With all these choices, how do I make a choice? Huh? Our goal with this page is to spare you all the academic nonsense the researchers blab about and try to get to the nitty gritty for you to help you choose the right instrument for your child to learn on.
Lesson #1
Instruments are gender neutral folks. Stereotypes stink! If you can play any instrument well, it doesn't matter if you're a girl or boy, young or old, tall or short - you're cool!!
Piano & Digital Keyboard
It's no wonder why the piano has been a favorite instrument for students of all ages to get started with music lessons. The orderly layout of black and white keys makes it the perfect vehicle for understanding all the music theory concepts. And the fact that even a 2 year old can walk up to a piano, press a key with their finger, and make the same beautiful sound a trained, concert pianist can, isn't too shabby either. Because of it's long tradition and popularity, there are an infinite amount of resources and repertoire at your disposal to learn from. There's no doubt that a student can have a lifelong relationship with music by choosing the piano to learn on.
Q: Should my child learn to play on an acoustic piano or a digital keyboard? A: It is natural for parents to hesitate on investing in an acoustic piano out of skepticism that their child won't stick with their lessons. After all, pianos are generally more expensive, take up more floor space in your home, and even need a visit from a piano tuner a couple times each year. Without getting too involved in technicalities here, nothing beats the feel, sound, and physical responsiveness of the hammers striking all those strings up under the lid. However, digital keyboards have unique features that make them quite appealing, too. Built in metronomes, programmed "play-along tunes", and hundreds of sounds are just a few noteworthy capabilities. Wanna sound like you're playing a church organ, just pull up the church organ preset. And just pop in some headphones if your brother and sister are getting sick of hearing you play "Chopstcks". The important things we recommend to our clients when they buy a digital keyboard are:
- At least 5 octaves of keys - there are 7 on a "full size" keyboard
- Weighted (aka "touch sensitive") keys - means they make a quiet sound when you play with a light touch, and loud when you strike the keys heavily
- Damper (aka "sustain") pedal - this foot accessory simulates the pedal on a piano that allows the notes to continue to ring long after a key has been released.
Guitar, Bass, and Ukulele
Ready to channel your inner rock star! Guitar is your instrument. Actually, that's a simplification of another really wonderful instrument to study. From Classical, to Folk, Blues, Jazz, Country, Pop and so many other styles of music, the guitar is ideal for ages 7 and up. Guitarists can learn to play with a pick or fingerstyle. They can get technical and learn advanced solo and rhythm playing or just learn the best ways to accompany themselves while they sing their favorite songs. The portability factor of the guitar allows their owners to break into song from the middle of a lake, to the top of a mountain and yes, folks, even in outer space.
Q: Should my child start out on nylon string acoustic, steel string acoustic or electric guitar? A: There has long been a debate about which style of guitar makes the best choice to learn on. We won't attempt to solve the debate here. Here are some of the pro's and con's of each instrument. You can always give us a call if you need more advice based around the needs of your particular child.
- Younger children and kids of smaller stature should consider a "Junior" size or 3/4 scale guitar to fit their body better.
- Ukulele makes a wonderful starter instrument for children under 7 who are enamored with the guitar but just to young to make clear sounds on a guitar.
- Nylon String Acoustic Guitars are commonly played without a pick. They have a more "mellow" and "warmer" tone than their steel string brethren. While the nylon strings are unquestionably more gentle on the fingers, the neck/fretboard of the guitar is wider and requires somewhat bigger hand stretches.
- Steel String Acoustic Guitars have a "brighter" and more "crisp" tone due to the metallic strings. Many kids new to the guitar complain about the pain the strings cause them - but this will not last long if they play regularly. In either case with acoustic guitars, the body is designed to amplify the sound. You'll never need to run a long extension chord out to the campfire to be heard.
- Electric Guitars, parents, provide and excellent incentive to your child to prove their commitment with the acoustic guitar first. And don't worry, everything they've already learned will carry over seamlessly since the instruments basically function the same. Electric guitars can still be practiced on acoustically, but in order to get all the cool sounds, an electric guitarists will need an amplifier to "rock the casbah"!
- Bass Guitar is kind of a different animal but great fun all it's own. The instrument typically has 4 much thicker steel strings and a much longer neck. Physically speaking, it is played in the same general manner that a guitar is (with fingers or a pick). But the bass serves such a different support role as a rhythm based instrument that the types of things you will play are completely different than the guitar. Don't let the 4 strings fool you either. There's a whole lot to keep yourself busy with on the bass.
