instrument choice

[HH]

I am a professional musician and I think, that piano should be a starting point of music education. Music is a language of multiple sounds and for ear training it is better then any one-voice instrument.
Also, for beginners is much easier to produce sound on piano and it does not require inborn musical talent.
Suzuki method doesn't teach kids to read music and they learning by muscle memory and speech memory (Do Re Mi etc) Later on they unable to read and trying memorize what they play.
Here some videos of kids learning piano from 3 year old and up:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/IL1hjrNCKAc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/IL1hjrNCKAc&rel=1</a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/KqDEnAY377Q&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/KqDEnAY377Q&rel=1</a>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/9y7MkE3pcmE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/9y7MkE3pcmE&rel=1</a>

[tatianna]

are you just advertising your program?

[DadDude]

Maybe the best choice is drums?

[EJEZMom]

I have learnt both piano and viola (relative of violin but much harder to play well) when young.

As the piano is my first instrument - I had lazy ears for the longest time but able to sight-read and interpret music, until I picked up the viola.  String instruments are difficult to play because they require accuracy when pressing on the fingerboard, the slightest misplacement can create horrendous noise!  You may say I had the best of both worlds, and in my opinion, to train the ear would be more important than learning to read notes.

My 4.5 year old daughter has been taking formal violin lessons for 1 year now.  She has yet to start playing twinkle twinkle (the most basic of all violin songs) as I am working on establishing good techniques such as bow handling, control, fingerboard, counting and a myriad of many other good habits - I truly believe that the violin is the most difficult instrument to master!  My 2.5 year old son has been fighting to get his 'airtime' on the violin and although he has only observed me teaching my daughter (the formal lessons are conducted under another teacher), he has managed to do some amazing things on the violin. 

I also let my kids have a go at the piano since they were babies, all in the name of musical exposure - which reminds me, maybe I need to find a slot on my daughter's schedule to put her in some formal piano-lessons.

The most important thing in learning a musical instrument, as DadDude and some other parents have alluded to, is a home environment where music-making is appreciated.  The methodology is important but interest and internal motivation is the key to success.  I play in an amateur orchestra and usually my kids tag along to my practices - which the other musicians will sometimes entertain by playing kid songs on their respective instruments - I think that's a wonderful introduction to classicial music.

SO, whichever instrument you choose for your child - make sure they enjoy it and create a supportive environment for them to continue enjoy music-making.

[tatianna]

karma to you EJEZMom for your great post
it was very helpful
could you write more about the system you use?
thanks so much

[joan]

EJEZMom, you have actually put things in perspective for me. My son (4 yrs) started violin for just over a month. I have been frustrated with getting him to practice. You sound so relaxed even though your daughter can't play the most basic song after 1 year (I don't think I would be so cool). I try very hard to make practice enjoyable but it's hard. Neither my husband or I play any instrument so it doesn't come naturally for us. How much does your daughter practice every day? My son really likes violin but hates to practice (as he is with most other things). How do you encourage self-motivation?

[Nikolett]

That isn't on this thread yet, but we are getting a 64cm guitar... We have a friend that recommended a simple book to follow for informal lessons. Don't know how it will turn out.

[Nikita]

I have just started Azaria in a music class for 1-2 year olds.  They have other age groups also. It goes for 45 minutes and the teacher does the classes in a big school music room so has access to all their instruments.  The babies jingle rattly bells, clunk wood sticks together, bang on drums and get an idea of different beats and loud and soft.  They use feather dusters to "dust dust dust".  Its all to train their ears.

I will also be starting her in a music playgroup, which focuses on instruments and songs and marching around, yet costs the same as a typical playgroup.

I also found a suzuki violin teacher who usually teaches from 3 years old onwards, but is happy to have Azaria sit in on her lessons at no cost for the rest of the year. That's so she gets the ear and familiarity up with it.  The smallest violin is now 1/64, but she recommends for littlies to use a home-made pretend violin, such as a little cardboard box with a ruler attached, and a stick for a bow.  To practice positioning the violin, which usually are too small under the ear so need a sponge fixed behind it to raise it up anyhow. To practise taking a bow (as you do at the end of a performance), and foot positioning (using a homemade cardboard drawing to stand on).

