linp@mako.UUCP (Lin Padgham) (01/28/85)
I am the parent of a bright, almost three year old, and would like to start him having music lessons as early as is reasonable, but don't want to push it too early. My parents started my sister at age 4 and that certainly had good results. Does anyone have experience with this, and also is the piano the only reasonable instrument or has anybody tried anything else? We don't have a piano, and though I could get one, I would just as soon not, as we are likely to move house several times in the next few years and a more portable instrument would definitely have advantages. My mail address for replies is: ..tektronix!mako!linp or post to the net. Lin Padgham @ Tektronix, Wilsonville
3215rfs@hogpd.UUCP (R.SOYACK) (01/30/85)
My four year old son is taking Yamaha piano lessons, and he seems to enjoy them. Parents (one parent actually) are required to attend the lessons with the child, and the instructor advises that the child should practice no more than several minutes a day. We don't force our child to practice, but we do try to make a game of it and interest him in playing. As to using a piano, the lessons are given using (among other things) Yamaha keyboards. These are very easily moved. The lessons fun. I like them (father). My wife likes them (mother). And Johnny likes them (son--four years old). If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer them. Have fun, Rich Soyack 201-576 6065
preece@ccvaxa.UUCP (01/31/85)
> ... My parents started my sister at age 4 and that certainly had > good results. Does anyone have experience with this, and also is the > piano the only reasonable instrument or has anybody tried anything > else? --------- Violin and recorder are common instruments for small children. The violin can be down-sized to fit a child; a piano is pretty much limited to the size of a piano. Programs taught as Suzuki method are pretty wide spread. My daughter (age six) has been in Suzuki violin for two years. She oscillates between liking it and hating it. I intend to keep her going if at all possible, though she may switch to piano now that she's bigger. My three year old will probably start violin in the Fall (by which time I expect him to have turned into a four year old). The Suzuki teachers here have told us they really prefer four to three as a starting age -- the three year olds have a lot of trouble with concentration. scott preece ihnp4!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!preece
preece@ccvaxa.UUCP (01/31/85)
> the instructor advises that the child should practice no more > than several minutes a day. > We don't force our child to practice, but we do try to make a game of > it and interest him in playing. ---------- We do insist on our daughter practising, but we also do it with her, so that she doesn't get the idea that it's an iniquitous burden on her. In her particular case it has been quite clear that she enjoyed the lessons and the playing when she was making progress (most obviously by being allowed to learn new pieces). The progress goes hand in hand with practice. It's a weird sort of love/hate thing. The tedium of practice is tightly linked to the satisfaction of progress and making beautiful sounds. When practice is part of daily routine it's really not that much of a fight. She can hear the improvement she can make in a single session. It's the dragging away from television that's usually the fight. scott preece gould/csd-urbana ihnp4!uiucdcs!ccvaxa!preece
paul@wjvax.UUCP (Paul Summers) (01/31/85)
The Suzuki method for teaching stringed instruments might be what you are looking for. This is a method which was developed in Japan, and imported to the US in the 60's/70's. Typically, children are started at the age of 2-3, on down sized instruments (imagine a cello the size of a violin.) There may be a Suzuki school near you, or you might be able to find one through the public school's music department or a local university that has a music department. Also, sending up a flag in net.music or your local news groups might be advisable. For beginners, classes are taught in groups of 5-10 students. They are encouraged to "play games" with their instruments, get them to make sounds and generally become familiar with holding them properly. Of course, practise at home is also necessary, and parent participation is strongly encouraged. Has anyone else out there in net.land heard anything about this recently? I've been out of the "music scene" for about 10 years, so I'm not up on the latest. I'd like to hear if anyone else knows more about this, so's when the wife & I start thinking about FAMILY, we'll have some leads to follow. -- <*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> Paul Summers Watkins Johnson, Co. 2525 N. First St. San Jose, Ca. 95131-1097 (408) 262-1411 x3203 (...wjvax!paul) Working is fine, but I wouldn't want to make a career out of it.
sidney@linus.UUCP (Sidney Markowitz) (02/01/85)
This is in response to the request for info on music lessons for young kids:
My daughter began violin lessons using the Suzuki Method, at age 5.
Here's what I know about it:
The Suzuki method is being applied to the teaching of piano, violin and
cello. Typically, children begin lessons at the age of 3 in Japan and at 4
in the United States. I was told that the child can begin as soon as (s)he
demonstrates a sufficient attention span for the lessons and practice. The
difference in the most common starting age reflects some cultural
differences between here and Japan in the matter of discipline and
socialization (Or so I've been told - feel free to take that with a grain of
salt.) The school where my daughter took lessons said that they would start
kids on the Suzuki method up to age 8. There were older kids there who had
been studying for some years.
Suzuki emphasizes training the sensitivity of the child to sound, tonal
quality, nuance. Children begin almost immediately playing simple tunes, in
contrast to scales and similar drills. Even before the child starts lessons,
the parent initiates the regular playing of a recording of the Suzuki
lessons. By the time the child starts to learn how to play, there is already
deeply reinforced the memory of how the songs are supposed to sound. You
don't sit the kid down and say "Listen to this record." It simply is
something that is played in the background every day, or that is listened to
the way other music is. Another benefit that I saw was the delight my
daughter demonstrated when she heard the familiar songs coming from her
teachers, and then her own, violin.
With violin and cello, students go through a series of sizes of instruments.
