Musical instrument for five year old

[Loobylou3]

Hi
What instrument would be good for a five (nearly 6) year old to start playing? Any ideas /experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks

Well, what does HE/SHE think they might like to play?

Have they asked to play something, or is it just you thinking they OUGHT to?

I have just replied on this topic elsewhere, but I will copy my reply in full, though it may not all be relevant in your case:

If you do a MN 'search' on my name, music, keyboard etc you will find I have replied several times to similar questions.

As a Teaching Assistant I taught recorder groups for ten years, had a Keyboard club for Yr6 children, for a while had a percussion club, and with Yr2 coached children to accompany the Christmas production each year.

Do you happen to know what sort of music activities the class has been doing?

Recorder is normally for Yr2 onwards, once fingers are wide enough to cover the holes accurately. Recorder is certainly the cheapest instrument, and an Aulos or Yamaha recorder is probably under £10.

Many schools have ukulele groups. Some schools do percussion - tuned percussion being xylophones, glockenspiel, etc; - untuned percussion is drums, tom toms, cymbals, etc.

But personally, if parents can afford it, I think an electronic Keyboard makes the best introduction to music for a young child. Ideally it needs to be 61 full-size keys, with a wide range of sounds, and plenty of rhythms and accompaniments. If it has MIDI (Musical instrument Digital Interface) it can be connected to a computer for recording or multi-tracking, but this is not essential. Some Keyboards will have their own built-in recording systems. Some also have, what they claim is an 'easy learning tuition system', but I am not keen on these, as learning 'properly' is not difficult.

There are numerous teach-yourself tutor books, often with a demonstration CD. Lessons are certainly not essential at first, as the tutor books have explanatory diagrams.

Depends on the child, with the caveat that some wind or brass instruments are too big/heavy for youngsters, though plastic versions are becoming available and may even be used for exams. See j-flute and p-bone.

At that age I teach piano and violin but the latter requires very good coordination. The key thing is to find a teacher used to younger children, which may mean a Kodaly or Suzuki method specialist, someone who teaches Colourstrings, Stringbabies or an adapted piano method may be good. Recorder is a good and cheap place to start and the skills are really transferable to flute, clarinet, oboe or sax later on. Cello is marginally easier than violin or viola because the way you hold it is more natural and the movements less fine (bigger instrument). Penny whistle, fife or ukulele are good options for small folks and are still proper grown up instruments even if you don't use them in orchestra.

I came across to a couple of books which cover the choice of instrument pretty well
www.amazon.co.uk/Right-Instrument-Your-Child/dp/1409138127/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
www.amazon.co.uk/Raising-Amazing-Musician-child-music/dp/1860963935/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427538292&sr=1-1&keywords=raising+an+amazing

latter also covers all aspects of musical education in the UK, so if you are at the beginning of the journey it is worth reading it.

Dd1 started piano and violin at the young age and based on this experience I decided that ds2 will start violin at around your dc age, assuming he reads and counts well as I prefer classical education rather than Suzuki etc. And if it goes well, perhaps piano few years later.
Reasons are
-violin is pretty cheap instrument esp at the beginning (dd's first one was about 80 pounds, you can also buy used one on e-bay or in a charity shops for 30-40)
-it is a social instrument as there are number of school orchestras to participate, etc
-violin is small and easy to carry around (school, some parties, to a relatives house, etc)
-I personally think it is easier for a small child esp from sight reading point of view as only one key

Do you live near a music centre offering a beginner strings class? At the centre my dc attend children typically join the cello and violin group at this age. Personally I would wait a little before doing piano but plenty start this young and do well. I am a fan of recorder too and it's certainly a good instrument for a young child as it's so robust. Go for an aulos or the second cheapest yamaha if you opt for recorder.

My youngest pianist ever was 2yo... But I specialise in littlies. She's now three, loves it, but to be honest won't be reading music before she starts school in 2016 and has yet to develop the fine motor skills needed for real playing. I do pre-piano, which works well for us and suits the family, but it takes a long time to play "proper tunes" - reading from the stave won't happen until her fifth book. The family love the course, but they knew what to expect when she started. E will probably be playing hands together in reception, though, if she has the physical coordination by then.

Watching with interest as DD seems to love music, and I'm torn between encouraging it with lessons of some kind perhaps voice so she can actually hit the high notes that she tries for all the time and just leaving her to playing with the instruments we have lying about the flat a couple of drumsticks, her ukelele, a toy piano, and a tin whistle. And, of course, her voice and all the weird and wonderful sounds she can make it do.

Ukulele?

