ProudGrandma Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 My daughter who is 10 has been playing piano for 3 years, accordian for 1 year and now thinks she wants to play the flute. Do you think taking on another instrument is wise? She usually practices just fine, not overly, but enough. what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristinaBreece Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 I think that's manageable. Starting 3 at once (my thought when I read the title) would be ridiculous at that age. But I say if she's comfortable with her other 2, adding flute should be fine. Especially because it's in a different family. I would worry about adding flute if one of her others was a wind instrument, because I would think you'd want to really develop a strong embouchure before trying an instrument that would ask something else of your mouth. But in her case, it sounds ok. I would watch her to make sure she's not overwhelming herself, but if she seems to keep up with it, then good for her! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncmomo3 Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 All 3 of mine play multiple instruments and it has never been a problem. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Not only is it fine, it's what most college instrumental music majors do. As long as you're not dealing with multiple instruments at the beginning level at once, it's not a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 My daughter who is 10 has been playing piano for 3 years, accordian for 1 year and now thinks she wants to play the flute. Do you think taking on another instrument is wise? She usually practices just fine, not overly, but enough. what do you think? This is a tough one. I have a son who just turned 10, that started piano at 5. He's at a late intermediate level (playing early sonatas, etc). The problem I have is that when they start to reach higher levels, the practice time goes up. My 10 year old is practicing 45 minutes to an hour six days a week. If he wants to continue on this trajectory, he'll probably be at 1 1/2 to 2 hours in high school. At some point, progress will start to stall unless more time is invested. So, I guess you need to look at long term goals and how seriously or casually she's doing it. Does she consider piano her "main" instrument? Are you happy with her progress there? If you want to see a little more practice, you could set a stipulation for her maybe. Sounds fun though! My 6 year old violinist is already begging to learn flute. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyGirl Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 It is doable. I had piano lessons when I was young, picked up guitar at 12 and then added drums about a year later. I also played the trumpet in there briefly. It sounds like she is probably a natural musician and if she enjoys it then let her go for it. She may find that she likes one instrument better than the others, but I know for me it changes from time to time. I kept my skills up (to some degree) on most of the instruments on a rock band stage. I will play (almost) nothing but bass for a few years, then get sick of playing bass, have an opportunity to play keys and turn my focus to that. If you absolutely want her to stick to piano and accordian for several more years, then maybe the flute isn't a good idea. But if you want to just let her follow her interests, I don't think there's any harm in it. I have found that understanding how several different instruments work (and fit in various settings) has made me a better rounded musician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in AL Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 My dd plays piano, flute, and oboe and is doing well. She started with piano at 11 years old, added flute about two months later, and then after just over two years of those two she added oboe. I think your dd will be fine. My dd practices every day, but not tons and is progressing nicely in all three instruments. She may be progressing a bit slower than if she only had one instrument to practice, but it's not a biggie and her instructors have only good things to say about how she is doing. I say 'go for it'! :D I love the sound of the flute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 For those of you who did multiple instruments - can I ask a follow-up? Did you take weekly lessons for each instrument, or alternate? My dd's just started her second instrument. If she wants to stick with it, I'm thinking of biweekly lessons for both instruments (for cost reasons, if nothing else - ouch the price!) What say you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annlaura Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 For those of you who did multiple instruments - can I ask a follow-up? Did you take weekly lessons for each instrument, or alternate? My dd's just started her second instrument. If she wants to stick with it, I'm thinking of biweekly lessons for both instruments (for cost reasons, if nothing else - ouch the price!) What say you? When I started my 3rd instrument as a child, I actually was doing weekly lessons for the first 2 istruments, and twice weekly lessons for the third. ;) As a teacher, I'd say it depends on the child, and I'm hesitant to do biweekly lessons. It is hard to keep the focus and momentum for many children if lessons aren't frequent enough. But I have had students for whom it worked. It takes extra planning and clear expectations. As long as the teacher is ok with it, and your dd is fairly responsible, she should be fine imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KellyGirl Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 For those of you who did multiple instruments - can I ask a follow-up? Did you take weekly lessons for each instrument, or alternate? My dd's just started her second instrument. If she wants to stick with it, I'm thinking of biweekly lessons for both instruments (for cost reasons, if nothing else - ouch the price!) What say you? I was usually only doing lessons for one at a time - but had lessons for 2 at one point (trumpet at school, guitar privately) and it wasn't too bad. For drums and piano once I really got going, I had someone who was more like a mentor - he would give me something to work on and I would come back to him when I had mastered it and was ready for something new. I think that with biweekly lessons it takes a lot more discipline to stay up on your skills, but if she loves it that might not be a problem. The other thing is you might consider a few months of weekly lessons for the flute as learning a completely new kind of instrument may need a little more work. Piano and accordian are similar, woodwinds will be a whole new world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnitaMcC Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 My daughter who is 10 has been playing piano for 3 years, accordian for 1 year and now thinks she wants to play the flute. Do you think taking on another instrument is wise? She usually practices just fine, not overly, but enough. what do you think? Depends on student... My Dd plays guitar, drums, and piano. She also can play clarinet a little (did for 3 yrs in ps band). Dd self taught on guitar and drums until she started private lessons about 18 months ago. She started piano then too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnitaMcC Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 For those of you who did multiple instruments - can I ask a follow-up? Did you take weekly lessons for each instrument, or alternate? My dd's just started her second instrument. If she wants to stick with it, I'm thinking of biweekly lessons for both instruments (for cost reasons, if nothing else - ouch the price!) What say you? My Dd takes two private music lessons a week. Monday lesson she alternates between guitar and piano. Friday lesson is drums only. She plans to major in drums for college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 I think that with biweekly lessons it takes a lot more discipline to stay up on your skills, but if she loves it that might not be a problem. The other thing is you might consider a few months of weekly lessons for the flute as learning a completely new kind of instrument may need a little more work. Well, I already paid for the spring semester of piano, so that'll stay weekly through the fall. We're doing at least 4 weekly lessons of flute to get us started, it's after that I was wondering about biweekly for flute, and then going to biweekly for piano in fall as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 When I was a kid, starting at age 9, I learned to play 3 instruments within 4 years. At one point I was taking 3 private lessons a week. Some kids have such a knack for music (and I'm not saying I was one of those, though I did love to play and thought at one time I'd make it a career) that learning multiple instruments seems easy. For instance, my dd16 started on piano at 6, and has since learned hammered dulcimer, violin, guitar, and saxophone. The last three were almost completely self-taught. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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