What is an appropriate age to interest a child into playing an instrument? And being a parent, how would one go about starting some instruction?
I do not have the money to send my kids to private lessons. So this question is geared towards the parent teaching their own childern. I'd like to teach them recorder or whistle and if they take a strong interest, then we could concider private teachings on other instruments.
Full Version: When To Teach A Child To Play?
QUOTE(releppes @ Jan 5 2006, 05:02 PM) 
What is an appropriate age to interest a child into playing an instrument? And being a parent, how would one go about starting some instruction?
I do not have the money to send my kids to private lessons. So this question is geared towards the parent teaching their own childern. I'd like to teach them recorder or whistle and if they take a strong interest, then we could concider private teachings on other instruments.
five years ago I got a aulos descant recorder and 2 learn the recorder books for christmas.
I did not have lessons till last year.
now I cant find anything I cant play.
so I was 9 when I started.
Maybe about they should start at around that age I do not know
I do not see how anybody can not like playing the recorder but if the child dose not want to play it do NOT make him
and go for recorder tin whistles are rubbish
Ben again.
I learnt the recorder when I was five, and the violin from 6. This was in the school music programme, pre-thatcher though, so a different kettle of fish from your situation, really.
My daughter, who is four has expressed an interest in learning singing, and is quite keen on my cheddar (cello, lol). I let her handle my instruments, and she has a go at blowing my trombone. She has a half size guitar which she strums along with me on. She also has a recorder, which she blows on when she's in the mood. She doesn't 'play' any of these things, nor do I really encourage her in the sense of trying to formally lead her into the notes of the instrument - I just respond to her interest.
I spoke to my singing teacher about her taking singing lessons. My teacher reckoned from about late fives on - but that it depended very much on their attention span, etc.
I know that learning the recorder as I was learning to read words was good for me, as it gave me a feel for reading music that has always stood me in good stead. It's as engrained in me as reading words.
My daughter, who is four has expressed an interest in learning singing, and is quite keen on my cheddar (cello, lol). I let her handle my instruments, and she has a go at blowing my trombone. She has a half size guitar which she strums along with me on. She also has a recorder, which she blows on when she's in the mood. She doesn't 'play' any of these things, nor do I really encourage her in the sense of trying to formally lead her into the notes of the instrument - I just respond to her interest.
I spoke to my singing teacher about her taking singing lessons. My teacher reckoned from about late fives on - but that it depended very much on their attention span, etc.
I know that learning the recorder as I was learning to read words was good for me, as it gave me a feel for reading music that has always stood me in good stead. It's as engrained in me as reading words.
Hello,
I think it's a good idea just to introduce a child to making sound.....in any way. Banging things, hitting things, singing. Parents I know who have instruments tend to leave them lying around (if they are not expensive), or just play and encourage the child to be aware of what it is they are doing. Sometimes it's just a case of letting a little one strum a guitar for a few seconds or to point out how loud or high or low sounding something is. It should just be play and fun. Having a keyboard or piano when possible is always a good thing, because the keys never move. When you hit a note it makes a sound and it is the same sound the next time you go back to it. In fact many string teachers insist on a year's piano teaching before they'll teach violin or piano etc. I would suggest 7 years old or thereabouts is O.K. for starting string lessons, although there are so many factors to take into account.
I'm afraid I don't know anything about wind or brass instruments which might be something you'll be considering if you're thinking of any instrument they might blow.
In an ideal world a child would be left to explore a room full of all instruments and to find one they are automatically taken by, whether its because of its shape, size or sound; and to pick up and put down at will.
Physique is something that really needs to be atken into consideration when eventually chosing an instrument too. If they don;t have the strength, height etc; it'll make playing some instruments a miserable experience.
If possible it would be a excellent idea to take your child to wherever music is being made; whether it's a grown up, child orientated short concert, or to stand in front of a street musician somewhere. Just introduce him/her to music wherever it might be and in whatever form it comes.