Voice
For those of you who are ready to take singing into the hairbrush to the next level, studying with a voice instructor is a gratifying way to improve your child's pitch, diction, timing, breathing, stage presence, and general understanding about music. Whatever get's you excited to sing, we're "ready to rock the mic" - Broadway, Disney, Rock, Pop, Opera, Jazz, Blues - "you name it", are all forms of music our teachers specialize in. Although it is not required, students who combine their vocal instruction with a musical instrument have a major advantage. The ability to get immediate pitch reference feedback from a tuned instrument does make a difference. Fortunately, all of our voice teachers here at Flying Fingers are proficient with an accompanying instrument like piano or guitar. And if you're child has an interest in the theater department at school, you might want to be aware that the preferred acting roles are almost exclusively offered to children who are enrolled in private voice lessons.
Drums & Percussion
You get to hit stuff and make loud noises - what could be more awesome than that? Especially for our more energetic young peoples. It's fun and it's physical. Even better, the focus with drum lessons is largely aimed at rhythm, the primal force in nature and inside us. We spend our time mostly working on coordination amongst the limbs and studying patterns and sequences. Counting and tempo are also significant areas of concentration for beginning drum students.
Q: Should my child learn to play on a practice pad, snare drum, acoustic drum set, or an electric drum set? A: Practice pads are mainly used for that purpose - practicing. We study "rudiments" on practice pads. Those are just left and right hand "sticking patterns" a drum student repeats to refine their skills. A practice pad is a portable and quiet tool that might replace it's much louder counterpart, the snare drum (a la marching band). There are numerous other percussion instruments like hand drums, bongos, bells, djembes, congas, and cajons to name a few that are fun for children to explore rhythm with. While it's great for students to use these tools to launch their understanding of rhythm, the drum set is where all the coordination and ability to play fun "beats" comes in to play. Traditional acoustic drum sets have that classic sound and physical response to being struck by the sticks. Electric kits use rubber or mesh pads to simulate the physical response of an acoustic drum. The pads are located in the same configuration as an acoustic set. The player can even assign a variety of interesting sounds to the drums through a digital "brain" box attached to the kit. One of the biggest benefits of having your child learn on an electric drum set is that they can practice on into the night with headphones, not disrupting the rest of the house. Whereas with an acoustic drumset, you parents may want to invest in your own set of headphones.
Violin
For countless generations, the violin has been a popular instrument for children to study music on. It's compatibility with the smaller physical size of young students certainly plays a role in it's appeal. The violin also happens to be very high pitched, and produces a "singing-like" quality that also probably plays a part in attracting fellow "high-pitched" kiddos. Through the violin, a student will learn all about music though one of the most time-honored instruments. Bowing techniques, posture, pizzicato plucking, pitch control, double stops, and vibrato are just a few of the topics your child will get exposure to through their lessons. The violin can stand on it's own as a beautiful and melodic solo instrument. But, you will also find the violin serving an important role in small and larger ensembles. In fact, you may already have your child involved in his or her school orchestra and are looking for some extra wind in your child's sails through supplemental private lessons. Indeed, the one-on-one attention we can offer with a private instructor could be just what the doctor (or rather, the conductor) ordered to help your child move from that chair they put back near the curtain, and on up toward the prestigious "1st chair"... and we all know proud moms and dads can take far better pictures for the family album when our kids are out in front.
Wind Instruments
Woodwind or brass, recorder or harmonica, didgeridoo or kazoo - taking lessons on a wind instrument is gonna blow your mind! There are too many wind instruments to name here, but this family of musical instruments is not to be overlooked when learning about music. The pure and rich, breathy tones of "winds" are extensions of the singing-like quality of the human voice. Students learn how their instrument can function as part of a larger ensemble like a school orchestra or marching band. And they also get to know the solo melodic nature that say, a trumpet can deliver when in the hands of a Miles Davis, for example.
Q: My child joined band at school. But I noticed that she can only play the songs they learn in band at school. Why is that? A: Often, children are assigned an instrument to fill seats in their school orchestras - that's a good thing. Unfortunately though, the music directors are only capable of spending so much one-on-one time with any individual student from the larger group. This usually only provides enough instruction for the child to make it through the songs they are working on. In other words, being in the band at school is a wonderful exposure to performing music. But, there is nothing more important than getting private instruction in order for your child to really learn how to "play" their instrument.