PT 4: Music Academy West & East - Kids’ Musical Instruments
Kids’ Musical Instruments: Whether you go to a music academy west or east of the Mississippi, picking instruments for kids can be fun. What is the easiest instrument for a child to learn? Are you wondering what instrument should my child play? Or what age should a child play an instrument? Children should love the instrument they are learning.
My guess that the typical reason a young child (under school age) starts learning a musical instrument is because:
There is a local program for children on that instrument.
The parent knows that piano lessons teach all basics; and once a student learns piano, they can easily pick up any other instrument.
A parent has always wished they had played an instrument, so they are starting their child on it.
I would love to hear from a parent who specifically let a young child pick their own instrument to learn.
Love Your Axe
I have no personal experience with this, because I started my daughter on violin both because I always wished that I played violin and there was an established Suzuki program available near us. I started my son on the piano because, I wanted him to have “his own” instrument. I would be grateful for any feedback. Write to Becky@MusicTeacherGifts.com. I do know that if you love the instrument you play, you are more likely to feel joy when you pick it up to play. You will be more inspired to practice it. And you will love listening to music on that instrument.
Playing an instrument IS all about the practicing! When I first started peddling my new children’s book that is meant to inspire students to love their instruments and want to practice, I called some music stores to ask them to carry the book. The owner of one store in Michigan, said “We don’t carry books or gifts; but you know, practicing is what it’s all about. So I want to bring this up at our next staff meeting.” (Then the coronavirus hit, and I haven’t called them back yet.)
To answer the question posed in the introduction, “What age should a child start an instrument”, My children actually started at ages 3 and 4, but they were especially bright and mentally mature with amazing attention spans. I asked the violin teacher if age 3 was too young, and the teacher said, lets give it a try and see how she does. It went amazingly. Sometimes it might be great to wait until the child expresses an interest. You can take them to a lot of concerts to see if they want to pick an instrument to learn. When I was little, I wanted to play the piccolo, but I was told I had to start on the flute. There might be other cases where they need to start on a more kid friendly introductory instrument.
A lot of schools start young children on recorders or ukuleles. This can be a great introduction for kids. The instruments are small (kids sizes) for handling and for toting around. They are also cheap, if you want to teach a number of children together or if a child might quit to soon to be worth an investment.
