Musical Instruments for My Kids

[old_gregg]

How often do you see that?

when someone posts it

[Copelius]

We're springing for paid bass, guitar, and piano lessons starting this week for the three bairn. No screens of any kind and no Legos until they practice. We'll see if this works.

That is how we roll. Practicing is part of chores and chores have to be done before the electronics or other toys are engaged.

All the kids are on the piano, courtesy of the free piano lessons by mom. They have been able to pick their instrument (we send to lessons) as soon as they have shown consistent practice habits on the piano. I have a violinist, drummer, guitarist, and soon to be flutist. Makes for a lot of noise in the house. Walled off half the garage for a studio when we bought the drums, which works well for the paying piano students.

Parent brag time: my 6th grader is the only 6th grader in his advanced middle school orchestra. He is also 1st chair. I'm pretty proud of him.

[falafel]

for some reason every time i see this it reminds me of stories about him:

Ha, that 's great. That kid does remind me of wuap's kid.

[BigFatMeanie]

If you want your children to play the piano reasonably well, or any other instrument for that matter, it all comes down to your will versus your kid's will. Maybe one in a million kids has the internal motivation and discipline to willingly practice. Scratch that, maybe one in 100 million. I've taught lessons for years and I can't count the number of times a stupid ignorant naive parent has said, "Oh, little Suzy wants to play the piano so badly I just know she'll practice all the time". Two weeks later and little Suzy is whining, then escalating to throwing tantrums, kicking and screaming, and otherwise doing anything she can to get out of practicing. Even 5 or 6 years later, when little Suzy has graduated from Bill Grogan's Goat to some of the early intermediate stuff - maybe some sonatinas by Clementi or whatever, it's still a battle.

Generally after about 9 or 10 years of forced practice, when they're about 16 years old or so, those with talent will probably be mature enough, and will have learned to enjoy the instrument enough, to practice voluntarily.

When a parent says, "Oh, little Johnny was doing so well but then he quit" I think to myself, "No, you as the parent quit. Your will was not strong enough, you didn't have enough discipline, to force little Johnny to keep going".

[Pelado]

If you want your children to play the piano reasonably well, or any other instrument for that matter, it all comes down to your will versus your kid's will. Maybe one in a million kids has the internal motivation and discipline to willingly practice. Scratch that, maybe one in 100 million. I've taught lessons for years and I can't count the number of times a stupid ignorant naive parent has said, "Oh, little Suzy wants to play the piano so badly I just know she'll practice all the time". Two weeks later and little Suzy is whining, then escalating to throwing tantrums, kicking and screaming, and otherwise doing anything she can to get out of practicing. Even 5 or 6 years later, when little Suzy has graduated from Bill Grogan's Goat to some of the early intermediate stuff - maybe some sonatinas by Clementi or whatever, it's still a battle.

Generally after about 9 or 10 years of forced practice, when they're about 16 years old or so, those with talent will probably be mature enough, and will have learned to enjoy the instrument enough, to practice voluntarily.

When a parent says, "Oh, little Johnny was doing so well but then he quit" I think to myself, "No, you as the parent quit. Your will was not strong enough, you didn't have enough discipline, to force little Johnny to keep going".

You're such a big meanie.

[creekster]

That is how we roll. Practicing is part of chores and chores have to be done before the electronics or other toys are engaged.

All the kids are on the piano, courtesy of the free piano lessons by mom. They have been able to pick their instrument (we send to lessons) as soon as they have shown consistent practice habits on the piano. I have a violinist, drummer, guitarist, and soon to be flutist. Makes for a lot of noise in the house. Walled off half the garage for a studio when we bought the drums, which works well for the paying piano students.

Parent brag time: my 6th grader is the only 6th grader in his advanced middle school orchestra. He is also 1st chair. I'm pretty proud of him.

This is pretty much what we did as well. Except for the garage studio part. Our house overflows with guitars and keys and basses and amps and horns and so forth. But we have always liked it. The practice stuff is hard and it is almost always a battle. Even with our most talented practice was a chore. But it has served them well, IMO.

