Question for musicians/Dads.

Scotty posted this video in the "Things that make you say damn" thread and it reminded me of a question ive had

My son is still two,but he has shown a huge interest in several different instruments. He also sings like crazy, memorizes full songs & carries tunes really well and I can see he hears the counterpoints in music when hes bobbing his head and loves to rock out to songs I don't think most two year old's are interested in...While most kids are watching Barney and blue clues hes demanding I turn on QUEEN or Foo Fighters.

My problem is I don't play any instruments. I only have a little experience with the violin and that was in elementary school & his mother plays the piano but id say at a basic level..she can read basic sheets and play basic tunes. I bought him a children's drum set for Christmas ( at his request) and he uses it almost daily but I have no clue how to show him to correctly follow beats or hand & body positions..

Anytime he picks up a guitar at his grandparents he starts strumming away especially If there is music playing for him to listen to.

Anytime someone comes on TV playing music he tells me he wants to learn that instrument.

So far his list of instruments he wants to play are The drums,guitar,violin & piano.

If he has some natural talent & an ear for this, id love to get him started early so he has lots of experience at an early age and can develop his talent with lots of practice.

My questions for the musicians & parents with kids who are musicians here are:

1.Is there a particular instrument that he should begin with as a foundation that helps the process of him learning that would make it easier for him to take up multiple instruments at some point?

2.Since I dont play,would you recommend me buying an instrument for him first to play with and get familiar with as something he just enjoys making noise with for fun until hes older or can I start him in music classes at two?

3. Is there anything I should look for in particular when searching for a tutor?

4.I have also enrolled him in a private school which he starts in September which has a major focus on liberal arts..Im sure he will start learning music in classes at school within a few years..is a class at school with a music teacher enough time to become excellent or does it require that plus an outside tutor?

5. Do you have any instruments you'd recommend over others for reasons like accessibility? Popularity?

I would hate to have the next Mozart in my care and squander his talents

 

Thanks

Piano is the gateway to any instrument.

Piano is the gateway to any instrument.

Well that's actually a relief in a way. I have access to a baby grand and although his mom doesn't play at a high level,I'm sure she could help with basics until a tutor can come in

Kids start school at 2 these days?

Kids start school at 2 these days?

Turns three in a month & then preschool in September. The school does preschool-k-12

I think their music program begins in 1st grade

Ditto to Assman. Once he can read music, that will make every other instrument easier. I played the Alto sax and baritone sax and very occasionally the tenor sax but tenor is different. I could sit down at a piano and play somewhat after i knew what the keys were. I wish I still remembered all the fingerings for the sax haha

Piano will teach him many things like structure, notes, timing, two hand working simalteneously, etc.

 

Drum are cool to annoy everyone. I don't recommend them.

Ditto to Assman. Once he can read music, that will make every other instrument easier. I played the Alto sax and baritone sax and very occasionally the tenor sax but tenor is different. I could sit down at a piano and play somewhat after i knew what the keys were. I wish I still remembered all the fingerings for the sax haha

 

 

Piano will teach him many things like structure, notes, timing, two hand working simalteneously, etc.

 

Drum are cool to annoy everyone. I don't recommend them.

Okay, do I start with a tutor or have mom teach him what she knows?

And will they work with kids this early?

 

And yes,ive had many a headache after being tired in the evening and then hearing the drums LOL

He thinks its hilarious when he makes me stand up and dance to the beat of him playing the drums like a marionette puppet

go with a teacher.

 

Mom may know but loses objectivity.

 

Habits can either good or bad, encouraging the good is important from the the start.

Piano is great, I started my son on drums when he was 5, he now plays in 3 bands and is lovin life. Here ia a video I found recently of another yougster.

 

Well that's actually a relief in a way. I have access to a baby grand and although his mom doesn't play at a high level,I'm sure she could help with basics until a tutor can come in

 

 

The piano will be essential in any serious effort to learn music. Once a student learns the piano they will be able to transfer to other instruments more easily. Most of all just encourage him as much as possible ( which it seems you have started doing). Good luck!!

Agree with the piano mentions above. I started at 3 on piano then played guitar for 3 years at 10 and then drums for 2 at 13 and now i really only play piano but what you learn on piano caries over to most other instruments (outside of horns) Ive played piano for 23 years now and still miss it when i dont have the time to play through out the week. I regret not continuing with my lessons at the end of high school now but i still play and am always finding new songs to learn.

 

Agreed on the teacher, make sure they are flexible though cause my teacher was an old school by the book method where she would tell me to go home and do the lessons on page 1-4 for next week. I would come back having done the last page in the book that was supposed to be the culmination of everything you learned through out the book and she would get frustrated as to how to teach me. I also learn mostly by ear and still am not very fluent at reading music (I know) so after a while she just would ask me what i wanted to learn and then I would learn just that song and as topics came up that i hadn't seen before (tempo changes, key changes etc etc) in the songs i picked she would teach them to me. She had to change her teaching style and to her credit she did a phenomenal job with me and being outside of her comfort zone with it.

