My 7 year old wants to learn an instrument- which one?

[Clawdeen]

DD has been keen to learn to play an Instrument for a while now and has recently increased her pleading for lessons.

I've asked her which instrument and her answer is 'piano, guitar, violin, cello'. !!! I've drummed into her about the need to practice and now she seems of an age where she comprehends this ( though I'm sure it'll be a point of tension).

Anyway, I am totally non- musical. Never had any lessons on any instrument so I really don't know how to advise her or support her.

Which instrument is good to start with? Obviously, the piano would be an expensive instrument to buy but she could practice on a friend's piano initially.

What do you recommend?

I agree about violin AllTheToastIsGone. It may sound bad if it is a tiny cheap violin but they are getting better with size and it does not mean that all children produce horrible sound. Saying that violin sound is a bit pitchy and takes time to get used to.

OP - music is NOT REALLY outside of the scope of a literate, numerate adult, who can also drive a car (demonstrating concentration and coordination!).

So a good digital piano is probably the best 'starter' instrument.

There are plenty of good tutor books, and some on-line tuition is OK (but not all). So an expensive teacher is not necessarily essential at first.

If you were to learn alongside her, you could give each other confidence, and discuss any difficulties.

A digital piano also has the ability to record via a computer or MIDI sequencer, can be played 'silently' via headphones, and to some extent, is 'future proofed' as new technologies can be absorbed as they become available.

Dd plays violin and ds viola. I agree, there is more "demand" for viola players (because there aren't as many, many beginners aren't aware of them) but can't say either was particularly awful, even in the early days. Violins start cheap, but the prices do rise exponentially for better quality interments. We've gone from 1/2 to 3/4 to full size, including dominant brand strings, for under £500 all in, with the added bonus of being able to restring and recycle the outgrown violins as violas for smaller ds. I suspect the next violin (if DD continues) won't leave much change from £1000.

Clawdeen, has your DD had the chance to have a proper go at any if those instruments?

I'm the parent of a guitarist (and I'm a guitarist myself albeit a fairly rubbish one ) but I would actually not recommend guitar at this age unless the child is absolutely set on it. It's an instrument that can easily be picked up later by a keen adolescent; unless you do classical (which is a rather solidarity and esoteric choice tbh) then a lot of music is not written in classical notation, which can inhibit general music development; and it's not an instrument particularly well-adapted to a small person's hand and body size (for eg barre chords - which are the basis of much jazz and contemporary music - require a certain hand size and strength to play properly).

That leaves either a string instrument or piano both of which benefit from starting young. I think the choice depends on a lot of factors including your tolerance for listening to horrible screeching noises! I reckon you get quicker initial results from the piano, but it's not an easy instrument (because of the two hands doing completely different things) and after the initial stages my impression is that progress is often quicker with a single-clef instrument. So your child's resistance to frustration is a factor to consider.

Don't think cost is an issue really as a decent digital piano can be had cheaply secondhand. Violins require a smaller initial outlay but you need to size up regularly which isn't true of piano.

"Solitary" not solidarity! Effing ipad autocorrect ;)

Very well said Mistigri!

I'd recommend NOT going for piano unless she is very musical and is planning to play at least 2 instruments. It is a really hard instrument, and most children give up after a while. And you can't play with others (or not for a very long time).
Only go for a stringed instrument if she is musical, with a good ear.
It's not true that violins are cheaper than brass - you can pick up a good beginner's trumpet second hand on ebay for around £100. If she plays violin, you'll have to buy 4 of them, as you have to replace them every couple of years as the child grows.
If she's not especially musical or dedicated, go for brass or wind.

A wind instrument is worth considering, if she's keen, although I'm not personally convinced that they are that much easier (except recorder and possibly flute and clarinet). My daughter has found saxophone surprisingly difficult - it can be hard work physically to produce a good sound especially for a small person.

ATEOTD it all depends why she wants to play and what she wants to get out of it. Orchestral instruments are fun for sociable kids. Piano's a bit solitary but probably opens the most doors in terms of future study (theory, other instruments). Guitar is a great choice for a child who is more interested in contemporary music and who likes singing. A brass or wind instrument opens doors for lots of ensemble playing, not necessarily just classical.

Is piano really that much harder? My dd has done a year of piano and a year of saxophone (having previously played recorder) and she has gone a lot further with piano in that time (better teacher too though so hard to make a direct comparison).

Piano is fine for a child with average-to-good literacy. I've had difficulties with some students who are poor readers (as in reading-reading) and in one case swapped to keyboard with one line of music and chord symbols.

(And why do people think strings only play classical?!?!?!!!!?)

My DS played the clarinet from age 7. The basic starter instruments aren't too expensive to purchase and you can hire them for a reasonable price. They do take some practice though so your little one will need to be keen to play. They sound lovely though and there's plenty of opportunities to play in various groups (classical, jazz).

