For the Music Experts Here...

[mathmarm]

My 4yo niece would really like to learn an instrument and we would really like to sign her up for lessons this summer. Originally we wanted a Jazz instrument, but that's not an option in our area right now but I still think that music lessons would be a good experience for her and she is really keen on instruments right now.

 

Our options are Guitar, Piano and Violin.

We would take her and have her sized for whatever instrument is needed and we'd rather rent than buy an instrument at this stage.

Niece (and her mom) are game for anything so are there any suggestions for which one we should go for?

What do you look for in a music teacher for a young child?

What are the logistics of music lessons that I may be over looking?

[kirstenhill]

Guitar may be tough at that age.  Only recently has my 7 year old had the finger strength to properly press down the strings on his older sister's guitar (and this is a small sized guitar).   I see more little kids around here doing piano and violin, but I haven't had a lot of interest in paying for lessons starting at such a young age so I really haven't checked into it (Not that I think lessons at a young age are a bad idea...it's just with 4 kids I would be paying for too many lessons if I let them start when they are little.  It will happen eventually but I am sort of hoping DH's pay raises over the years help us to pay for that.. :lol: ).  At the shop where DD takes lessons, I DO see younger kids with Ukeleles though on a regular basis.  Maybe someone who could teach guitar could also teach Ukelele? I think many of the teachers at the shop where DD takes lessons teach both instruments.

[ljpisme]

I don't think you can go wrong with any of those instruments.  If it were me, though, I would have her start on piano.  That's a common one to start with and you will have a larger selection (I think) of teachers to choose from.  As for a teacher, I would choose one that has experience working with young children and one who shares your philosophies on what you want to accomplish out of the lessons. 

 

Some things to consider:

 

How much time do you expect/want her to spend on practicing?

Do you want lessons to be casual/fun (as might be the case with her young age) or very structured?

 

Keep in mind that any experienced teacher is going to have very specific ideas on how he/she wants to conduct the lessons. You will want to make sure they are a good match for what you want to accomplish.

 

Good luck!

[Gil]

I'm as far from being an expert in music as you can get. We went to our first music/singing lesson last night and the boys had a lot of fun. However, their teacher was telling me that they should take an instrument because voice lessons aren't the best thing for them given their ages--6 and 7.

 

He introduced them to his electronic piano and I think he's going to be using the piano as a platform to teach them about singing. The teacher said that piano is a prime choice for young kids. Here is a thread I made a while back, asking about a music education provided in home.

 

 

[Arcadia]

My sensory child has problems with the violin because of the chin rest and the shoulder rest.  He still likes his violin but he is more comfortable playing the piano. If you opt for the violin, get yourself and her mom some ear plugs.

 

Also guitar and violin you feel for the position on the strings from the beginning.  For piano you can still see the notes to start with even though once you are reading piano scores, you kind of feel for the notes too.

 

Guitar and violin you support the weight of the instrument though it is not heavy and posture has to be correct.  Piano, you concentrate only on posture.

 

There are Suzuki music classes for all three instruments you listed. I have no experience with the Suzuki method though.

 

ETA:

You do have to tune your violin or guitar every time you practice but you can do it yourself. Tuning the piano would be about once a year.

[LindaOz]

Either violin or piano would be good. I agree that she may be too young for guitar as yet due to finger strength. My *nearly* 4yo old has started violin and a little piano. She loves both.

 

Not all teachers will start children that young. You'll probably want to find a teacher who has experience with little ones and who understands that they have a shorter attention span.

[tabinfl]

Consider something like Musikgarten at that age. There is a lot that young children can learn about music while their physical & fine motor development might make an instrument like piano or violin difficult or frustrating (which may end up turning them off to music before they even get going). Rhythm & movement exercises, pitch relationships, even starting to read music, all presented as fun little games that don't demand a long attention span. Orff instruments are usually used in these programs & are great at that age.