That's my two pence worth anyway.
best wishes
iona
I think it's a good idea just to introduce a child to making sound.....in any way. Banging things, hitting things, singing. Parents I know who have instruments tend to leave them lying around (if they are not expensive), or just play and encourage the child to be aware of what it is they are doing. Sometimes it's just a case of letting a little one strum a guitar for a few seconds or to point out how loud or high or low sounding something is. It should just be play and fun. Having a keyboard or piano when possible is always a good thing, because the keys never move. When you hit a note it makes a sound and it is the same sound the next time you go back to it. In fact many string teachers insist on a year's piano teaching before they'll teach violin or piano etc. I would suggest 7 years old or thereabouts is O.K. for starting string lessons, although there are so many factors to take into account.
I'm afraid I don't know anything about wind or brass instruments which might be something you'll be considering if you're thinking of any instrument they might blow.
In an ideal world a child would be left to explore a room full of all instruments and to find one they are automatically taken by, whether its because of its shape, size or sound; and to pick up and put down at will.
Physique is something that really needs to be atken into consideration when eventually chosing an instrument too. If they don;t have the strength, height etc; it'll make playing some instruments a miserable experience.
If possible it would be a excellent idea to take your child to wherever music is being made; whether it's a grown up, child orientated short concert, or to stand in front of a street musician somewhere. Just introduce him/her to music wherever it might be and in whatever form it comes.
That's my two pence worth anyway.
best wishes
iona
QUOTE
In an ideal world a child would be left to explore a room full of all instruments and to find one they are automatically taken by, whether its because of its shape, size or sound; and to pick up and put down at will.
Yip. That's more or less what I try to offer my daughter.
I think you're right about letting children see music being made too. My daughter came to my choir's last performance. It was adult oriented, and at night - really past her bedtime. But she was so excited by the feeling of the hall, and to see me up there singing. It was a really good experience for her. Of course, it only lasted about 20 minutes, and then she fell asleep on her dad's lap, but hey, that was alright too!
Sounds like I'm doing the right thing then. My daughter appears to have the same resonse reflected by others. I usually play the whistle or recorder while she plays with her toys. Occasionally she will come over and ask if she can try. She will take the instrument and a sheet a music and mimic what I'm doing. It's cute to watch, but I get a little frustrated if I try to show her a note or two. Just to give her the idea how to produce different tones. However, she would lose interest and then the moment would end. Sounds like I should just sit back and just let her explore on her own.
I disagree with the whistle comment on being "rubbish". But I suppose most people do start music on a recorder. I wonder why that is. I personally love the simplisity of the whistle. None of this half hole messing to reach the second octave. I figure that would be very appealing to kids. Being a diatonic instrument doesn't phase me much because there's so much music availible to learn on the whistle. Plus, I tend to favor folk dance tunes anyway. The learning experience is much easier when a catchy tune is in play. At least that's been my experience. However, the recorder does have a slightly nicer tone to it and it is capable of playing a much wider variaty of music. I like to play both, and when it comes time for my daughter to really want to learn how to play, I'll let her make the choice. As for myself, I like both instruments.
I think some people don't like the whistle because they tried playing one of those $5 variety whistles. They tend to have a very breathy tone to them. Some like that, however I don't. The sound you get from a $20-$40 whistle is very on par with that of a decent plastic recorder. I have a Dixon Soprano in D and the second octave is very clear and pure. Even a $12 Oak whistle is vastly better than a $5 Clark. However, once you get good at the whistle, you can pretty much sound good on any whistle. That's been my experience.
