What instrument/music lessons for child?

[Artifishal]

Looking to give our child an opportunity to try his hands at some sort of instrument, and wondered what those more in the know might recommend?

7 years old
Autistic with ADHD
Struggles with fine motor skills

Thinking either drums (would love the sensory feedback but lessons hard to find) or piano (would help fine motor skills and easy to access) but is there anything I'm missing? I think we've ruled out things like guitar because he would really struggle with finger placement. Looking for something that can be a fun way to learn a skill and see where it goes, if anywhere, rather than serious teaching from day 1.

Welcome thoughts from anyone with useful experience in this field!

Thank you

What would they like to try? Play various bits of music and see what they like? My DD wanted to learn the trumpet after seeing someone, a professional musician, play it.

Surely this is a decision that should be lead by your DS? It’s a bit odd in my opinion to want him to learn an instrument when he hasn’t expressed any particular interest.

Have you asked him?

DD(13) started piano at 9 and drums at 12.

Are drum lessons really that hard to find? Because I have seen a few “quirky” kids progress quickly on drum kit, pretty young. Does your local authority have a school music lessons service ? Have you enquired with local brass/silver bands if they do lessons (dd plays percussion in the beginner band of our local brass band, and they have a lesson before band practice). Local Uni/College? FB/Next Door?

DS started ukele at 7, moved onto guitar at 9 and has absolutely loved it. 9 years on, he’s still dedicated to practice, plays in a couple of ensembles and is working towards G7. He wanted to play uke/guitar though. I would hazard a guess that your child will progress on an instrumeny he wants to play.

Is he dyspraxic too? Sounds like a possibility. DS has ASD and dyspraxia and did the piano, it was fantastic for fine motor skills. Swimming is the other thing I'd really recommend.

It’s a good idea to get him to physically try some instruments.

he’ll find that he likes some and really hates others.

your county music service probably do some kind of come along and have a try type morning.

To answer some questions...

He has significant communication challenges so asking him isn't as straightforward as it sounds. He is very bright, has an incredible memory, very capable of following instructions and thrives in a 1:1 learning environment, but if something is difficult for him to get to grips with he will lose interest almost immediately. He has shown an interest in all sorts of instruments so just looking for ideas to start making enquiries so he can get hands on and just see what he enjoys (or doesn't)

Re: dyspraxia - there's a question mark. He's been under OT since he was 2, and is currently under investigation for hypermobility. He is a fantastic swimmer and swims several times a week.

We live in a small town in a rural area so sourcing things like music lessons aren't always easy. His school offer Rock Steady but these sessions are full and probably not the right environment for him anyway.
I've looked and the closest drum lessons I can find are 20+ miles away. In itself thats not an issue, I commute 30 miles to work every day, but logistically to do that on an afternoon after school would be a challenge.

So yeah, looking for suggestions or experiences from parents with children with similar needs or challenges. Neither of us are musical in any way so at this stage it's just about giving him exposure to things in a positive way to see what he enjoys

in that case, and as he hasn't expressed an interest in one particular instrument, look and see what is available that you can get to easily and offer him a choice of one of those.

If you think he might like to join a band or orchestra then piano is not a good choice as they have only one or none at all!
Violin players are so numerous meaning big competition to be in an orchestra.
Wind?

If he tends to give up quickly if things are hard, I think you need to have him try a few instruments to see if anything seems easier and find and talk to a really good teacher. Getting off to a good start is going to depend on having a great teacher.

Some instruments are easy to get a tune out of, but difficult to master eg recorder.

Some are tricky for some people eg some people "get" the flute embouchure, but my friend who eventually to grade 8 didn’t get a peep out of her flute at first until she had practiced every day for a fortnight.

Some require strength and stamina, which has to be built up with regular practice.

Piano often seems to be described as a slow start; learners take longer of get to grade 1 say than on other instruments. But it can be fun from day 1 with the right teacher.

So, short version: try to find something with a good local teacher who can make even the tricky first few weeks enjoyable.

What about the cello? Finger placement is slightly easier as you can see your hand more easily than with a violin. Also, a badly played cello is much less painful than a badly played violin!

Trombone? No need for fine motor skills. Can play as part of a brass band, orchestra, jazz band. Has a fun element

My DS learnt drums and now teaches drums.

they are loud and require a great deal of physical motor control. Also not great for playing in a group.

you can get online lessons but not ideal.
drum music is also written completely different to most other instrumental music.

piano is a good one to start on - teaches reading music and it’s the same sort of music as most other instruments. Generally easy to access and lots of books. Not sociable in the slightest however.

many people will start their kid on piano and then add a more sociable instrument.

many brass bands these days will take beginners and lend out instruments - this is also sociable and introduces performing quite early before they get really scared of it.

referring to the distance thing - is online learning possible for you? its obviously not as effective as a face to face thing but it cuts out the travel time and it might be a good way to get him started and see if you want to commit any further. online learning is generally cheaper than teachers travelling to your house as well if that's a factor.

I’d look for a local teacher who is happy to work with a quirky kid and see what instruments they offer. 7 is pretty young and the lessons might just be making a noise for a while.

But orchestras also have a lot of violin players - usually numerous firsts and seconds - so there are more places that there would be for, say, French horns. As it is, the number of children learning instruments has dropped massively in the past decade or more so many orchestras are desperate for players of all instruments.

Saw this pop up in my watched threads so thought I'd update, he has been having drum lessons since September and is loving it.

After a false start with a local music school where it was quickly clear it wasn't going to work, we have found the right person who we travel to on a weekend. His teacher is a young chap (I'd say mid 20s) with lots of energy clearly understands him and autism/ADHD in general and has been fantastic so far.