Here is a better book:
www.amazon.co.uk/Musical-Instruments-Children-Choosing-Paperbacks/dp/0600615715/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=12HMXNJ9QB5VCGAW0GY0

Looking at it from the other point of view, what is not suitable at her age, I would say not brass instruments, as children generally need at least their adult front teeth. Most woodwind would be too big, age 7 tends to be considered the earliest most teachers will start with flute or clarinet, and older for oboe/bassoon. There is a plastic clarinet in C designed for younger children but reeds are fiddly things and even 8 year olds tend to damage alot of them so I would not try with a younger child. Most percussion would be fine but is generally difficult to play alone ( not much music for solo tambourine)
So depending on whether you are looking at private lessons, school music groups, or something for her to experiment with at home, I would suggest: recorder/tin whistle/fife, xylophone/glockenspiel, piano/keyboard, violin, ukelele/guitar, drums or a harmonica.

CycleChic - How old is your DD? Younger than OP's child I assume, seeing as you mention 'toy' instruments.

My daughter is learning violin by the suzuki method and is loving it. The violin has the advantage that its possible to hire tiny violins. It is a matter of finding the right teacher and having realistic expectations.

Nope, same age- she'll be 6 in April. Why do you ask, is having toy instruments not normal at this age?

Five year olds can learn proper music with proper instruments. However progress is often slower than with older children. Dd has been learning the violin and she is half way through the first suzuki book. She is good about practice but her concentration does wane after ten minutes. She also gets tired and the violin starts to droop.

This five year old is amazing

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp0f_nFjjtM

My dad is only half way through book 1

Drafted ipad my dad can't play violin.

Options open to you at five are a string instrument, keyboard, recorder, ukulele possibly though the fine motor skills required may require perserverance!

Avoid wind instruments and brass they are not really suitable until their adult teeth come in.

As a musical specialist teacher, who worked professionally as a classical musican for ten years, having started in the cello age six, my absolute best advice would be for you to take your child to an orchestra concert to see what instruments they are drawn to, and contact your local music service and see what they offer. X

...and imperative to find a teacher who is experienced and able to teach children that young, not everyone is!!! X

At 5 i hint you either go Suzuki method ( violin or piano), or do what we did - emphasise the voice as an instrument and get them singing lots - in time and with a good sense of pitch temp and rhythm. You can even get thrm reading music and singing.

Thrn they can fly on an instrument at 7

DS swears that his brass teacher's two-year-old can play an octave on the trumpet.

His dentist isn't going to be happy, is he?

I think its vital that a child wants to learn an instrument rather than the parent wanting the child to learn an instrument. Dd heard Tamsin Little play the flight of the bumble bee at 18 months old. She pestered us for three years to learn the violin.

DS similarly went past a brass band at the age of 3 and his eyes went out on stalks. He begged for a trumpet or something equally noisy for years.

Don't want to offend, but by the time a child is three or four I think they should have access to PROPER instruments, piano, keyboard, drums, xylophone etc. Auto harp is great, but unfortunately expensive.

Even 'domestic percussion' with wooden spoons can be used to accompany ZingZillas.

ReallyTired the girl on youtube is good but not necessarily an outstanding talent, she is certainly musically able but only one of many musically able kids. However, I do agree that this video may look very impressive for someone who does not have a musical child :)

Recorder for the win, then. I still play yamahas, a £12 descant and a £24 treble. Not concert instruments but good enough for fun and playing proper music. When I was small I had a cheap yellow one and used to play it with the mouthpiece backwards....

I do not agree that children should decide what they want to play, they don't have experience and when it comes to the reality cheack you may find out that some instruments suit better to this particular child than the others. Sometimes they like something just because it looks nice or their friend's sibling is playing on it, or, my dd's friend started violin lesson because she liked all the attention my dd got for her playing violin - really ridiculous reason to choose an instrument, but here we go....

I decided for my dd on both instruments and though she prefers piano, it is dead clear that she is better at violin and comparing her with the able kids of the same age I would say she will never make a proper pianist. To be honest I would be very pragmatical about the choice of the first instrument - how quickly they can learn, can they do career out of it if child turns out to be really good, what if child doesn't like his/her musical lessons and I already spent a lot of money on instrument, etc. When they are a bit older and you can see their first results you can always change I suppose....

I won't teach unless the child is interested. But that doesn't mean hooked, just intrigued and up for trying. Otoh, parental choice is why I have 55 piano students to 6 violin students, even though I'm a fiddler. Just as well I forced myself through piano for eight years, since it pays for my daily bread! I enjoy teaching it and accompanying but not really playing piano. Organ or harpsichord, otoh...