My first whistle was a $5 Clark. I bought it on a whim and was very disappointed. I sounded horrible. I then picked up a $12 Oak in a music store as was surpized at the clear pure tone I could get from such a cheap instrument. Better than the Yamaha YAS-24 recorder I was playing at the time. I then purchased my Dixon D whistle on the internet for about $20 and then didn't picked up my cheaper whistles for a long time. I played that Dixon all summer learning lots of tunes from the web. My breath control became much better and I was able to clearly play tunes through both octaves. I then picked up one of my old cheap whistles and was amazed that how good I sounded. There's less a difference when I play the same tune on all three whistles now, but when I started out, I couldn't even make a decent tone on the Clark. The Oak sounded better, but had problems with the second octave. The Dixon was a treat from the start (Dixon and Susato are very similar, but for the price I think the Susato is made better)
My live and learn was that when starting out, you must pick an instrument that will sound good from the start. If you don't, then you'll quickly lose interest because you'll sound so bad. However, after you get reasonibly good, the instrument plays less a roll. Maybe this only applies to cheap instruments like the whistle and recorder. For anyone starting (I mean an absolute beginner), I'd highly recommend sending the extra penny up front for a $20-$30 dollar recorder or whistle. In that range, you really get the best bang for the buck. The cheaper instruments just sound really bad and the more expensive instrument do sound better, but at a much greater cost. When starting out I don't think you'll notice the difference between a $100 recorder/whistle and a $30 recorder/whistle. But it's a big difference between a $30 recorder/whistle and a $5 recorder/whistle.
My only gripe with whistles are when you get into high quality whistles. The selection gets very narrow and the cost gets way to high.
I disagree with the whistle comment on being "rubbish". But I suppose most people do start music on a recorder. I wonder why that is. I personally love the simplisity of the whistle. None of this half hole messing to reach the second octave. I figure that would be very appealing to kids. Being a diatonic instrument doesn't phase me much because there's so much music availible to learn on the whistle. Plus, I tend to favor folk dance tunes anyway. The learning experience is much easier when a catchy tune is in play. At least that's been my experience. However, the recorder does have a slightly nicer tone to it and it is capable of playing a much wider variaty of music. I like to play both, and when it comes time for my daughter to really want to learn how to play, I'll let her make the choice. As for myself, I like both instruments.
I think some people don't like the whistle because they tried playing one of those $5 variety whistles. They tend to have a very breathy tone to them. Some like that, however I don't. The sound you get from a $20-$40 whistle is very on par with that of a decent plastic recorder. I have a Dixon Soprano in D and the second octave is very clear and pure. Even a $12 Oak whistle is vastly better than a $5 Clark. However, once you get good at the whistle, you can pretty much sound good on any whistle. That's been my experience.
My first whistle was a $5 Clark. I bought it on a whim and was very disappointed. I sounded horrible. I then picked up a $12 Oak in a music store as was surpized at the clear pure tone I could get from such a cheap instrument. Better than the Yamaha YAS-24 recorder I was playing at the time. I then purchased my Dixon D whistle on the internet for about $20 and then didn't picked up my cheaper whistles for a long time. I played that Dixon all summer learning lots of tunes from the web. My breath control became much better and I was able to clearly play tunes through both octaves. I then picked up one of my old cheap whistles and was amazed that how good I sounded. There's less a difference when I play the same tune on all three whistles now, but when I started out, I couldn't even make a decent tone on the Clark. The Oak sounded better, but had problems with the second octave. The Dixon was a treat from the start (Dixon and Susato are very similar, but for the price I think the Susato is made better)
My live and learn was that when starting out, you must pick an instrument that will sound good from the start. If you don't, then you'll quickly lose interest because you'll sound so bad. However, after you get reasonibly good, the instrument plays less a roll. Maybe this only applies to cheap instruments like the whistle and recorder. For anyone starting (I mean an absolute beginner), I'd highly recommend sending the extra penny up front for a $20-$30 dollar recorder or whistle. In that range, you really get the best bang for the buck. The cheaper instruments just sound really bad and the more expensive instrument do sound better, but at a much greater cost. When starting out I don't think you'll notice the difference between a $100 recorder/whistle and a $30 recorder/whistle. But it's a big difference between a $30 recorder/whistle and a $5 recorder/whistle.
My only gripe with whistles are when you get into high quality whistles. The selection gets very narrow and the cost gets way to high.
All instruments are valid surely...whether a whistle, a rattle or anything else. I love folk too and wish I could play it. I intend getting round to seeing what I can do with folk tunes on a 'cello one day ! A friend's daughter has recently taken up the violin with the express purpose of being a folk fiddler and is loving every minute of it.
