Which instrument for a 6 year old keen to learn?

[Enid]

dd1 is very keen to learn the piano or basically any musical instrument. She will be 6 in December. I have no idea which instrument would be a good one or whether 6 is too young for the piano - advice please?

never too young

do you have to have a piano at home?

Enid, I don't think 6 is too young for the piano, but you do need to have a piano she can practice on regularly.

IMO the best kind of music tuition (in theory - these groups exist very rarely in practice) is basic musicianship, in a small group (4 or 5 children). Covering things like singing, recognising higher or lower notes and moving on to intervals, clapping a rhythm, learning musical notation and note values, probably learning to play the recorder and keyboard (if piano not available). If your dd has some like-minded friends, and you've found a friendly music teacher, I would consider asking him/her if they'd be interested in running such a group.

hmmm I agree with you roisin, BUT the trouble is I think she would hate that. She doestn particularly enjoy doing things in groups and HATED baby music classes. I have just had a thought - I think her teacher teaches the piano so I will ask her about it.

I am going to ask mrs x tomorrow, we have room for a piano and I have always wanted to brush up my playing so if she enjoys it we may get one.

lol, both mine (and me) hated them, despite the dds having good singing voices and a real interest in music.

Bring her round to me, and I'll teach her the Cello.

6 is a good age too for any music.

isnt the cello massive also I'd be scared, I've seen Hilary and jackie you know

PMSL!!!!

(And you can get small cellos, 1/2 and 3/4 size etc)

we have been racking her brains as to what scholarship she could get to secondary school, unfortunately its never going to be academic

her teacher has commented on her singing

(in a good way I hasten to add)

Definitely not a stringed instrument - takes years of practice to sound even half good (my parents will testament to this fact having had to listen to me, they breathed a sigh of relief when I gave up).
The upside of piano playing is that it's always quite easy to locate a piano, instead of having to cart your instrument everywhere. Downside of learning piano is that it leaves you out of school orchestra activities (not always a bad thing )

Nothing wrong with stringies, you know.

My two boys (aged then 8 and 7) started with recorders - very cheap to buy, quite easy to learn, and we have a fun teaching book with a CD to play accompaniments so it is possible for their playing to sound quite good very quickly. They have recently started to learn the flute (ds1, now 9) and the violin (ds2) and, although it is early days, these instruments are obviously much harder which is good because it challenges them, but also bad because they are not making progress as quickly as they did with the recorders. You have to remember that young children need quick results to feel inspired to continue. Also, the flute and violin are expensive instruments to hire/buy/replace if they get broken whereas the recorder costs about £5 in ELC.

If you have a piano, that might be a good instrument to start with although, again, if requires left and right hand melodies to be put together which is obviously trickier than just playing one tune on the recorder. Also, a six years old's hands are quite small and might not be able to reach the notes very easily.

Sorry moozoboozo, I guess it depends on your musical talent to start with. I have none so was always a non-starter with the violin.

I'm not sure about that chonky- I would certainly only recommend a string instrument for children with a good sense of pitch, but it sounds as though Enid's dd has that. Ds was making nice-sounding music on his violin within a few months, I would say. It is critical to have a good ear though, I agree

I agree with the recommendations here- either piano or recorder would be good, I'd have thought.

(Total hijack- beety, there was a fab review for Calcot Manor in the Times yesterday, they've just won AA Hotel of the Year apparently).

Guitars come in small sizes, are VERY cheap and sound good (no whistling of wind instruments or screeching of strings)!

DS started at 6, as just turned 10 and loves it (but wants an electric one now!)