Kids music lessons - (merged)

TediousPhoenix

When I was 9-10 I started to play the clarinet. It's a good instrument to start on.

I gave it up a few years later, though.

When I was at university I decided to play the guitar - no lessons, just bought a £120 acoustic and about 6-9 months later bought a nice electric. The best thing I ever did!

I can't think of many instruments where it's normal not to have lessons. Being 10 may be too young to learn on his own, however.

Gingernutmeg

Maybe you could ask your son what he'd like to learn lol. I don't mean to be sarcastic, but sometimes some children have a burning desire to learn a particular instrument and making them learn something else for reasons of economy can be a real waste of money - music lessons are horribly expensive and a good instrument is never cheap (but it is a good investment).

My partner is a concert-level pianist and that's one instrument I definitely wouldn't recommend lol! It's not portable, it's a lonely instrument in that there aren't the group opportunities that you get with other instruments, and you really do need a decent piano to learn on - the £150 ones you see in the local paper can do more harm than good Having said that though, my partner has never wanted to play anything else since the age of about 7. He can play guitar to a very high level but he doesn't love it in the same way as he loves his piano ...

docij

I understand why you need to consider price but before that stage, it's really important to think about which instrument is best for your son. There's no point going for the cheapest instrument/lessons only to find out that he really isn't suited to it.

My husband is a music teacher and one of our children is very musical but we relied on a brilliant book to help us decide which ones she should play.

'The right instrument for your child' looks at your child's temperament, physical attributes and learning style. From children we know, it has worked every time and saved both the parent and the child a lot of hassle and expense.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Right-Instrument-Your-Child/dp/0297850652/ref=sr_1_1/203-0732708-7443150?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184425456&sr=8-1

se999

Pick something they like the sound of and want to learn. Otherwise it's a waste of time and money.

They're unlikely to want to practise an instrument they don't like the sound of.

Aural exams are part of most exams, so at some point singing is useful, but lots of places don't have good singingi= teachers. Church choirs are taught normally by organists not singers. If they're really musical they'll need to pick up on the piano too, but if they're really musical it can come automatically :rolleyes:

whitewing

Thank you all for your comments so far. We've had a great time discussing your responses. We're not particularly looking for the cheapest way to do it - I thought it would be interesting to have some different views. We are so musically unaware that he hasn't really been exposed to that much, so has got no particular preference at the moment. My nan, who lives next door, has got a baby grand piano and I have wondered about getting him piano lessons except that I think he would not like the attention from everybody as he practises.
His music teacher is very keen for him to learn an instrument (as suggested in his school report). His music teacher is fabulous and very passionate about music but I am not sure that I will be able to get hold of him now that school has broken up. My son is very academic and a gifted mathematician (but not a billy-no-mates!)and has never been interested in art or music really. He has felt very comfortable with his music teacher and I just think it is worth encouraging him during the summer holidays while he is open to the idea.

wolfehouse

watch ongoing costs too
we've had 3 different instruments for 3 different girls.
trumpet- great to start- then different mouthpieces and mutes and oil but not too bad through the years. until dd got good enough to want a concert standard one about 8 years on. (still plays in band as an adult)
violin- different sizes as she grew, strings, chin support (she gave up after a few years)
flute- needs serviced every year with new pads etc. extortionate. (continued through band stage but not used now as a young adult)

i still would have let them do any instrument they had their hearts set on. the lessons were cheap through the school but the school taught only certain instruments.

bunty109

If your son isn't small for his age, what about the saxophone? It's fingering is the similar and/or same as the clarinet and flute should he ever wish to diversify and it's a great instrument at secondary school if they have wind bands etc. They aren't cheap but you can pick up starter models by Trevor James (good make) pretty reasonably.

modgit

whitewing wrote: »

. My son is very academic and a gifted mathematician (but not a billy-no-mates!).

SNAP!!

DS1 is similar, and he plays the Euphonium, he did start with the trumpet, but his mouth was too small!....... He's settled well with the instrument change, as someone said earlier, the valve instruments are easy to swap between. He has school lessons and with instrument hire we pay about £70 a term.

A friend of ours who is a musician just advised us to choose an instrument that would still be "cool" to play in his teens should he be good at it.

Oh, whatever you go with - buy some earplugs!!

loopylass

my son is 9 and for the past 2 terms he has been learning to play the violin
he really enjoyed it

the school was lucky and all year 4 children had a chance to play the violin and he bought it home to practice and had a lesson every week at school

he really wanted to carry on playing an instrument but sadly his middle school dont have any string instruments but i would contact the school as they might be able to help or find out where you can loan one from to see how they get on with it
Does anyone know if the sax is easy to play for a child as my son is now interested in that lol

buxtonrabbitgreen

catz1ct wrote: »

Has to be a guitar! They can begin playing a lovely classical guitar and then by the time they get to 16 can progress onto annoying the hell out of you with some heavily distorted electric guitar at silly volumes to impress their friends! Worked for me! :D

I agree. But my 2 got to the horrible electric distorted guitar stage this year at 13 and 14