Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion What musical instrument for my DS?

At this age, mainly listen to great singers. Preferably those with light, pure voices, so he doesn't try to force immature vocal chords into creating mature sounds. Formal voice lessons are not really essential until puberty (unless you're contemplating the VBC, or something). (Hm. Listening to the VBC might be good, though.) Especially for boys, who will have to re-learn just about everything except for breath control at that point. Actually, learning diaphragmatic breathing would have value, even for a young child. It improves tone and control very quickly, for both singing and speaking. Also has handy beneficial side-effects for asthmatics.

My DS plays clarinet in the High School Band. He started this in 5th grade, and played Viola the year before in 4th. They gave us the same line that many 4th graders aren't ready yet for a wind instrument.

I say let him choose. What every instrument he needs to want to do it or else it will be a chore.

Piano for our DS8- it's been wonderful for him and helps with the fidgets- he plays scales when he needs a homework break or needs to calm down.

cammom, music has the same effect on DD4 too.

Another vote for piano unless your DS is asking to learn a string instrument.

I definitely echo the sentiments about learning the piano for a really solid foundation. As someone who went to school for music, all of the piano majors found music theory to be a breeze. String majors had it second best, followed by wind majors. Almost all vocal majors I knew were in remedial theory.

Piano is a very good instrument to start with. The theory is good for a strong musical foundation. I know a few kids who dropped out of piano around age 10 and later breezed through their AP Music theory course in high school - they told me that their time spent learning piano was well worth it for them.
With piano, your child can begin playing a piece that sounds "reasonably" OK within a short period of time. And your child can stick with it lifelong if he so prefers or use the musical background to move on to another instrument later. It is easier to pick up another instrument later because of the strong musical foundation laid by piano.

Do you have room for a piano? if not choose the violin.

My son is very musical and chose (with a lot of urging from me, bc I love it) cello in his 4th/5th grade classes and then euphonium for 6th grade band. He is very small and somewhat uncoordinated--and we had huge issues (pun intended) with his being able to bring home these bulky instruments. We started thinking it would have been a better choice to play the piccolo...but then he'd probably lose it. He loves the deep sounds, and so do I, easier on the ear when they are beginners. But the size of those instruments has been a challenge, logistically.

Other things we considered were the types of music available in the community- if the band director is telling you the orchestra is strong, I think that is important, and might look more closely at orchestral instruments if you think your DS will want to play in school.

We also considered the versatility of various instruments- the string bass is great because one can play jazz as well as classical; the kids who play bass here have tons of opportunities and flexibility. To be honest, the competitiveness of violinists here can be quite off putting- many begin when they are toddlers and I think it would be hard to catch up; perhaps not an issue if one is happy being part of a large section.

Just a thought on winds- our school also "waits" to begin winds in fifth grade (funny, we started in third grade back in the day...). Both my kids began earlier on strings, learned a good foundation and very basic proficiency, and moved to winds when they got to fifth grade. They chose instruments they liked- hopefully your school gives some sort of presentation/tryout the instruments period? Our kids' choices ended up suiting them well. I will add, though, that if your kids get really into music, they are not wedded to any one choice. It is common here for the horn players to take up trumpet so they can more easily play in jazz ensembles, pep band, marching, etc.; bassoonists generally learn sax very easily for the same reasons. And as noted above, many if not most music kids play at least some piano. I do think the piano has a really different focus, though; while a few kids do play in jazz or other ensembles, it is generally a much more solitary instrument. So I think it really depends on your/your child's goals for learning an instrument.

And yes to singing- if your kids enjoys it, it's fun, versatile, and there are so many ways to take part. I would think your school has a chorus? If not, there are community choirs, and many churches with choir are welcoming.

Quick note: digital pianos are surprisingly good these days, and Costco frequently has seriously good deals on them.