We rented a quarter-sized student violin from a store that the school
recommended. The idea is that the relative size of the instrument stays more
constant as the child grows.
There was one private lesson and one group lesson per week. Lessons were
about 45 minutes long. A parent is expected to participate in regular
practice, also. I found it a good way to learn a little bit of violin
myself, although that is not strictly necessary. I'm sure you could find
more details about the Suzuki method from a school or teacher. If you have
any difficulty finding one, I'm sure I can get a reference for any
particular part of the country through the school here.
My experiences with music lessons: We chose violin over piano mainly because
of the expense of getting a piano for practice. We dropped the lessons after
about 6 months, because Saana did not want to practice and eventually did
not want to go to classes without having practiced. To put this in
perspective, she was also taking ballet lessons and was very enthusiastic
about that. Her best friend at the music school had dropped ballet lessons
and was enthusiastic about violin in an analogous fashion. So the moral
there is that the interests of the child will be important. However, I can
think of several things that might have led to her being more successful
with the music lessons: First, if we had begun the lessons earlier, at age
4, I think she would have more readily acepted a regular schedule of
practice as being play instead of work. Also, I think I was a bit too much
of a perfectionist during practice sessions, not realizing that it wasn't up
to me to teach her the right way of playing the violin, that was the
teacher's job during the lessons. It would have been better for me to have
the role of scheduler and appreciative audience. Finally, it was a mistake
to expect her to practice after coming home from after-school daycare. Those
were long days for a 5 year old with two parents working full time. Of
course, all that would have been irrelevant if playing music occupied the
same place in her life as dance does.
Saana is now learning to play recorder, as her school starts all children in
that in first grade. It is a much less intensive experience than violin was,
and she is taking well to it. The school makes other instruments available
to the children in third or fourth grade. So music is still part of her
life, reminding me that there are always alternative ways when raising a
child.
I hope this helps those of you who are thinking of providing music lessons
for your child.
--
Sidney Markowitz
ARPA: sidney@mit-mc
UUCP: ...{decvax,utzoo,philabs,security,allegra,genrad}!linus!sidneysgcpal@watdcsu.UUCP (SG Chamberlain - El Eng) (02/02/85)
My wife and I are expecting our first child later this year and
we have already decided that he or she will start on the piano
at about age three. I might point out that my wife teaches violin,
piano and voice, and she started her training at this age.
Her general opinion is that lessons can begin as soon as the child
has an attention span that is as long as the lesson, typically
20 or 30 minutes.
Why the piano? First of all it is one of the few instruments that
requires fine coordination in all ten fingers and the sooner this
is developed the better. Secondly, to advance beyond a recreational
level in any other instrument, a knowledge of the piano is required
for the study of harmony, history and composition. Thirdly, it is
an instrument that will likely be played in adulthood should music
become only a recreation. (Have you ever heard a trumpet played by
someone that studied it "as a kid").
At the age of 5 or so, we then plan to introduce the child to another
instrument. Perhaps the violin or cello, while maintaining the piano.
In the future, should the child decide to drop the piano, and continue
only with this new instrument, the fine coordination and music reading
skills developed during the piano lessons will still be of benefit.
To go the other way would be much more difficult, as the piano has 4 voices
while most other instruments have only 1 (usually).
I told my wife about some of the responses to your posting,
here are her comments.
Group lessons? No way. She feels that individual attention is required
especially in the beginning when bad habits develope quickly and can go
unnoticed in a group situation. Private lessons can usually be found
for nearly the same cost anyway.
S----- Violin Lessons? She has several students that started this way
and has told me that a year or two of these lessons, from her point of
view, is worse than no lessons at all. Bad habbits like playing
by ear are difficult to correct. Kids know what Three Blind Mice sounds
like but its unlikely they have heard many violin sonata's.
Minature Electronic Keyboards? See group lessons, as this is where
they are usually found. Besides a piano won't depretiate if its
properly maintained.
Our recomendations on finding a good teacher would be as follows:
(1) Check with your friends and find out about their child's teacher.
(2) Attend a local music festival and find out who taught some of the
children that you heard.
(3) Sit in on a few of the lessons to see if your paying for music
lessons or a baby sitter.
(4) Beware of music stores that also offer lessons. They have
been known to use teachers that can't make it by themselves.
And in our area they are usually much more expensive than those
taught in someones home.
(The above opinions are those of the author and may not be a reflection
of the position of the University of Waterloo, or anyone else for that
matter.)steve@zinfandel.UUCP (02/06/85)
Might a portable electronic keyboard system be a substitute for a piano for young children learning to play, especially where portability is an issue? My 8-month old daughter plays with my $40 casio keyboard/calculator and begins to learn the cause and effect of touching a key and playing a note. Larger models, of course, have a larger number of octaves, and chord capability. Steve Nelson zehntel!zinfandel!steve
long@oliveb.UUCP (Dave Long) (02/08/85)
I was in a Suzuki method class when I was in second grade. (1976-1977) I didn't get very much out of it, and eventually quit. We were not taught how to read music or basic music theory or anything of that sort, we just learned pieces by "rote", without even sheet music. If you want your children to be able to play a few pieces very well without music, then Suzuki is for you, but if you would like them to learn to be versatile on their instrument, then I would suggest something else. Of course, this is just my experience and it was from about 8 years ago, so you might want to check it out anyway. Dave Long