How can you tell if a child is musically gifted?

[geraldine1969]

P can find parts of songs and play them in tune on the piano and recorder by ear. Now 5 she has been able to do this since she was about 2.5 - 3. I play piano a bit (but was an adult learner i was certainly no prodigy!) but i have never really properly sat down and taught her. She is going to join a recorder group at school after half term and after a few casual sessions of playing around with a beginner book and cheap recorder this half term holiday she has picked it up really quick. Does anyone have a musically gifted child or am i being abit hopeful!!!

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I was very lucky to have musical parents and was encouraged throughout my childhood, resulting in me eventually doing a music degree. I would strongly advocate lessons and practice - the latter is sometimes difficult at 5, but my half brother started piano lessons then on a trial basis (teacher didn't usually take them until they were 6), and he's doing brilliantly - working towards Grade 1 now. If she enjoys it and she has the inclination to practice then go for it!

Had same thing with my ds and my dd now sings songs only hearing them a few times in tune and loves music.Def get lessons as this can also improve academic performance and anyway is great fun.My ds goes to forte school of music(it's a class once a week)he is learning the piano and loves it.They also teach singing and other instruments their web address is www.fortemusic.com(sorry couldn't do the link thing)

that sounds brilliant! it is lovely to see a child enjoy music.

(somehow this thread is on the list 3 times!)

I don't know anything about music lessons as such, but ClassicFM does a lot of things to promote music for children. On their website www.classicfm.com they have info about music events and concerts for families and young kids. Some are going to see performances that are suitable for little ones, and others are hands-on sop they can try music making for themselves. Your dd might enjoy something like this.

Oooh, I got the URL link thing right

beetroot - that sounds lovely that your ds is at a Cathedral school, I would love it if my ds enjoyed music and had that kind of talent. I have a few more years of Wheels on the Bus to go yet, though. My grandfather and his brothers were all choristers and he always loved his time singing and continued singing his whole life. What age did your ds start showing that he had a good voice?

If you get a keyboard would recommend NOT to get mini-size keys as there is really no point - child soon grows out of them and then has to re-learn the spacings between keys.

I would not recommend a keyboard at all, they don't feel the same when you press the keys and you can't use pressure to control the volume.

Bit late here - but some keyboards you can use pressure to control the volume - obviously not the cheapest ones - but still cheaper than a piano and a good starting point when you're not sure if your ds/dd is going to take to it.

Hi, jude - have you been away? I was about to ask after you on missing mumsnetters!

Brilliant thread. I too have been wondering about dd1. She's only 3 so a long way from formal lessons but she too can sing a song after only hearing it a couple of times and is also pitch perfect. At the moment we've only had a recorder and a mouth organ around but reading this thread maybe I'll get my keyboard out as well. I wonder if anyone knows of pre-school clubs??

There's a great one near me that feeds into a Saturday morning music school for older children, but unless you happen to be in Edinburgh that's probably not much help! I think they're fairly common though, there seem to be quite a few franchises around (jojingles rings a bell, but I have no idea if it's any good). My ds has perfect pitch, it's a bit spooky (like when he points out that the bathroom fan is an F, and it turns out he's right) but useful!

Wills, Jo Jingles have quite a good reputation. Another thing to look out for is Kindermusik.

My dd (just 4) goes to Monkey Music which she adores. She's been going since before she was 2 and has progressed from belting the living daylights out of a tambourine to playing in time, playing allsorts of instruments (including a mini-cello) and for the last 2 terms has been learning about note values in a very simplistic but effective way.

It's a franchise which started in London and now covers quite a lot of the south of England and Wales now.