On another note don't go with the oboe. My DD plays one and it cost thousands to purchase and I've just had a full service done on it for several hundreds of pounds. Why she couldn't play a recorder I will never know

The first year of piano is good fun. But it gets harder and harder. And not being able to play in ensembles is a huge negative to it. Great if she will become a serious musician, as people say. Saxaphone has the reputation of being very easy (sorry), but best suited to an older child. There is a book on how to choose an instrument for your child, which though not totally trustworthy is quite useful (by Atarah Bem Tovin (or something like that).

Oboe player will always get a gig tho roses.

DD plays clarinet and there are masses of them in all the groups she plays in. So much so that she is also in 2 clarinet choirs. No chance of her ever being lead clarinet. I don't know any oboists, but you still need 2 in an orchestra. Reeds are dear tho, aren't they!

Why everyone keeps saying that violins are expensive in a long term??? It is not important at all, what is important is how much OP should pay NOW, when child did not try her lessons yet and may drop after couple of months. As I already said above, dh bough second hand violin for £30 whoch dd is using for two years already. Once child is firmly established in her lessons and steadily progresses parents don't care that much anout the costs. I will need to buy next violin soon and whilst teacher reccomends another chip model but I want to buy more expensive one, just because I know that dd is established in her lessons and I know why I am paying for that. Same with piano, she started on keyboard but once she played for a while and we could see that she will last we bought a very good digital.
There is no point to consider cost of Stradivari violins now as OP's daughter may decide that violin is not for her, but for £30 pounds on ebay it is worth trying.
And btw, cost wise, I highly recommend Gligas, they virtually keep their full cost on a second hand market.

The price of oboe reeds is shocking clary It would help if she didn't keep losing them too. I'm sure I've spent the purchase price again on reeds over the last few years

Well it all depends on how much money you have. Just bear in mind that if your child starts a stringed instrument young you will buy (and have to try to sell) at least 4 instruments (if very young it will be 5 or 6). And for them to be nice to play you have to get them professionally set up, which costs money, and you will lose money on re-sale. They are harder to buy second hand, as you can't really rely on Ebay (I made that mistake), you need to be able to try them out. Buying second hand works ok with brass and wind IME.
More to the point perhaps, violins are hard to play. Many children (not all) sound awful for a long time. But there is a demand for them in amateur groups, as so many in an orchestra.

My thoughts as a teacher & musician:

• Piano is good because it's always going to be useful, whether she ends up having done a lot or a little of it. It's the instrument for composing at, for understanding theory through, for inputting music to computers etc. via MIDI keyboards, and so on. So say further down the line your DD has got to grade 5 piano and grade 5 clarinet, and then decides to drop the piano to specialise as a wind player, having a reasonable level of piano skills will still be something useful for the rest of her life, as a supporting skill to that. Whereas if she gets to grade 5 violin (say) and grade 5 saxophone, and needs to drop one to take the other to a high level, the one she drops will basically just be wasted.

• What people have said about piano being difficult because of learning to follow two parts at once is certainly true, and can make the early years more of a slog than with a single line instrument. OTOH this cuts two ways: Children who take it up young, and do manage to get through that slog, are better placed to reap the benefits later, whereas children who play a single line instrument for years and then take up the piano, often can't/won't get over the two-line issue because they're already used to making music fluently and it seems like too much hassle.

• I'm wary of suggesting children learn string instruments. It's really, really hard to get to even a good amateur level let alone a professional one, takes a huge amount of practice and then even if you do, tends to be largely limited to classical music settings. If your DD ends up wanting to play in bands and write songs for example then anything she's learnt about the piano or guitar is useful. Anything about the clarinet can be adapted to the saxophone. But experience on the violin or cello will be largely irrelevant. Not completely of course, but enough to have difficulty justifying the ridiculous number of hours it will have taken to get there.

I suspect strings might be one example where coming from a musical family really helps - starting young, having had loads of early ear training so you can manage the intonation, being exposed to classical music and wanting to do it etc.

• Wind and brass instruments are generally great for making a lot of progress quickly to the point where you can make an OK sound and enjoy playing in groups. And adaptable to different styles.

• Learning guitar, as in classical guitar with reading etc, is actually a lot harder than many people think in the early stages, and quite demanding on the coordination of young kids. But again a very useful skill if you can get to even a moderate level. Strumming chords can of course be taken up later, though it definitely helps to have made some headway around the instrument first.

I rented an instrument through Musical Instrument Hire Co - all very easy to use and they have a good range of orchestral instruments so covers all the obvious ones, eg, flute, violin etc. All very reasonable monthly amounts too. www.musicalinstrumenthireco.com

We moved school after infants to another that puts emphasis on music. I'm not sure DD had picked up a recorder prior to this, but they suggested trying singing lessons as a first step for parents that weren't convinced their child was able to carry a tune. Seemingly it just takes a bit of nurturing in many cases.

I reckon I made a racket on the violin for about 4 years (and it really used to hurt my collarbone- but there are probably better rests these days). Oboe was probably more hideous! I envied flautists and clarinets. DD chose the flute and that seems quite a cheap option ATM (but I think she seems to prefer jazz so might be pleading a few taster lessons in due course).

Music is such fun if you find a type/group that interests you.

Which digital pianos are good?

I think the Zombies are playing Danse Macabre.