My daughter, age 10, plays the violin at around grade 5 level after a year of starting the instrument. She also plays the piano and has singing lessons. She has expressed an interest in learning the cello many times. I am wondering if it would be a good idea for her to learn another string instrument. She is mad about the violin so I am guessing that it would be her first instrument but she also sometimes gets concerned about how cello might affect her violin playing if she takes it up. I would like her to experience the joy of playing another instrument if she is keen on it (and, I do love the sound of cello ). I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on whether a player can only excel musically by focussing on one instrument- and if cello and violin might clash, and also how do people manage practise time with their kids when they play more than one instrument. She is in year 6 now so gets a lot of homework and as she is very bright academically, she doesn't want to compromise on her school work either (She is still young and time management isn't her strongest point yet resulting in constant nagging, juggling, and some tears on occassions when I lose my patience!)
Thanks

I was 10 when I started to play the violin, and I focussed on it completely for about 3 years before beginning keyboard lessons at which point my violin playing improved tremendously. In terms of time management, it wasn't too hard to fit in the practice for 2 instruments. I then started piano lessons as well, but after 6 months gave up keyboard lessons as I couldn't give all 3 the dedication each of them they required. A year or so ago I decided it was time just to focus on violin, and so gave up piano lessons. (Music wasn't my only interest, I also did linedancing, stage acting, and countless extra-curricular things at school.)

What I'm trying (but failing somewhat!) to say is that perhaps your daughter should be allowed to give it a go. If things become too much for her at some point she could always stop for a while and perhaps come back to the cello/violin once she had more time. I've recently started to teach myself the piano and viola and have found that time isn't always so much of an issue now, although at times I have to make myself just concentrate on violin for a month or so, depending on the amount of coursework/exams I have.

My mum used to nag me to practice too, and yes, there were tears on occasion, but in 4/5 years I think your daughter will see the benefits. Hope this helped even a tiny bit!

Aside from the time or commitment issues, I can assure you that your daughter learning to play the cello will not physically affect her violin playing. They are two very different instruments and providing she gets a good start on the cello, wavering technique on the violin should not be an issue. I took up the cello while at music college and until adult life commitments reduced my practice time, I played both instruments for about 14 years.

As for poor time management, regardless of age, aren't we all guilty of that on occasions?......

Thanks. I had a long chat with her violin teacher yesterday and he said that he wasn't totally against the idea and assured me that she is very musical, intelligent and technically assured (!) to cope with both violin and cello if she wants to do that. He suggested that he will make enquiries and we might have one consultation lesson withe the cello peri in her school to see if she actually likes playing the cello or not. Cellos are also expensive instruments so that is also a big consideration but hopefully we will be able to rent one out initially...

Now back to agonising over the crossword rather than doing any meaningful work...(time management is over-rated! )

Hi Flossy, this was the thread I remembered!

I was really interested to see that your violin playing had improved since getting a keyboard. It reminded me when you mentioned "tre corde" in the theory thread, because unless you know piano, the definition of "tre corde" means nothing to a clarinet player. I can see how knowing something about other instruments is helpful for theory, but I was wondering why keyboard was helpful for violin, and whether it would be helpful for learning other instruments (like a clarinet.... )?

Hi skylark! I wondered why you were venturing into Viva Strings! I'm going to answer from my own point of view, which might not correlate with what other people think, just so you know .

Firstly, it was a confidence booster. Because I could already read music and roughly new my way around the keys, I picked things up pretty quickly. Before then I hadn't realised that I'd really made any progress on the violin.

Secondly, it helped me in terms of tuning, understanding finger positions (why C# was close to D etc), and to become more rhythmically secure. I think some of these points could be relevant to most instruments (clarinet included )

Thanks Flossy I feel a bit like a cuckoo in the nest being in a strings thread, hope nobody minds!

Well, I for one welcome your company here . (There's also the fact that I occasionally venture very timidly into woodwind threads...)

Hear hear and so do I!

Hi skylark, stay here and we'll soon have you playing the viola. I don't find that my experience of the piano is particularly helpful for the viola except (and it's a big exception) that an understanding of theory is very helpful, and it's much easier to understand theory with a keyboard instrument because all the notes are logically laid out. I suppose it's also true that playing any instrument helps with learning any other instrument, simply because your fingers become more nimble and your hands more supple.

it was a while ago 'a mum' posted here, but this is my opinion:
I don't really know whether cello would affect violin playing - only playing one myself - but as far as school work goes, i'm in year 10 and try to manage to fit in at least 40mins of piano a night and 20 of cello. it is the cello which sometimes gets left out and i'm rather ashamed of that, but if i put my head to it and stopped spending time on abrsm forums etc then i'd manage it much easier! i took up cello in year 5ish and liked it. as far as practicing/motivation; my mum nagged me for ages in primary school but it's more recently that i've started practicing totally of my own accord and seeing it as a pleasure, not a chore.
hope this ramble helps a bit!

One of my old music teachers who was a violinist suggest to me that I should take up the violin as if in the future I suddenly decide I would like to be a string tutor most courses ask for you to play an upper and a lower string instrument (e.g. violin and cello) however she also told me that if I pursue it that I must treat both instruments differently and try not to 'assume' fingerings and positions as they are both different instruments. She also warned if I do do this I will have trouble when I get to later grades in the violin.

In the end I didn't pursue her suggestion and stayed with the 'cello however I do have a viola lying around which I may pursue sometime soon It all depends on whether I have the time to commit to it which currently looks quite bad