Kids music lessons - (merged)

TediousPhoenix

loopylass wrote: »

Does anyone know if the sax is easy to play for a child as my son is now interested in that lol

I'm not an expert, but I'd probably say start with the clarinet and then move to the sax. They are similar and you can progress from one to the other with ease, but the clarinet is smaller and easier for a younger child.

Justie

whitewing wrote: »

My son is very academic and a gifted mathematician

In which case music should suit him - music and maths go very well together.

Savvy_Sue

whitewing wrote: »

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.

You may be able to get a message to him via the school: just because they've broken up doesn't mean no-one is working!

It may also be worth looking out for musical activities during the school holidays.

And loopylass, it may be worth getting a private violin teacher so your son can carry on. I made the mistake of waiting for the LEA to sort out a peripatetic violin teacher for DS2 when he said he was keen to learn: it took over a year from them to do so, and by that time he'd gone off the idea. He started, and so did DS3. When we moved DS2 didn't want to carry on, but I found a teacher privately for DS3 for a short while before he went off it too.

glenstan

My D.D. was one of the only girls in her year to play the trombone, she had started with the violin, became bored with it, then somehow managed to borrow a trombone , her lung capacity became so big from playing it she then became a trained opera singer. She then graduated to become a teacher of music . During the learning the whole family would go and support the local youth orchestra. Through the years before she went to uni, D.D. would have one private lesson a week, also once a fortnight, a lesson with the other brass players from the school band, this was given by the local education authority, parapetetic teacher. The original trombone belonged to ed. authority , as D.D. became more committed to the instrument, all birthday, xmas and pocket money was saved ,to enable her to buy her own treasured trombone. The orchestra would practice a couple of times a week, also several friends would get together and have improptu jam sessions at each others houses, this would entail putting a light supper on when it was her turn, because the youngsters came quite frequently, we came to know them all very well. D.D. was never bored once she learned to play a musical instrument, I would go so far as to say the whole family benefitted.

jrrowleyws

inkie wrote: »

If he were to learn brass, then the fingering is all the same, and so could then swap and chage to any 3-valved brass instrument.

Sorry, thats not true. Fingering is different. Only cornet and trumpet have the same as far as I know due to the same key.

My 3 valved horn didnt have the same fingering... and neither did my 4/5 valved one in any of its keys.

I would reccomend the French horn to learn. There's a shortage so teachers are willing to teach it well and you get loads of offers for bands and orchestras!

Sharifa_2

The fingering on a sax is similar to the recorder (I play tenor sax). They're quite heavy so if he wants to go down that route, I'd recommend the alto or soprano to start with.

bunty109

TediousPhoenix wrote: »

I'm not an expert, but I'd probably say start with the clarinet and then move to the sax. They are similar and you can progress from one to the other with ease, but the clarinet is smaller and easier for a younger child.

The sax is something you might progress onto as it is a large instrument so the clarinet would be good to start. Having said that, bigger year 6 students in my DD's school manage the sax - the alto would be fine.

diesel9181

i used to play the trumpet in the school band. both instrument and lessons were provided free by the school. the lessons (one to one tuition)were during school hours and the band practice was after school so it never cost my mum anything. it would be worth speaking to the school first before getting private lessons.

bunty109

diesel9181 wrote: »

i used to play the trumpet in the school band. both instrument and lessons were provided free by the school. the lessons (one to one tuition)were during school hours and the band practice was after school so it never cost my mum anything. it would be worth speaking to the school first before getting private lessons.

I don't think schools give free lessons anymore. My school certainly charges all parents and to be honest it works out the same price or even more expensive than paying privately. At secondary school some lessons are given free if the child is studying GCSE (at least at my local comp).

whitewing

Thank you all for your comments. We're going to try and get hold of son's music teacher and also have a look at the book that was recommended in one of the earlier posts to start.

Really like the idea of the clarinet, progressing onto the sax at the moment. Keep posting though, we're taking note of everything everyone says...