 

The biggest thing is what you are doing now, encouraging it! Sometimes you may have to prod him (as my parents did constantly with me) but it has become a lifelong hoby and a great thing in my life.

Parents put me into Guitar @ 6. Hated the 3 chord songs to back up pop's lead playing.

 

Gave it up for 10 years and the picked it up again and loved it.

 

Only regret: Not learning music theory/notes. Working on fixing that now.

My dad got me on drums when I was a kid, was a natural talent everyone said, signed by capital records at 15, sponsored by DW drums at 16 and have loved them and music ever since. It definitely is ingrained in you and your life and is something that will never leave you!

 

I built a full recording studio in my last house with my ex fiancé and we would record there all the time, ever since we broke up and sold the house I haven't touched my drums but the passion has never left me and is just as important today as when I was a kid. Music always speaks to you and pinpoints experiences and specific times in your life down to the exact minute, pretty crazy!

 

Oh and piano

Thanks for the responses guys. Seems like the consensus is build a base with the piano using a tutor and start from there. Ill be moving the baby grand in shortly

Agree with the piano mentions above. I started at 3 on piano then played guitar for 3 years at 10 and then drums for 2 at 13 and now i really only play piano but what you learn on piano caries over to most other instruments (outside of horns) Ive played piano for 23 years now and still miss it when i dont have the time to play through out the week. I regret not continuing with my lessons at the end of high school now but i still play and am always finding new songs to learn.

 

Agreed on the teacher, make sure they are flexible though cause my teacher was an old school by the book method where she would tell me to go home and do the lessons on page 1-4 for next week. I would come back having done the last page in the book that was supposed to be the culmination of everything you learned through out the book and she would get frustrated as to how to teach me. I also learn mostly by ear and still am not very fluent at reading music (I know) so after a while she just would ask me what i wanted to learn and then I would learn just that song and as topics came up that i hadn't seen before (tempo changes, key changes etc etc) in the songs i picked she would teach them to me. She had to change her teaching style and to her credit she did a phenomenal job with me and being outside of her comfort zone with it.

 

The biggest thing is what you are doing now, encouraging it! Sometimes you may have to prod him (as my parents did constantly with me) but it has become a lifelong hoby and a great thing in my life.

Great post. Encouragement is no problem coming from me! I hope he'll want to explore his talents for years to come. Ill do what ever I can to make it an good journey for him

My dad got me on drums when I was a kid, was a natural talent everyone said, signed by capital records at 15, sponsored by DW drums at 16 and have loved them and music ever since. It definitely is ingrained in you and your life and is something that will never leave you!

 

I built a studio in my last house with my ex fiancé and we would record there all the time, ever since we broke up and sold the house I haven't touched my drums but the passion has never left me and is just as important today as when I was a kid. Music always speaks to you and pinpoints experiences and specific times in your life down to the exact minute, pretty crazy!

 

Oh and piano

 

A drummer calling piano gay.....

 

 

 

 

A drummer calling piano gay.....

 

Wait Fellippe did you seriously just say that?

Wait Fellippe did you seriously just say that?

 

Just some tongue in cheek humor....I figure you were taking a stab at piano being the instrument everyone learns out of habit (which there's a lot of truth to). Was that why you think it's gay?

 

If you're a music lover you can appreciate the nuance of instruments like drums & bass......

 

I value a great drummer over an average pop piano player who is playing simple melodies with his right hand with some basic chords with his left.

 

At the same time, a great piano/keyboard player does a lot more than just play the right notes.....and sometimes playing the right notes is hard enough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob, I started piano at age 2 and went all the way to my degree by age 15, concert level. It is a wonderful instrument and coupled with the theory, composition and sight reading studies it is like mastering another language. The only negative was that I was pushed so hard to perform by my teachers by my early teen years I resented the hard work and walked away from all of it.

Piano is the gateway to any instrument.

 

This. I started playing piano at 4.

Hey Rob, just think...

 

How to wake a sleeping child:

 

Another vote for piano here. Really regret stopping during high school.

Hey Rob, just think...

 

How to wake a sleeping child:

 

Hahahaha! His arms woke up before he did!!

 

Rob, I started piano at age 2 and went all the way to my degree by age 15, concert level. It is a wonderful instrument and coupled with the theory, composition and sight reading studies it is like mastering another language. The only negative was that I was pushed so hard to perform by my teachers by my early teen years I resented the hard work and walked away from all of it.

Thanks Porter. Good to hear you started even earlier then I'm wanting to with my boy. He's almost three so you were training a year before him! Its amazing you were playing at concert level at 15. I really am looking to help keep him motivated and focused but I have had similar experiences where I've been pushed so hard to excel at a skill that it made me completely lose intrest in it and thats the last thing id want. I want to give him the channels to excel and let him decide where he wants to go with some helpful guidance from me.

Do you still play at all or did you drop it completely?