 years to find one.
On the other hand piano is really essential for learning how music works and being able to practice and relate to the theory of music.

Singing lessons too early can damage the voice. Choir is much more beneficial imo at this age. Piano gives a good all-round musical base. I say this as someone who had piano and violin lessons from age 6/7 and sang in choirs from then too. Singing lessons from 16yo. I then spent most of my 20s working as a musician/composer and session singer

Thx Fleurdelise. can I contact u for few songs I need if you don't mind?

*then

Apologies for spelling errors, typing from my phone.

Mom17 dd's teacher recommended Schaum A the red book as a method book which she has now almost finished, this came after the first book by John Thompson was completed. She has also done Czerny studies (op 823 The Little Pianist) some Christmas carols around Christmas time from various books.

She ten started grade 1 pieces around November time along Czerny and the method book (A the red book-Schaum) and since January it was mainly exam work with a bit of Czerny here and there.

I would save singing lessons until she is a little bit older, msybe around 10-11 years as its not always beneficial to start too early.

Fleurdelise, I see that your daughter is appearing for Grade-1 exam in march, can you pls. share what all books/extra pieces she has done before starting exam pieces ?

there is no point in making your DD do piano if she doesn't want to. It needs a lot of practice which might be hard to fit in around violin practice. My DD wants to learn piano (has been for 5 years) but 'finding time' to practice is increasingly difficult (she is Y6 now).
DS is musical, and tried several instruments but never got into the practice mode He now has singing lessons, which suit him brilliantly as there is very little practice required. He sings in a very good choir at school, but because of the hectic schedule, they spend time learning new pieces and don't really concentrate on technique so the lessons are really useful.

My dd 14 has been doing violin for years. She loves to practice and it takes up some time . She dropped a lot of extra curricular as she was fwd up running around to everything. She is in the school choir this year and spends hours practising with them. She is also in the orchestra through her music school. She can play the piano but gave up at grade 3 as she found it was too time consuming also. She might go back to it though as she would like to do teaching down the road.

My DD does singing, piano and music theory (sight reading etc). We've always tried to do it in as low pressure (fun) way as possible although, as she is 10, we need to start rearranging it a bit and doing more exams. Singing and piano are a great combination. I'm not so sure about singing and violin.