Musical Instruments for My Kids

[wuapinmon]

So, in a fit of insanity, I bought this for the boy for his birthday.



[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LILKSQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00"]Amazon.com: Ludwig Junior 5 Piece Drum Set with Cymbals (Blue): Musical Instruments@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XLSzvbM6L.@@AMEPARAM@@41XLSzvbM6L[/ame]



Maybe it was a mistake, or maybe I'm the coolest dad ever. Time will tell.

[old_gregg]

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CHEQ8wIwAQ

[Shaka]

So, in a fit of insanity, I bought this for the boy for his birthday.



Amazon.com: Ludwig Junior 5 Piece Drum Set with Cymbals (Blue): Musical Instruments



Maybe it was a mistake, or maybe I'm the coolest dad ever. Time will tell.

Freaking rad!

[Commando]

I imagine it's going to be about 2.3 seconds before you stuff a wadded up towel into that kick drum to dampen it, but that's pretty awesome. Save yourself your sanity and soundproof whatever room that set is in as best you can, too... glue some egg crate foam to refrigerator boxes to hang on the walls or whatever... and if all else fails, hide the sticks and make him play with brushes

[wuapinmon]

I've decided to surround them with musical instruments so that they can try and pick them up in their youth. We now have a piano, drums, a piece of crap guitar, a violin, a mandolin (a nice one), and a recorder. LOL.

My next purchase will be a bass guitar and an amp. He's been setting up "drum sets" in the kitchen for about two weeks now, making a racket, but showing that maybe he has some rhythm, so, I convinced my wife and my mom that it'd be a good idea. My wife consented, and my mom dropped the cash for half of this set.

I'm so excited to see his face.

[Moliere]

That's cool wuap. Good on you. Now to buy some earplugs.

[Shaka]

I've decided to surround them with musical instruments so that they can try and pick them up in their youth. We now have a piano, drums, a piece of crap guitar, a violin, a mandolin (a nice one), and a recorder. LOL.

My next purchase will be a bass guitar and an amp. He's been setting up "drum sets" in the kitchen for about two weeks now, making a racket, but showing that maybe he has some rhythm, so, I convinced my wife and my mom that it'd be a good idea. My wife consented, and my mom dropped the cash for half of this set.

I'm so excited to see his face.

Get him some lessons pronto.

[RobinFinderson]

Get him some lessons pronto.

Exactly. This and mandatory practice. Time to become a tiger dad on this point. I think it is the only way for kids to really learn to play an instrument, and the window of time when you can enforce mandatory practice is relatively small, so don't miss it.

We spend $40/week for LR's guitar lessons (one hour, by himself with an instructor). We require him to practice for forty minutes a day. He gets one day off each week. He can choose the day. We have been better at measuring this in the past, but we try to limit his television and video games time to be equal to (or less than) his total time guitar practice + homework + reading for pleasure.

Lessons are critical to learning how to really play an instrument.

[SteelBlue]

My oldest (18) learned to play drums playing "Rock Band". I had read that the game translated well to actual drumming and so I went out and bought him a kit for his 13th birthday. It's been one of the best decisions I've made. He's really, really good now and drumming seems to be one of the best outlets for teenage angst/rage that exists. I initially bought him mute pads (DDD told me about them), but he got good so fast that nobody minded hearing him pound away. I'm going to miss hearing him practice when he moves away.

I bought my younger boy (7) a very similar kit to the one you bought. His brother teaches him some basic beats and some fills and every now and then I hear him out in the garage putting some good stuff together. You're not crazy at all, you'll be glad you did it.

[Shaka]

Lessons are critical to learning how to really play an instrument.

Not necessarily true. I took piano for three years when I was a kid but I've had a grand total of three guitar lessons. While it's true that piano gave me a foundation I learned guitar mostly by ear along with some TAB charts. This helped develop my creative side which came in handy when I started doing studio work. It's one thing to be able to sit down and read a chart it's another thing entirely to come up with a decent part on the fly. Some of the better guitarists I know didn't take lessons.

Now, that's not to say lessons aren't a great way to go. In fact I'm going to be doing some jazz and improv studying under Rich Dixon this summer. For those that don't know Rich he and Mike Dowdle are THE studio guitarsts in Utah. Rich also teaches at Snow College. I've found that since I got away from playing in bands and studio stuff that my playing has gone stagnant. I figure this is a great way to jumpstart my chops as I do pre-production for an upcoming album in which I'll be involved.

