Best instrument for 7 year old?

[musichelpneeded]

At DD's school the kids have the chance to learn a first instrument from the age of 7. DD is really keen to do this and had her heart set on the piano, and we had heard from friends that it was a good choice as a first instrument, perfect for kids to start off on. We have a digital piano at home, and so were going to sign up for the piano lessons starting next school year. However, school have thrown a spanner in the works by stating that digital pianos are unacceptable for kids to practise on, and that we must own an acoustic piano.

I'm not sure I want to invest in an acoustic piano until I know how DD would take to it. We don't have a whole lot of space for one either although could rejig things if necessary. So wondering if there's any other instrument I might be able to steer her towards? I've heard strings are tricky for little ones to start out with, and wondered if the school's option of one year recorder, moving on to something like flute or clarinet after that, would be better? DD also fancies the harp but I know nothing about that! They also get the chance to pick up a second instrument the following year. Originally I had though piano plus something she could play in the orchestra might be a good choice but I don't really know a lot about music myself.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

My three elder ones started instruments at 6. Ds started trumpet, which is loud and takes them a while to get a note out of... So maybe not the best choice. Dd started violin, she needed an eighth (worth remembering will have to buy/hire bigger instruments as they grow). It took her a long while but to be truly awful, but she plays really nicely now (I think!). Ds2 played ukelele, which I think was the most accessible. He could get a recognisable tune quite quickly. I just showed my kids YouTube videos of different instruments and let them choose. I figured they would have better motivation that way. The cost of the instrument pales in comparison to that of the lessons anyhow.

What does she like the sound of? What do you like the sound of? I mean literally - you'll hear plenty of it!

I'm surprised an acoustic piano is required by the school at her age. If you have space then you can pick up 2nd/3rd hand pianos very reasonably.

Piano is 100% the best instrument to start on.

Tell the school you have leased an acoustic piano, then just carry on with your digital one (assuming it is a full size one with proper sounds and weighting of the keys). They are being ridiculously precious about someone just starting out.

Frankly, you should just tell them to stop being stupid and you'll splash out on an acoustic as and when they start to show proficiency on it.

The school are probably saying no electric piano as most dont have weighted keys which you need to practice between accoustic and electric. If yours has weighted keys they may be more flexible.

Strings we teach to Y2 so is easy for younger children to learn.

I learnt recorder til senior school so its an instrument I love, but not many learn it to a high grade anymore.

Harp is tricky to find a decent teacher, and instruments are very hard to source or afford and take more space to store.

Most instruments are good to learn at a young age, certain woodwind need adult front teeth before you can play (such as sax). But things like flute can be learnt earlier.

Im not a music teacher btw but admin in a music dept. To be honest I would talk to your music staff direct for advice as fellow parents dont always know. I have heard quite a few things that the grapevine have said that just arent true. They may even be able to offer instrument trials so your DD can try a few she likes to select the one she most likes.

Trumpet or other brass...much better sound than strings when badly played, much easier to play in a group earlier on.

And piano - absolutely agree you don’t need an acoustic, and tbh you do t even need weighted keys until a while down the line - just learning note positions at first! If they love piano you can get a better keyboard then!!!

Thanks so much for the advice everyone, really really useful. Our digital does indeed have full size weighted keys so I think I'll talk to the school about that.

I like the idea of ukulele but the school don't offer that!

Harp - yes I can see storage might be tricky there. The teacher is no problem as it's all arranged through school but can see that purchasing/keeping one might be a little awkward.

Honestly still tempted to go for piano regardless as both DD and I like the sound of it. I always wanted to learn as a kid and was gutted I couldn't (parents said our house was too small for one), and DD has definitely shown an interest in it.

I do like the sound of the flute too - how easy is this for kids to pick up? She wouldn't be starting that straight away as school start them on recorder first but I have memories of trying a school one when I was a bit older and finding it impossible to get a sound out of it!

Flute seems to be an instrument which some people just can't get a note out of. So it's worth just seeing if they can make a (hopefully nice) noise from just the mouthpiece section.

Oboe! The basic finger patterns for notes they learn to start with are the same as the descant recorder so if you started with recorder it's easier to move on to oboe than clarinet (which has totally different finger patterns than a recorder).

Ha, that was an x-post! My very musical nephew tried flute and had to give it up; my not inherently very musical DD could make a nice sound with it and persisted to grade 3.

My DD is learning piano on a keyboard I really don’t see the problem for the first couple of years? It’s pretty basic stuff at the beginning but great she is learning to read music and play with two hands. The only bit she notices that’s different is we don’t have foot pedals like the piano at school.

Yeah in that case I'd go for piano. If school say you need an acoustic I'd just nod and say 'sure'.

Recorder then flute is a good choice too. Children need to have the right size hand span to start flute (and I believe same for piano too) so it’s good to start with recorder as the fingering is the same, and you can learn treble clef notation. You get some rapid progress with recorder which is motivating.

I teach piano. Your school are being utterly ridiculous. About 50 % of my students only have digital pianos at home. One kid has just passed his grade 6 on his digital piano ( recorded at home remote exam done by video submission.) Abrsm do not differentiate between acoustic or digital pianos for the performance exam entries at all.

