Which musical Instrument

[Tootiredforgodtyping]

We have had the music lessons letter home from school. DD (6) wants to do violin, we are worried that you have to be really good before you can get a decent tune out of it. Any experiences re violin or other instruments very gratefully recieved!

Pros of violin

-instruments, especially beginners are relatively cheap.

• she can pluck strings as well as bowing which will make early months easier

• orchestras need more violins than anything else so when she;s a bit older she is more likely to be able to play in orchestras

• They are found in lots of groups and styles - classical, folk, solo stuff, jazz, pop.

• They don;t need reeds (like sax, clarinet)
• and they are fairly light to carry

Cons of violin.

• they can be a bit scrapey but possibly only the same as the honk of a clarinet/sax or the panpipey blowyness of a flute?

• Difficult to keep in tune without a musical ear

• My arm used to ache....

I started with piano then clarinet and reeds were a pain but I loved playing. I teach music now and have lots of 16/17 year olds who all play different stuff. All of them love their instruments and they all seem to love what they play because thats what they play if that makes sense.

The violin, when played well, is a lovely, versitile, cheap (in comparison!) instrument.

Do you have any older kid friends who she could look at, ask them questions etc?

Also, I;ve used this site before...

www.paythepiper.co.uk/what.asp

My DCs both started with the piano, and both still play. I do think that the piano is really hard to start with as an instrument (two hands, hands apart, hands together) particularly if you have a child who's not particularly got reasonable co-ordination.

DS is a cathedral chorister, which has given him a first rate musical education, so you might think about the voice as an instrument. Good fun singing with various choirs as well. But the cathedral do insist on another instrument, even so.

I cannot stand the sound of someone who can't play the violin. It is perfectly horrible. There is no other instrument which sounds so ghastly in the early stages and I thank my lucky stars that neither of mine play the violin.

How about something relatively cool like a saxophone?

IMO if she wants to do the violin, let her do the violin. She's 6, and frankly any musical learning at that age is good. She'll learn to work her way around written music, and if she wants to change instrument later, that's fine.

Perrrrrsonally, I'd choose a brass instrument (trumpet / cornet) but if she's got some enthusiasm for something, then make the most of it (and buy ear plugs )

disclaimer: no expert

BUT

I started playing the piano at the age of 5. I am super unco-ordinated (can't dance, can't catch) but I have some (only some) rhythm. I also played the violin which I was SHIT at because you have to tune by ear.

So, I think piano is easier because you don't have to tune it like you do other instruments, and it gives you a good basic knowledge of how scales etc works.

Choirs are a re really good training ground for musical discipline too.

And Quattro, whilst I see your violin, I raise you The Drums which my DS appears to be interested in learning

My 6 yr old is desperate to learn the drums. I offered a compromise of electric drums (headphones ) but apparently only 'real' ones will do. Fortunately drum lessons don't appear to be on the list this year.

oh god, Mary's got a point. Enthusiasm counts for loads...

I played the clarinet - also a few in a school orchestra and not as difficult to lug on a bus as a french horn/cello etc.
Good for jazz bands etc. in later life.

Flutes are also good, think the music teachers like the children to try with a fife first to assess their technique/aptitude for it.

Piano would be my instrument of choice but I'd always try a portable instrument in addition to it.

Don't they teach guitar in schools these days?

Highly useful for entertaining folk by the beach around a campfire.

I've always thought that certain instruments suit certain types of people. And, in a way, an instrument chooses you.

If your dd is drawn to the violin, it may be the one that she would stick at and put in the hours to become good. Much better than forcing an unsuitable instrument.
I was pretty screechy with the violin for my first two years. That's what my mum says, anyway. Being an instrument that you have to tune, also means you develop sensitivity quicker.
It may work out better to hire to begin with.

Aye. You are right about the instrument choice being driven by the child. Unfortunately, when it comes to violins.

One of my most dearly loved memories is of a 10 year old boy playing his flute at a school concert. He was marvellous but the clear joy he had in his instrument was just fabulous to see.

I asked DS if he had a particular yen for an instrument, and he said it wasn't the same for him with an instrument other than his voice. 'See mum, Charlie just loves his flute'.

Myy dd hasn't even got a wobbly tooth yet and she's 6 so wind instruments are out as you need to have well bedded in second teeth for thoose?

my dd chose violin at that age TTFGT and she loves it. She has just moved up to the next orchestra and is away on a trip this weekend with them. I never regretted it and it need not sound awful at all. They start playing strings with no fingering and pizzicato (plucking at the strings) and they progress bit by bit.

It is difficult, they do have to acquire an ear for listening to what they play and making (it seems to me) minimal finger adjusting to slide into a note if it is not quite right. I am sure I could never do that but dc seem open to learning in a way that we are not.

Had envisioned cello for dd but she chose violin and now I think it is right for her. She's doing harp now too which she also chose and which I had also not considered. Let her have a go at violin. It isn'tthe easiest but it is a lovely versatile instrument.

and I second whoever said that choir is a good idea. If your dd can sing from sheet music, it helps her play it too.

Any instrument where she will soon have the possibility to play with others can become a nice social activity, same applies to choir. Dd's choir is off overseas this year (although I don't know if I am quite ready for that!) and they are a great bunch of kids.

Yes, for wind instruments you need your adult teeth, and for instruments where you need to cover holes with your fingers (eg clarinet), your hands need to be large enough, so a six year old would struggle. I was 9 when I started the clarinet. She could start on recorder though, and learn to read music this way so that when she transfers onto something else she'd have a flying start.

I really believe that the instrument chooses the player, and perhaps she's a born scraper violinist! Have you asked her why she'd like to play the violin? Is it the look of it, the sound of it?

Has she demonstrated musical aptitude? If so, the tuning by ear factor of the violin may not be too painful tricky.

I'm also with Mary, any enthusiasm for playing an instruments is lovely and to be encouraged! Good luck!