[Nikita]

The 9 year old older brother was having a suzuki violin lesson with his 2 younger siblings (they take it in turns), and after playing by ear for a while, he got out his book ("Volume 10" I think) and played reading normal complicated music...I think it was concerto 2... his 6 year old brother was on Book 1 level I think (though not using a book), and 4 year old sister was not on a book. Somewhere along the line they learn to read music.

[iLusion]

Suzuki lessons? THis is something new I learned from this topic.
THanks!

[EJEZMom]

Thanks Joan - I have less problems with motivating my girl as we are blessed to have a teacher who is very good with young children - the teacher herself has kids and grandchildren who are exceptionally gifted in music (one of them was my friend from school) - and she herself does not force the kids to be able to play the pieces well - in fact, the kids were only allowed to touch a real violin after practicing 4 months of pre-playing skills (eg bow hold, chin-holding the violin) on the pretend violin Nikita described.  Once a month, the teacher will show the kids musical notation and notes as an introduction to music-reading. So I guess having such a teacher made me feel kinda relaxed when my daughter has yet to be able to play a piece properly. (we just started learning the first line of 'Twinkle Twinkle' last Saturday!)

Tatianna: Suzuki method is quite useful for young children as their hearing is much more effective however, I understand that there is also the Kodaly method (which is more European based)? Good violin teachers will tailor their teaching methods according to the level and interest of the child - hence, don't fret too much about what method works best - the important thing is to find a good teacher who will inspire and motivate your child. 

My other tricks to get my child motivated is based on the principle of establishing a habit - for such young children, it's taken me nearly 1 year to get my girl to practice her violin without much cohercing/'motivating'.
1. We practice at nearly the same time everyday - routine!
2. When she does really well, she gets stickers as reward (the teacher gives us a weekly calendar on which we can place stickers/stamps on the days the child practices her violin).
3. Ad hoc rewards...
4. Asking her how she feels when she plays well - and get her motivated internally... (this is by far, the most effective way in the long-term)
5. We practice at my parents' place, in presence of grandparents, the motivation to 'perform' is greater.
6. The teacher has arranged for the kids to perform at a concert - my daughter has attended one last year (without performing), so she's really excited at the prospect of being able to play the violin on stage.
7. Videotape the practice and have immediate playback - only when my daughter chooses to play below her current abilities.

That said, it's not always smooth-sailing for us - my girl can play really sloppily and 'hijack' the practice session. That tests my patience +++++!!!!

Another tip: as my girl had trouble recognising numbers beyond 20, I've started to practice bow hold skills and to count to 100 with a number chart in front of her. Worked like a charm - she can recognise any number from 1-100 within 2 weeks.  My 2.5 year old son who joins in whatever we try to do can do that 50% of the time.

Last thing: as a parent, we also need to enjoy our violin lessons with our child - otherwise, it's difficult to convey the 'joy' of learning music to our kids.

[HH]

are you just advertising your program?

I am sharing my professional 30+ years experience as a PHD music educator

[Cristofori]

Hello all.   

I am the mother of two young children and have been a proponent of early learning since before I had my children.   I am also one of the creators of a DVD  entitled Trebellina which teaches young children (birth to age 4) about music, specifically, how to read music, pitch, and instrument names and sounds.

I  am going to make my debut in the Forum posting an answer to this question.

My husband and I both play piano and we own a piano so that is the instrument that we decided to teach our children. 

While a true piano is not scaled to the child as a violin can be, a child can have great success making beautiful sounds come from the piano right from the start.   That is much more difficult with a violin.  [While there are child-sized pianos but I find they sound cheap and tinny as do many small violins.]  The musical range offered by the piano is far greater than the violin and all but the very youngest babies can depress the keys.  While a piano itself can be a costly and space-consuming investment, a high quality keyboard is not.  We bought on on the Costco website for a very reasonable price.

While we can debate the merits of piano vs. violin for the young child, I hope we can all agree on the value of music for brain development and that teaching our children any instrument will be of great value to them.     

[KL]

Welcome, Teachthemyoung! 

[Nikita]

So does Trebellina have a website?  And can we buy it? (Hoping not in American dollars... the exchange rate is horrifying these days... I'm finding Singapore purchases most Affordable for an Australian, but American is just out of the question these days).

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