 

A musician friend recommended the book "No H in Snake" ( http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004HHOSNW ), which has some good activities too, but most of them work best with a group.

[Roadrunner]

You need a good ear for violin. That's another factor to take into consideration.

[petepie2]

I think piano is the perfect first instrument, but then again I know young kids learn the play the violin, too. I can't imagine starting a 4 yr old on guitar, though.

[Guest mom2girls3]

I'm a long time lurker here, but this is my first official post.  I just wanted to chime in with a different opinion regarding guitar lessons for young children.  All three of my daughters love music and started music lessons using the suzuki method before they turned 5 years old.  My 13yo daughter plays piano, my 9yo plays violin and my 8yo plays classical guitar, so we have had experience with all of the instruments you are asking about.   What instrument works best for a child really depends a lot on their individual personality. 

 

Piano is probably the easiest to start on since it is always in tune and scales are easily visualised on it.  However with its capability of simultaneously playing multiple harmony and melody lines, it becomes quite challenging to play it well.  The violin has a much steeper learning curve at the beginning.  Just learning how to hold it correctly could easily take weeks. It is very much an aural instrument and does not have any frets, so correct intonation relies heavily on good ear training. There are fractional violins easily available in a wide variety of sizes.   

 

Classical guitar has been a wonderful first instrument for my youngest daughter.   Classical guitars have nylon strings which are easy on tender young fingers.  High quality fractional instruments can be obtained (Ruben Flores and Benjamin Garcia  are both good quality), although I definitely recommend having an instructor assist you in ordering the correct size.   Suzuki classical guitar instruction is not as common as violin and piano, but if you can find an instructor in your area it is a beautiful instrument and, like the piano, is capable of playing multiple melody and harmony lines simultaneously. 

 

To choose an instrument, I would recommend letting your niece listen to some quality recordings of each instrument (youtube has a wide variety).  She may surprise you with a strong preference for which sound she likes best.  In addition you may want to keep in mind that both violin and guitar are very social instruments often used in ensembles, while the piano is primarily a solo instrument.  Hope this was helpful.

[Donna]

Any of those instruments would be a good choice. Which does your niece prefer? Having a child invested in the instrument helps interest them in lessons and practice.

 

I have one who started with Suzuki violin and another who plays guitar (traditional, no Suzuki guitar in our area when he started).

 

With Suzuki violin, a good ear is trained and a lot will depend on how much time and effort is put into listening and practice. The parent is part of the learning and helps direct practice especially when the child is very young by coming up with games to make it fun. I have enjoyed many years practicing with my dd and the bond we share because of it.

 

I like the portability of those instruments (violin and guitar) and the social opportunities later with orchestras, ensembles, folk music, etc...

 

When looking for a good teacher, ask to observe a few lessons with young children and for a trial lesson for your niece. If possible (this time of year should be good for it), go watch their students in a recital and hear what they sound like and their technique while playing. Ask other musicians or music stores in your area for suggestions on teachers if you are able.

[basketcase]

There are far more advantages to starting the violin early than piano or guitar. I don't see major advantages in starting those until 6 or 7. The violin is perfectly suited to the Suzuki method (it was the original instrument for this method), and the position is so unnatural that making it instinctual from a young age has advantages later.

 

On piano and guitar both, music theory is an important part of the instrument, so I prefer to have the kids start a little later. That way their theory can grow along with their technical ability. And as a note, jazz musicians are typically classically trained as well, to improve technique. It's very common to begin with classical music and add jazz later. Most don't add jazz until about middle school, but you may find a teacher willing to start earlier.

 

I agree with others that the child's preferences should be taken into account! Also the parents' preferences. If mom doesn't enjoy listening to classical guitar, for instance, the instrument is not likely to be successful.

 

That's just my personal vote - in all music, if there's a passion, you should go for it!

