What instrument? DD1 is 6 and needs to choose in the New Year...

[TheDuchessOfNorksBride]

That violin thread has reminded me that music lessons are looming for DD1 and I have no idea what to do. She hasn't expressed a preference, although she likes to have a go with any instrument she comes across.

Do you have to be reasonably academic to get music? DD1 is not a fluent reader of English, does that have any bearing on ability to read music?

What is relatively easy to learn? DD1 likes to 'know' and hates to 'learn' so the faster the results the better.

We do have a local music shop that rents as well as selling used & new. And we have a piano available.

Ds1 is 6 and enjoying piano and violin. Lots of his friends do violin or recorder. One is doing cello, and she likes that - dd wants to do cello. Is your dd tall/short/big hands? Piano is a good 'general purpose' instrument, violin you can always play in an orchestra, recorder you can get on quite quickly and (joy) play in a school recorder group!

electronic keyboard is very good idea as they can wear headphones to practice and you need not listen to them. Also helps them learn music notation and can be transferred to piano later.

I have a book that is called "The right instrument for your child". It tells you about which one would be better for her personality and when is the best time to start.

One of the important things for young children is their ability for writing. DS, as an example, was not a good candidate for piano lessons this year because his reading skills were not optimal and his writing was a bit worse (basically he lacks the control in his hands to feel confident with the keys). So instead of sending him to the ever popular piano class, I decided to keep it in "Musicianship" which allows for him to try different instruments and enjoy the process before getting into more formal learning. (he is 4 BTW)

I think you need a good teacher and you need to want to learn. I abandoned all my attempts to learn instruments fairly early on. So far my dd who's 9 is doing the same despite showing real musical flair whilst her brother, who's 7, has recently started guitar and is coming on in leaps and bounds. He loves it. He never needs to be nagged to get it out and practise.

I know some mums who force their kids to practise but I think it backfires.

I think violin is particularly hard and a bit soul destroying. Keyboard is very accessible and progress can be quick.

IME, if a child can read well it suggests they're ready to grasp reading music, but maths is also highly relevant to "getting" music. If you DD is more creative than academic she may have more difficulty with the theory side of things, but may really enjoy experimenting and making up her own music.

Piano is a terrific instrument to learn for starters. Obviously the notes are already there which helps a lot, but I should say that when you get further on it is one of, if not THE, most difficult instruments. Piano does involve learning to read two clefs so you may feel that would be a bit much for her at present. But of course many people play piano really well by ear, without reading music at all.

As a rule of thumb the string instruments are the hardest to get quick results on. Something like the flute or clarinet or a brass instrument, once she got the hang of the blowing technique, would probably be quicker to pick up. Oboe, I understand, is more difficult. Recorder is easy to learn, but boring as hell.

HTH

really good post, twink. recorder is boring.

I'll never believe anyone again if they say good post or lol.

Recorder is far from being boring once that you start playing Bach (with a good teacher within 6 months). Now... if you tell me about Mary had a little lamb.... well yes, it IS very boring!

Thanks all.

t/shell - she is very tall and has fists like hams. She's also a complete nutter so percussion might be appropriate.

I don't think stringed instruments would suit her at all. Am erring towards keyboard/piano or as a cop-out, the boring recorder.

Seriously, I think recorder could put her off quite quickly if she shows any sort of musical inclination. Any virtuoso recorderists (is that a word?) out there to prove me wrong?

Ah, I see someone already posted. The thing is, in school it's unlikely to be a good teacher don't you think. More like a generalist who teaches them to play by numbers. With a good early music specialist, well that's different.

I could go on for hours with my recorder when I was a child, but as I said, I was playing classical music, duets, etc. I did really enjoyed it, and most importantly, it made me realise that I could go as far as I wanted even without the input of the teacher. I stopped playing it in secondary school(mostly because new classmates were at the Mary had a little lamb stage and I found that unchalling) so I taught myself to play mandoline at that time instead.

If I had started with a very difficult instrument I may ended up like thousands of people who claim not to be musical. I think it is a matter of finding the right instrument and the right time.

So yes, learned to play the instruments but please don't start me about grammar...

DH did a music degree and his first instrument was the recorder .

I also really enjoyed playing the recorder at school; especially in the last year at primary school where there was a group of us (6 or 7) who played some quite complex music. Once you play more than just the descant, it gets more interesting.

DH is useless at maths as well (well, not quite useless, but not great and it didn't hamper his musical skills).

Oh yes, I'm crap at maths too, and curiously, my DexH whose research involves a lot of applied maths, is crap at music!

Clearly the exceptions that prove the rule (whatever the hell that means).

I'm starting to think you are the exception to the rule Twinkle . I have a cousin who is now a lecturer in music and she is also rubish at maths!

Don't do keyboard if she's got the option of piano!!! Piano is SO much better - much more versatile - you can play the keyboard with a piano technique, but not vice versa! And piano is much more useful long term! I can recommend a good book if you want one!

Recorder is great for teaching reading, as they don't need to worry too much about producing the notes.

I have definitely heard maths and music go together - probably musicology more than music per se. Take counterpoint for example, figured bass, serialism - I defy anyone who doesn't do maths to get those. And when I went to music college the first lecture we had was centred around the Fibonacci (sp?) series and the golden section.

What's the book please t/shell?

twinkle - our district council has a music scheme and specialist teachers come to the school one day a week (it's optional and costs about £60 per term). There is also a general music lesson with a permanent teacher (compulsory and free).

So there.

Renaisance music was linked to maths.

But in general, I would say that musicality is a skill that develops in the right side of the brain, while maths it's part of the left hemisphere. The great majority of people have a dominant hemisphere hence, rarely can be equally good at maths and music.