05/28/2020
Music tip!
Your child is interested in playing an instrument, but you don't know which one?
I can't stress this enough: LET YOUR CHILD PICK. If they don't know what they want, you can help guide them (questions to ask at the end), but don't choose for them if you can help it. They will do much better if they enjoy what they're learning. And changing instruments is okay! There are a LOT of skills that carry over. Encourage your child to finish up the school year on their current instrument, and then they can change if they want.
I personally started on double bass for 3 years and then suddenly hated it. Moved on to voice shortly afterwards, but had I not had the bass training, I would have had to start singing basically from scratch. Bass gave me the fundamentals of music (rhythm, note reading, ensemble performance, hearing pitch) that helped me greatly with voice lessons. It was still a brand new instrument with its own learning curve but you'll be amazed what actually carries over from instruments that seem so opposite.
Questions to ask your child to help narrow down their choice:
- Who is their favourite musician? This can be anyone from The Beatles to Raffi. Then you can focus on the instruments in that style of music.
- Play two songs with different instruments and ask which one they like better.
- See if you can go to a music store and try out a couple instruments! (Post-pandemic)
- Look up videos of people playing different instruments and ask which one looks the most fun or sounds the best!
* If they end up wanting to play a string or wind instrument but it seems a little too complicated or large for their age/ability, it's reasonable to start them on ukulele or recorder with the promise that they can move "up" after a certain amount of progress or growth. I personally learned ukulele as an adult and it's one of my favourites!