[Shaka]

If you want your children to play the piano reasonably well, or any other instrument for that matter, it all comes down to your will versus your kid's will. Maybe one in a million kids has the internal motivation and discipline to willingly practice. Scratch that, maybe one in 100 million. I've taught lessons for years and I can't count the number of times a stupid ignorant naive parent has said, "Oh, little Suzy wants to play the piano so badly I just know she'll practice all the time". Two weeks later and little Suzy is whining, then escalating to throwing tantrums, kicking and screaming, and otherwise doing anything she can to get out of practicing. Even 5 or 6 years later, when little Suzy has graduated from Bill Grogan's Goat to some of the early intermediate stuff - maybe some sonatinas by Clementi or whatever, it's still a battle.

Generally after about 9 or 10 years of forced practice, when they're about 16 years old or so, those with talent will probably be mature enough, and will have learned to enjoy the instrument enough, to practice voluntarily.

When a parent says, "Oh, little Johnny was doing so well but then he quit" I think to myself, "No, you as the parent quit. Your will was not strong enough, you didn't have enough discipline, to force little Johnny to keep going".

JI'm cool with forcing piano lessons for a couple of years. I think it's good for kids and it gives them a good start on theory. However, I think two or three years is enough to know if a kid's heart is in it. I took piano for three years and hated every second of it. I wanted to play guitar which my parents fought. My passion eventually won out and I learned the instrument that captivated me. Practicing the guitar was never a problem because I enjoyed it.

[creekster]

JI'm cool with forcing piano lessons for a couple of years. I think it's good for kids and it gives them a good start on theory. However, I think two or three years is enough to know if a kid's heart is in it. I took piano for three years and hated every second of it. I wanted to play guitar which my parents fought. My passion eventually won out and I learned the instrument that captivated me. Practicing the guitar was never a problem because I enjoyed it.

There can be no hard and fast rule. Every kid is different. I agree piano is the easiest to learn theory on. I dont think two or three years is enough time for them to learn it. I always told my kids I would pay for lessons on any two instruments they wanted as long as one of the instruments was a piano.

[smokymountainrain]

My two oldest, despite being very gifted musically, hate(d) playing the piano and have no desire to play any other instruments. We fought with my now 16 year old everyday from the time she was about 7 to 11 and finally relented and let her stop at age 11. For all intents and purposes she can't play the piano today. My 14 year old son has been playing since he was 6 or 7, doesn't like it and doesn't practice very well, but the fight hasn't been too bad. He's tailing off and will probably stop here in the next few months.

My daughter's passion is dance and because she works hard at it, has enjoyed some success in competitions, etc; my son is a decent athlete, loves basketball and will probably play at the HS level, but ultimately they are mediocre in dance and basketball respectively. They have special natural ability musically but don't like it. Very frustrating.

My 7 year old, who is not very gifted musically, loves the piano and wants to start violin now. Go figure.

[TripletDaddy]

My two oldest, despite being very gifted musically, hate(d) playing the piano and have no desire to play any other instruments. We fought with my now 16 year old everyday from the time she was about 7 to 11 and finally relented and let her stop at age 11. For all intents and purposes she can't play the piano today. My 14 year old son has been playing since he was 6 or 7, doesn't like it and doesn't practice very well, but the fight hasn't been too bad. He's tailing off and will probably stop here in the next few months.

My daughter's passion is dance and because she works hard at it, has enjoyed some success in competitions, etc; my son is a decent athlete, loves basketball and will probably play at the HS level, but ultimately they are mediocre in dance and basketball respectively. They have special natural ability musically but don't like it. Very frustrating.

If this sort of rationalization makes you feel better about quitting on your kids, have at it.

[smokymountainrain]

If this sort of rationalization makes you feel better about quitting on your kids, have at it.

[Pelado]

So I finally bought a digital piano and want to get the kids started on lessons.

Also, I've heard there are a variety of good iPad apps for learning piano. Anyone have any suggestions?

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[Copelius]

I would find a qualified teacher. There is only so far a kid can get without a set of human eyes to make sure that technique is going right. Many times when my wife takes a student that has been with other teachers, she has to back them up a level in order to fix bad habits, faulty technique, lack of theory, etc.

[Pelado]

I would find a qualified teacher. There is only so far a kid can get without a set of human eyes to make sure that technique is going right. Many times when my wife takes a student that has been with other teachers, she has to back them up a level in order to fix bad habits, faulty technique, lack of theory, etc.

What should I look for in determining whether or not an instructor is qualified?

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[old_gregg]

What should I look for in determining whether or not an instructor is qualified?

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breast size, imo