Middle schoolers and stringed instruments

[alisoncooks]

My girls (5th and 7th) have never played an instrument (we've never had the funds). DH plays guitar/bass, but it's never worked out for them to learn from him.

Both girls have expressed interest, and recently a local/affordable opportunity was made known to me.  Students can choose guitar, fiddle, banjo, or mandolin. Lessons are in a group for an 8-week session.

Based on the above, and your experiences, would you discourage any of the above choices? Obviously, if DD had her heart set on banjo...fine. But if she's ambivalent, I might steer her toward a more versatile (?) instrument. Youngest is saying "fiddle or guitar."

I'm completely ignorant re: stringed instruments so I'd love any thoughts!

[HomeAgain]

I would encourage them to go for whichever they like the music of and are willing to work hard at.  For my kid, banjo would be fun, but he doesn't like the sound enough to keep going with it.  His violin is currently doctored up to look like Guitar Hero, though, so that will probably be an instrument added in the future. ?

[alisoncooks]

Oldest DD says she likes that the banjo is unusual, but her musical interests lean toward rock/pop/rap. She wants an instrument that can be used in church praise band, maybe eventually. I don't know that banjo fits the above...(well, maybe praise band...but I've not seen much rap banjo, lol). ?

[HomeAgain]

1 hour ago, alisoncooks said:

Oldest DD says she likes that the banjo is unusual, but her musical interests lean toward rock/pop/rap. She wants an instrument that can be used in church praise band, maybe eventually. I don't know that banjo fits the above...(well, maybe praise band...but I've not seen much rap banjo, lol). ?

Taylor Swift is a country-crossover, but she plays banjo.  So did one of the guitarists in Matchbox 20.  I don't think it's quite as rare in pop as we think. ?  But maybe guitar would suit her better with an option to learn banjo later.

[SKL]

I would start with guitar, and see how they progress with that.  You can always add/switch to the other(s) later.  I think guitar is more versatile than banjo and mandolin, and much easier than fiddle.  Since you don't know their aptitude I would not start with fiddle.

[sweet2ndchance]

I would always err on the side of what makes the child excited and happy at this age. A child who is excited to learn is a child who is more likely to practice happily and they will learn more when they are happy and practicing willingly. 

If they have their heart set on an instrument and have done a little research and still have their heart set, then I would let them give it a go with the expectation that they must complete the 8 week session before switching or stopping.

More common instruments like violin, guitar and piano are always going to be easy to find lessons if they want them later. But if they have the chance to learn a less common instrument like banjo or mandolin, and they are excited about it, I would go for it.

Once they can read music, no matter what instrument they started on, it will be much easier to teach themselves another instrument if they want. I started band in 5th grade playing the flute. In 6th grade, I learned to play the piccolo as well. When I was in 9th grade, my sister started  playing the clarinet and I learned as well just playing through her beginner book with her. I taught myself piano just messing around with pianos throughout childhood and young adulthood. When my second oldest son took up violin, I taught myself from his beginner book in order to help him. All that to say, once you can read music, learning a new instrument is only half as hard as learning the first one.

[alisoncooks]

Thanks for the replies. 

I ended up having a nice chat with one of the volunteers that helps, and we've decided oldest DD will try mandolin and youngest will start with fiddle (but move to mandolin if she struggles with the bow). 

They are super excited! (I am too -- I'm hoping I can learn alongside them.)

[laundrycrisis]

If you haven’t purchased a mandolin yet, I suggest spending some time in the Facebook group called Mandolin Group, and don’t buy a super cheap mandolin. It is the nature of the instrument to be difficult to tune and that they need to be set up just right to play with a nice sound and not sound thuddy. Mandolins are great fun and very pleasant when they work well.  They are also simple because the string courses are tuned at the same interval apart from each other, unlike guitar or some banjos.  And with mandolin you can use fiddle/violin songbooks because the range is the same. 

Edited August 14, 2018 by laundrycrisis

[alisoncooks]

Thanks for that info!  The class they'll be taking actually provides instruments (on loan) which is why it's easy to switch later, if needed. 

My DH has a mandolin, but doesn't know how to play it. (It may be cheap, who knows. I'll look it up and see...)