[Dmmetler]

IIRC, your DD is the one who wishes to play saxophone eventually, right? If so, I might give the edge to piano and look for a teacher who will encourage transposition and awareness of chordal reading pretty early on, because sax players have to transpose by sight quite readily. The Faber piano adventures books teach reading from a lead sheet in book 2B, which is an important skill for a jazz musician.

 

Having said that, since she can't play the instrument she wants now, if you can find an Orff-based music class, that might be a better fit, and also be less expensive. 4-5 is a good age for a social music class, and Orff music is focused on improvisation from the outset. It would give her a foundation for playing the instruments she truly wants to play, but also let her explore NOW. Both Kindermusik and Musikgarten use a lot of Orff techniques in their preschool classes, and those can be an excellent fit. Kindermusik does a better job of bridging to wind instruments, because of it's use of recorder, Musikgarten far, far exceeds Kindermusik when it comes to bridging to piano. Like everything else, it depends more on the instructor than the name on the program.

 

Regardless of how she develops the skills, if she keeps her love for jazz and develops the musical skills to be able to express it, she'll be well ahead when she's physically big enough to make Saxophone a viable option.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mathmarm]

Thank you all so much for your replies and feedback, this is all very helpful as I don't know music at all. I will show all of your replies to Hubby and hopefully he--the music lover--will know more about you all are pointing out/talking about. I've also got to talk to my sister about it and see if she's developed a preference.

[duckens]

I am NOT a music expert.

 

BUT

 

Here is from our experience:

 

1) Piano was a good fit for us.  At age 4, it is very easy to just hit the keys.  We started at age 4.

2) Our keyboard was ~$100 from Target, but if I had it to do over, I'd go one step up to get a keyboard that registers loud (forte) and soft (piano) based on how hard you hit the keys.  So much of early piano with little kids is based on loud and soft, and I can only discuss it in theory with dd.  That said, we have definitely gotten our $100 worth  out of the keyboard.  It's still going strong.

3) Can Mom or Dad teach the piano lessons?  It's hard to justify $12+ for piano lessons for a child that young if you can do better yourself teaching beginner piano.  If Mom and Dad are musically uneducated, then pay the $12+ for Mom or Dad to take piano lessons, and come home to teach your own dc.  You will get your money's worth better out of an adult learning than a child of that age.

The other advantage of teaching your own children is that they will advance to the next song when you feel they are ready.  Some songs, dd practices for 2 days; some she practices for 2.5 weeks.  Do you want her to linger over a song for a whole week if she is ready for new material?

 

When we took lessons at the music center, I taught dd the next song in the book.  The teacher listened to dd play it competently, and assigned for her to play it again for the coming week.  She assigned and taught no other new songs. 

4) Be prepared to sit and practice daily with a child of that age.  In general, 4yos do NOT have the attention span to use their time wisely if you say, "Go practice your piano for 10 minutes."  My dd7 is still not independent enough to do this without help to focus her.  I've heard other parents say to not expect children under 10 practice without direction.

5) At practice, play the song so your child can "get the song into her head" before she is expected to play it.  At the end of our daily practice time, I also play the next song that she has not tackled yet.  This usually gives her a week or more of hearing it before she needs to put her fingers on the keyboard.

6) Games.  Many, many games.  The key to teaching piano at that age is many games.  If you can find a teacher that will take a student that young, find one that has a stash of musical games.

I have a list of musical games that I use with dd, but I've already failed to send it out to two people who have requested it.  (I'm sorry!  I got bogged down updating the list).  You can find piano games online by searching for them.  If I get my act together on my own list, I'll post it.

 

7) Pay for practice.  Dd started out getting paid 25c for her daily practice.  (There is NO allowance in our home.  All money is earned).   When she was taking lessons for $20/half-hour at the music center,  an extra $1.75/week was a small price to pay to ensure that she was going to get the most out of the lesson.

Disclaimer: Paying for musical practice is not the right choice for every family.  It's okay to say, "We're going to try this as a system, but it may not be permanent if Mom and Dad change our mind about whether this is a good thing for our family."