Orchestra instrument

[Pandadream]

DS is nearly 7, he has been playing piano for a few months and doing well. He’s good at singing and in school choir. He generally loves music. School has an orchestra what starts next academic year, I am keen for him to try, which means he need to learn a new orchestra instrument before he can join.

is there a “better” instrument for boys? Or any suggestions from experienced parents?

I’m hoping to avoid those very large instruments purely because the logistics but still open to them if there’s good reason / why they are good.

Lots of children don't think they want to play an instrument because they have no idea what it will be like and don't know if they will enjoy playing in a group - how can they know at this age

One of mine said they werent bothered about taking up an orchestral instrument. We encouraged them to give it a go anyway. Turns out they were a natural and now love playing in groups and 5 years on, are on a high grade and it's a big part of their life

Glad I kind of ignored them saying they weren't bothered really

And OP look at what's available in your local area. In some areas the local music service might have orchestras, in other areas you find lots of brass bands for eg.

The fun bit of playing an instrument is playing in a group so see what there is locally and what instruments would suit. If in your local area theres only string groups and you pick the tụba Its going to be hard to get involved.

You sometimes find there's a bit of a brass band tradition up north in old mine towns for eg.

As a flute player, I will just throw into the mix to consider the number of each instrument within an orchestra. Playing a violin or viola which there are tens of in a symphony orchestra as opposed to only two of gives a much greater opportunity for participation. Otherwise, playing on the the “rare breeds” (expensive and usually much larger holds greater opportunities as fewer people get the opportunity to play them.
However, the most important thing is that your child loves the sound of whatever they play, as they will be motivated to practise.

@Ubertomusicindeed, OP clearly not returning. Fairly rude after starting the thread and all of
us bothering to give input - a lot of it really helpful.

Woodwind presents physical challenges (brass even more) for a young learner.

I'd opt for percussion- it's more than just drums.

All instruments are hard to get right initially.

The harp is the instrument least likely to hurt your ears as he practices, but there's usually only one harp per orchestra so you have to be top notch to get a seat.

Percussion makes explorstion of all sorts of musical genres possible later in the musical career.

Ooh Mathanxiety, I would love the opportunity (and the money!) to learn to play the harp. Maybe in a future life…

@mathanxietyharp isn’t actually needed for a lot of orchestral repertoire - although it’s often included in 19th-century Romantic, Impressionist and modern works. It’s also an absolute ballache to lug around.

Dd plays the clarinet. She needed to wait until she got her adult front teeth before she could start

I played the tuba from age 10 and was playing trumpet and baritone horn before that

def. no restriction in practice to one hour for brass - I was doing more than that every night aged 15 for grade 8 - and at 13 in the NCO we did 5-6 hours a day…

above all take up the suggestion to see what instrument he likes

Trumpet. You can play in almost any ensemble with a trumpet.

Woodwind is easiest to pick up. Clarinets are cheap and you can get a C clarinet which is smaller and lighter. It used to be that you didn't start children on woodwind or brass instruments until they were ten years old because of lung capacity. The Lyons Clarinet helped change that. It also makes it easier to play with others.

But you had asked though, that's the point.

Came on to recommend the Right Instrument For Your Child book but see that it’s already been done!

If he likes singing and wants to make quick progress in an orchestra id definitely recommend brass, though it is much better to start brass with adult front teeth in. I mean, you can start before but no benefit at all as the teeth change the embouchure and there’s a chance that they might be suited to a different instrument once the adult teeth come in (though it’s relatively easy to switch between them). Common to move from trumpet to horn as it’s better to start horn a bit older (9/10+ vs 7/8).

@akkakk it’s undeniable that string players (and pianists) are able (and required) to do significantly more practice than wind and brass. At conservatoire the former do 6-8hrs per day; the latter 3-4. Ensemble rehearsals are different as obviously don’t involve constant playing. Though a beginner doesn’t need to worry about any of that - 15 mins/day is fine whatever the instrument.

Clarinet. Not too difficult to pick up. Fits into loads of scenarios- orchestral, jazz, solo….

Something he likes

DD definitely had a problem with chops a couple of times overpractising on brass.

I giggled. And then my brain went to a weird place so thanks for that mental image!

My brother is a musician and started on piano as many do. Then took up trombone and guitar and ukelele and a few others over the years. I’d say piano and trombone are his most used but he teaches music at a primary school and gets ukeleles for the class as it’s such a good size for kids.

I really think sticking with piano for a bit longer would be really great - my brother says it’s much easier to learn a new instrument after you have a decent understanding of your first.

Our school has super limited music places so my son tried out for everything and made it into the trombone group. He loves it though he’s still a bit small for it at 9. My brother was helping him and he couldn’t quite reach the whole way. My daughter started flute in high school and loves it - and really loves how portable it is as she has lessons each week. She’s not a musician though so isn’t aiming to be in the orchestra or anything, she just likes learning it and it’s really useful for her to understand music better (she’s a dancer)

Yes good point. Particularly for a pianist.