Music lessons

[Monkey]

What age is good to start learning to play a musical instrument? And what instrument is it good to start with? Hubby's suggesting the guitar... I am completely unmusical and haven't a clue.

My daughter is four and a half by the way.

Thank you in advance, Forumites!

[Pickle]

It really depends on the child. Personally I always recommend recorder as a starter instrument, as it's easy to get a decent sound from and is technically straight forward, meaning the child can concentrate on learning to read music without having to struggle with the instrument itself.

From recorder it's a relatively easy transition to other wind instruments.

Violin is another good option, although a lot trickier in terms of hand position and fingerings.

Guitar or ukulele are also possibilities, although to my mind a very different type of musical path through reading chords. Depends what the child wants to do really!

In terms of age, I started recorder at 6 or 7, self taught, followed by lessons for a couple of years, and moved to flute at 10. My 7 year old son started private recorder lessons at 5. My daughter (nearly 6) wants to play ukulele, which we will look into later this year.

The main thing at such a young age is that it's the child wanting to do it, rather than pushing them.

Hope that helps x

[JDR]

Also, in addition to sting and wind instruments there are keyboards as well. Again at a young age relatively simple playing methods and can concentrate on reading music and timings. Admittedly my daughter didn't start until age 8. Could probably have started from 6/7 but didn't show much interest and agree with Pickle that they need to be.

[Monkey]

Thank you both. That's all really helpful. I am going to give it a go. Agree with not pushing. she won't do anything she does not want anyway. I generally know where I stand!

[Medusa]

If you opt for the recorder, I have one you can have, along with books 1-3.

[redjam]

My daughter started learning guitar at 7 and I don't think she could have done it any earlier, both in terms of applying herself properly to practising and being able to manage the strings (it hurts the fingers to press down on the strings at first, even on a child-size guitar). I'd personally wait till that age before shelling out on proper lessons for any instrument, unless they're a musical prodigy - before that it's just nice for them to muck about and enjoy making a racket on whatever instrument is to hand before they get on the treadmill of daily practising.

A few years ago I took my daughter to an event organized by the Musician's Union where she got to try out loads of different instruments with proper teachers, for free (this was the day she decided she wanted to play guitar). It was fantastic - I even had a go at a French horn and a flute, never having even held either in my life before! I've just googled it and it looks like they've just had one this year but I'd recommend watching out for the next time they hold one of these Learn to Play days as it was really good: http://www.musiceducationuk.com/mu-benefits/

[Yak]

Agree piano / keyboard and recorder are both good entry level instruments. You can concentrate on making not too awful a noise/ hyperventilating while learning how to read music and to count. I think I started both aged about 4, then added guitar at 8 and then oboe aged 11. Guitar much younger than 7/8 means that you'll have to hire / buy lots of sizes as they grow, though perhaps there are hire schemes which cater for this now. I also bought a cheapy ukele for my 3 yr old son to play around with though I play it more than him:-)

Hope she enjoys whatever she choses to do.

[Bellenden Belle]

http://www.camberwellchoirschool.org.uk/

I've only attended the baby class here but it seems very well organised with good progression routes.

Might be worth giving them a ring to find out more.

[Coach Beth]

There are also classes for 4-7 year olds at the East Dulwich Academy for performing arts on Saturday morning running from 9-9:30 am. Instruments on offer include keyboards and ukelule. Find out more here: http://www.eastdulwichacademy.org/music/mini-maestros-2/

[nunheadmum]

If you want to try instruments, there are great sessions around the Funharmonics concerts at the Royal Festival Hall (Next is on Sat 11th May). You don't need to be going to the concert to join in. But before and after the concerts they have different rooms dotted around upstairs where the children get a chance, with one of the orchestra (or at least a proper child friendly musician) to try different orchestral instruments - everything from drums to bassoons to trumpets to violins etc. There can be queues but it's well worth it - and if you get there early you can often get in more easily. It's a great way to let the kids see and try real instruments close up. Obviously they won't necessarily be able to learn them immediately (e.g. 6 year olds don't really go with bassoons and double basses!) but it's great for inspiring them.

[MusicoSouth]

Hi

I'd agree with other comments on here about age-appropriate instruments. I'd say piano, violin or recorder are all good starter options for your daughter's age. My daughter started piano at 4.5 and is still playing at 10 and loving it. These three instruments are all manageable for her physically and piano and recorder are pretty easy to get nice sound out of quickly - violin takes more work initially but some young children do really well with it. She's a little young for guitar - it's a question of finger, hand and wrist strength, which, even with a smaller-sized instrument, doesn't really work till she's about 6/7 at the very earliest. And other wind or brass require more lung capacity than most 4 year olds have, so these are generally best started around 7/8 onwards, but recorder is an excellent introduction to wind. Cello would also be an option in a couple of years, and it's a beautiful instrument, lovely warm sound.

If you have a choice, I'd generally always go for piano as a first instrument, as it's a fantastic introduction to reading music and helping establish a really strong theoretical foundation which you can build on with other instruments. But I'd also definitely agree with other comments here that the most important thing is to go with her enthusiasm, so if she's showing an interest in any of those kinds of instruments, go with that.

If you decide to go ahead with lessons, I have lots of lovely local piano, violin and recorder teachers who are great with young beginners, and who'd love to teach her. I do a home consultation with prospective students and families before they start, so would be very happy to pop round to discuss options with you and her in more detail - give me a call or PM if you're interested and would like more info.

Wishing your daughter all the best for her exciting musical future!

Emma

musico south

0207 277 2759

[email protected]

[spanners45]

Hi EDFers,

I have a similar question to Monkeys above but it is specific to drums. My 4.5yr old has been saying for a while that he wants to play drums. He is fairly musical but I wonder if he is mostly attracted to the huge sound of the drum and not so much the idea of playing something if that makes sense. In any case, I thought I would look into this but haven't found anywhere locally where they can do drums at his age. Does anyone have any recommendations? I am not from a musical background so I don't even know if it is a good idea to start with drums as a first instrument.

Thank you all!

[scareyt]

Spanners they do lots of drumming at Whippersnappers classes - might be worth going along to see how he likes it?

We bought a cheap little keyboard for a 3rd birthday present that was great for just mucking about on and sounded surprisingly good (to someone who has no musical training at all!) called Farfisa. It was ?30 from Church's of Bond St and recently died but that was after being used and abused as a toy for a long time. Something similar might be a good starting point to see if little kids are going to be interested in learning.