All the best
Iona
All the best
Iona
Hello!
(I can't speak English very well because I'm not English.)
I started playing flute when I was 5 years old (Soprano, alto, tenor, bass&one other. Don't know what it means in English...->
).
When I was 11 I started learning to play oboe.
Since one year I play the piano, the clarinet, this thing->
and a little bit organ.
I was always interested in music and instruments. So my parents had no problem to interest me in it.
And as long as children aren't intrested in music and instruments from their own you can't do anything against it. You can ask them if they would like to learn an instrument. If they say no you should leave them alone.
You asked for a appropriate age to interest a child into playing an instrument, didn't you?
There is no-one who is too young to be interested in music. As parent you should support it already during the pregnancy. Listen often to the music, sing a lot, play instruments etc.(even experts say it helps) When the child is born you can sing with the child (perhaps children can't speak as a baby, but they try to imitate other people). When it is older (1, 2 years) you can give your child a little xylophone or rhythm-instruments like a
.
Later your child is used to the music(possibly this sentence is rubbish) and want to learn instruments.
Is it possible, that this text doesn't make sense?
Englischhorn
(I can't speak English very well because I'm not English.)
I started playing flute when I was 5 years old (Soprano, alto, tenor, bass&one other. Don't know what it means in English...->
).When I was 11 I started learning to play oboe.
Since one year I play the piano, the clarinet, this thing->
and a little bit organ.I was always interested in music and instruments. So my parents had no problem to interest me in it.
And as long as children aren't intrested in music and instruments from their own you can't do anything against it. You can ask them if they would like to learn an instrument. If they say no you should leave them alone.
You asked for a appropriate age to interest a child into playing an instrument, didn't you?
There is no-one who is too young to be interested in music. As parent you should support it already during the pregnancy. Listen often to the music, sing a lot, play instruments etc.(even experts say it helps) When the child is born you can sing with the child (perhaps children can't speak as a baby, but they try to imitate other people). When it is older (1, 2 years) you can give your child a little xylophone or rhythm-instruments like a
. Later your child is used to the music(possibly this sentence is rubbish) and want to learn instruments.
Is it possible, that this text doesn't make sense?
Englischhorn
Blockfloete - recorder in English. Sorry can't find the Umlauts etc. Querfloete - flute. And the Triangel is a triangle 
We waited until our kids asked to learn! Before that we sang to them (poor mites...) and played lots of kids' stuff on the piano for them. I'm not sure my playing was really that inspirational, though. Found myself playing "the Grand Old Duke of York" at my daughter's fourth birthday party, and hundreds of little girls marched up and down our stairs.
My son started piano at seven, and my daughter at nearly seven.
We waited until our kids asked to learn! Before that we sang to them (poor mites...) and played lots of kids' stuff on the piano for them. I'm not sure my playing was really that inspirational, though.
Found myself playing "the Grand Old Duke of York" at my daughter's fourth birthday party, and hundreds of little girls marched up and down our stairs.My son started piano at seven, and my daughter at nearly seven.
QUOTE
I'm not sure my playing was really that inspirational, though.
My daughter believes me to be a great musician because I can play baa baa black sheep... You'd be surprised how easy they are to inspire!
QUOTE(anacrusis @ Jan 9 2006, 06:49 PM)
Blockfloete - recorder in English. Sorry can't find the Umlauts etc. Querfloete - flute. And the Triangel is a triangle
We waited until our kids asked to learn! Before that we sang to them (poor mites...) and played lots of kids' stuff on the piano for them. I'm not sure my playing was really that inspirational, though.
Found myself playing "the Grand Old Duke of York" at my daughter's fourth birthday party, and hundreds of little girls marched up and down our stairs.My son started piano at seven, and my daughter at nearly seven.
Thank you (Is there another possibility to thank sb?(in other words))!
My English-teacher always called the recorder "flute"....I'll tell her these news.....
I haven't got children.....but I often keep an eye on my cousins......
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