[RobinFinderson]

Not necessarily true. I took piano for three years when I was a kid but I've had a grand total of three guitar lessons. While it's true that piano gave me a foundation I learned guitar mostly by ear along with some TAB charts. This helped develop my creative side which came in handy when I started doing studio work. It's one thing to be able to sit down and read a chart it's another thing entirely to come up with a decent part on the fly. Some of the better guitarists I know didn't take lessons.

Now, that's not to say lessons aren't a great way to go. In fact I'm going to be doing some jazz and improv studying under Rich Dixon this summer. For those that don't know Rich he and Mike Dowdle are THE studio guitarsts in Utah. Rich also teaches at Snow College. I've found that since I got away from playing in bands and studio stuff that my playing has gone stagnant. I figure this is a great way to jumpstart my chops as I do pre-production for an upcoming album in which I'll be involved.

Sure. Maybe the best way to think about it is to list the pros and cons of each approach (with vs without a teacher).

I simply think that the benefit of regular lessons and mandatory practice FAR outweigh the hope that a kid will show the kind of personal discipline and have the degree of motivation to learn an instrument on his/her own. My thinking is that virtually anyone can learn to play an instrument with decent degree of competency with regular lessons and practice, whereas only gifted/highly motivated/disciplined folks are going to reach the same level of competency on their own.

[SteelBlue]

Sure. Maybe the best way to think about it is to list the pros and cons of each approach (with vs without a teacher).

I simply think that the benefit of regular lessons and mandatory practice FAR outweigh the hope that a kid will show the kind of personal discipline and have the degree of motivation to learn an instrument on his/her own. My thinking is that virtually anyone can learn to play an instrument with decent degree of competency with regular lessons and practice, whereas only gifted/highly motivated/disciplined folks are going to reach the same level of competency on their own.

Most important may be instrument selection. Choosing the wrong one can result in a lot of cost and poor long term results. I played the violin beginning in the 3rd grade. My mother chose the instrument for me and I had a pretty good aptitude for it. They moved me in the direction of bluegrass fiddle and I did very well. Mandatory practice was just as you described from 3rd grade into HS. The results were good too. I placed 5th in Oregon's State Fiddle contest and qualified for Nationals in Idaho. I performed a lot and made decent scratch now and again. The problem? Even though I was good, I never much cared for the instrument. In my youth I never really liked the music I was playing.

The result was me quitting as soon as the choice was mine. This saddens my parents to this day (lots of money and time sunk). To their credit they changed the way they approached music with their younger kids and produced a stellar guitarist.

[wuapinmon]

Most important may be instrument selection. Choosing the wrong one can result in a lot of cost and poor long term results. I played the violin beginning in the 3rd grade. My mother chose the instrument for me and I had a pretty good aptitude for it. They moved me in the direction of bluegrass fiddle and I did very well. Mandatory practice was just as you described from 3rd grade into HS. The results were good too. I placed 5th in Oregon's State Fiddle contest and qualified for Nationals in Idaho. I performed a lot and made decent scratch now and again. The problem? Even though I was good, I never much cared for the instrument. In my youth I never really liked the music I was playing.

The result was me quitting as soon as the choice was mine. This saddens my parents to this day (lots of money and time sunk). To their credit they changed the way they approached music with their younger kids and produced a stellar guitarist.

So, can you play the mandolin?

[TripletDaddy]

My oldest (18) learned to play drums playing "Rock Band". I had read that the game translated well to actual drumming and so I went out and bought him a kit for his 13th birthday. It's been one of the best decisions I've made. He's really, really good now and drumming seems to be one of the best outlets for teenage angst/rage that exists. I initially bought him mute pads (DDD told me about them), but he got good so fast that nobody minded hearing him pound away. I'm going to miss hearing him practice when he moves away.

I bought my younger boy (7) a very similar kit to the one you bought. His brother teaches him some basic beats and some fills and every now and then I hear him out in the garage putting some good stuff together. You're not crazy at all, you'll be glad you did it.

wow, dude. that seems like years ago. I remember that thread back on CG. crazy that it turned into a passion for him. awesome.

[SteelBlue]

So, can you play the mandolin?

The fingering is the same, so I can have fun messing around on one. But using a pick and doing that rapid strumming is a skill I don't possess.

wow, dude. that seems like years ago. I remember that thread back on CG. crazy that it turned into a passion for him. awesome.

Yeah, I appreciated your advice. Fun to see a kid do what he loves and to do it well.