As long as you have full size weighted keys they are being ridiculous, my son just did his grade three having only ever owned a digital piano. Piano is definitely the best instrument to start on IMO.

A digital with weighted keys is absolutely fine.

Re other instruments, I’d avoid flute (and clarinet) - almost as popular as say violin but only 3 spots in an orchestra (compared to 30 violins) so much harder further down the line
for her to access group music making. At 7 she’s too young to start oboe or bassoon though (which would make her very in demand later) so something like recorder could be useful. Trumpet is very versatile - orchestra, big band, brass band (well cornet is basically identical) and jazz so if she likes
brass that would be a good starter instrument too.

Another vote for piano. I played flute to grade 8 level and still regret not learning piano as a child (another one who’s mum had no room for a piano at home!) I tried to teach myself as an adult and had no luck (and successfully taught myself flute at 11, so that wasn’t the issue!!) It’s a really good, useful instrument to be able to play - I could never teach flute or accompany anyone. Plus it’s the one she wants to do!

I did recorder from age 6 then switched to flute age 9 picked both up really quickly as flute fingering is similar to the recorder.

But I’d say go with piano if you possibly can

Another piano teacher here - school are being ridiculously precious, like a pp lots of my students have digital pianos, I'm even happy for beginners to start on a basic keyboard whilst they assess whether they're going to enjoy it as long as the keys are the right size! In some of the schools I teach in there is no piano available (digital or otherwise) in those cases we learn on my portable keyboard- not ideal, but better than no access to lessons at all.

If she ever wants to play in an orchestra for fun avoid the flute. I was a respectable grade 7 and couldn’t get into my school orchestra. If I’d been the equivalent on almost any other instrument there would have been a slot for me but you only need a couple and so many people play it. DSis had much greater demand as an oboist. DS is learning trumpet...it is noisy but he could get a note quickly.

Your piano would be perfectly fine. Just lie to the school about it. They're not going to conduct an inspection of your home.

Having lived through the experience of DCs learning the piano, trumpet and clarinet, I would suggest the harp, which a young relative did for years. It sounded divine no matter how shaky she was in the beginning.

My 7 year old is loving the piano - and we also have an electric piano with weighted keys. Our very musical school didn’t even bother asking me what we had at home! I could understand if your school specified no electronic keyboards, but a proper digital piano is absolutely fine.

My other child started the recorder at 7 and three years later has reached a very good standard. It’s definitely a good one if your child wants to see quicker progress.

Violin is also a good starter, but I can’t stand the squeak of a beginner violin (worse than recorder to my ears!!).

Flute and oboe are natural progressions from the recorder, but I’d wait until 9 or 10 (mostly because of hands needing to be big enough) before progressing to one of these. Both mouth pieces take a little time to master. Oboe is often referred to as the ‘hardest’ woodwind instrument because of the mouthpiece. Such a beautiful instrument when played well!

If she wants to play the piano, then let that be her instrument. Actually wanting to play it and enjoying the sound it makes is the most crucial element in learning any instrument.

My children are doing their exams on our digital piano, and being the pandemic, the exams have been videoed at home and submitted electronically. I'm talking about the higher grades too (6-8) It sounds like the person at school doesn't know what they are taking about and doesn't know the difference between a digital piano with full size weighted keys (which is absolutely fine) and a 'keyboard' which is generally smaller, doesn't have weighted keys, and is definitely not fine! In fact, electronic keyboard is classed as a different instrument with its own set of exams.

So just tell the school you have an appropriate piano and get her started.

I think it is great to learn an instrument. I played the violin badly (but had some lovely memories of Youth Orchestra tours as a teen). It sounds horrid for a year or two unless you are very gifted.

Quite by accident, DD started flute lessons at school. The advantage of a flute over another woodwind instrument is that it doesn't need reeds and it is light to carry to/from school. It is one of the cheaper instruments, possibly the cheapest woodwind. I bought a refurb'd fluteyears ago and I've only need to have it serviced once.

Cons? I think it took my daughter about a month to be able to get a reliable airflow through the thing (she is now G7 and it sounds lovely, but there were a few tears in the early days). It is a popular instrument so you might have to audition to get into the school orchestra.

I know virtually nothing about brass, but didn't enjoy the few months that my neighbour's child was struggling with the trumpet.

Does the school offer taster sessions? At that age there is no harm in trying something for a 1/2 term and then switching?

PS: buried in the depths of "Education" is an "extracurricular" section. There are some great musicians there, as well as plenty clueless or exasperated parents or young musicians. I'd try posting there.

Echoing what PP have said about digital pianos, the ones with weighted keys are absolutely fine to learn on.

Flute / oboe / clarinet all have similar fingering to the recorder so that would be a route to take if she like woodwind instruments. There are a LOT of good flute and clarinet players around though, so my recommendation would be the trombone, which is much more fun imo and will probably give her loads more playing opportunities if she likes it and keeps it up. You can get plastic trombones now which are fantastic for children, much lighter and cheaper than a brass one. (Pbone is the best.)

There’s a great book about finding the right instrument for your child by Atarah Ben-Tovim which might be useful to read. Takes into account personality/likes/dislikes/teeth!/skill set.