Bar-Humbug!

Our eldest who is coming up for 5 has been on about this for some time, she is getting a childs size violin, suitable for young children for her birthday

We are keen to encourage her but pretty much non musical so i suppose lessons are the order of the day, any contacts for the northampton area or advise on how much to pay for lessons, how often she needs them, etc.

Lee247

This could be costly, as you really are going to need a shed, as far away from the house as possible

Joking aside, my daughter had keyboard lessons through the school, twice a week. We had to pay extra for them but was worth it

Your daughter may be a bit young yet but could be worth talking to the school anyway for recommendations

David Lock

There is a drive to teach children musical instruments in Primary and Secondary schools at the moment. So worth asking at her school if she has started yet?

Unless she is some kind of child prodigy I would question whether 5 is just a bit too young to start. But hey you never know.

Can't help with teachers in your area but just look in local papers in small ads. Then phone up and have a chat. Often a teacher will give a trial lesson. She might need a 30 min lesson per week or per fortnight at say £12 - £15.

Hoppy

Not the voilin PLEASE! Horrible screechy things.

Keyboard - yes, deffo. But with headphones for a year or two

boxst

Hello

You could try your local school -- my daughter has Violin lessons twice a week and rents a violin from the school (about £80/term I think).

A wanring as above though, my daughter has been playing the violin for about 2 years and is very good but it STILL sounds like a cat being badly castrated half the time.

Steve

David Lock

Steve - I'm sure it won't cost that much. Around here it is £23 per year IIRC. d

boxst

Maybe I'm paying for the lessons as well, although they do take place at school during school hours.

Steve

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Get him an Electric Guitar, nothing makes a kid look more precocious and gimpy than a Violin, they sound pretty ropey when played well, never mind when a 5 year old is having a go, they need to be part of an orchestra for the sound to make sense, its like raw Garlic, too strong on its own but wonderful in something else wheras a Guitar sounds ok on its own.

speye91

My **** has been know to go like a fiddlers Elbow.

skoobidude

I imagine this will be a passing phase so why not rent one instead?
Kids soon get bored of things. I'm not suggesting your child will get bored but most others I have known or heard about don't end up being the next Vanessa Mae!

David Lock

That would make sense. My boy teaches guitar to kids at school, 10 x 30 minute once-per-week lessons per term. Groups of 3 or 4. But parents have to pay for lessons through LEA. Subsidies for poorer parents. Obviously not compulsory. d

superscoobx

I second the guitar, I started at 9 at school had lesson's untill leaving, still play now at 24, never once wanted to quit. It was the coolest thing ever as a 14yr old playing the guitar at school production's etc.

Now I do freelance work as a session guitarist and have recorded all over the world with some big name's.

Violin is really difficult to pick up, with it being fretless (so the notes arn't defined like a guitar) and its very very dificult to play a tune someone know's (who can name 3 violin anthams!) . Which after muchos practise for someone to turn around and say....whats that you have just played is pretty nerve wrecking as a kid this would more than likely cause you to jack!

Bar-Humbug!

Thanks chaps, she has expressed an interest over the last few months and a s/h instrument or torture purchased

we shall see how she gets on, i hope she does graduate to a guitar or even better the sax

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

We have a houseful of discarded instruments inc,

Piano
Trumpet
Keyboard
Recorder
2 * Acoustic Guitar


I reckon a decent Electric just might make them put some effort in.

magepaster

iTrader: (2)

My 9 year old plays
guitar (has both electric and acoustic)
Violin (has own)
Keyboard (has own)

All lessons are taken at school and all are free

learning was his own idea and he has so far shown no sign of bordom with any of his instruments

He has also mentioned an interest in drumming. I him told him I will get him a set the day he leaves home.

MikeCardiff

iTrader: (2)

Personally I think 5 is too young for kids to be playing stringed instruments - one of the problems is that if you play a lot, it will deform your fingers, and in a child this can happen a lot more easily ( I've played guitar since I was 9, and my fingers are really twisted and I can get really bad pains in the joints in cold weather ).

At 5 I would suggest a keyboard - its relatively easy to learn so the child can start producing tunes quite early, which will keep their interest, and playing a smaller scaled down one shouldnt cause any joint problems. Keyboard, and learning to read music will give them a good grounding if they want to take up the violin later on.

Tiggs

As above - all my kids play piano....teaches them music, sounds ok pretty quickly and is an entertaining instrument on its own. No one has ever had a sing song round a violin at christmas!

DCI Gene Hunt

Violins... are you sure?

Name 5 well known violin players or pluckers

madfiddler

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I've never heard so much balony in my life....

I've been playing the violin since I was 6 and I've not got any problems with my fingers at all. Perhaps you were taught badly and picked up bad habits which put un-needed strain on your fingers with the guitar?

Kids tend to pick up instruments well when they start young. It takes time to mature and understand the instrument, but getting a good grounding when they are young is great, if that's what they want to do.

If they express an interest in an instrument, leave it a while and see if they keep on at it. If they do, basic student instruments are easy to come by and, for most types, are cheap. Decent teachers however are not cheap, that's where the money will be spent - but it's worth it in the long while!

As for What an closed minded thing to say. Violins can sound awesome, and arn't used in purely classical styles. I play mainly in rock/punk bands and there ain't anything gimpy about sticking a violin through some effects and shredding with the best of them.

You don't even have to use an acoustic instrument - here's one of mine.



and here's a gimpy violin being used in some precocious non classical music, with sustain a guitarist could only dream of (without an e-bow anyway)

http://www.madfiddler.co.uk/audio/ma..._improv_01.mp3

Again, sorry to bring this up again, but there's no way I can let this one go

Mark - a violinist and proud of it.

skid11

iTrader: (1)

Mark,well put. My daughters been playing for 8 years now since she was 9 and is pretty good now. (Grade 6/7). Main thing is she enjoys it and has stayed with it
Thats a great looking violin! Where can you get those from and how much?

madfiddler

Hi Skid, that's great going. She's about the right age and level to have an electric. Electrics (apart from the one pictured) tend to be easier to play than an acoustic - it's easier to get a half decent sound with them, so I never recommend them to early beginners. Grade 6/7 is fine.

Now, the one pictured is a Mark Wood Viper. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who will play a 'normal' violin most of the time, and the electric once in a while since it's a completely different beast to play, especially where the neck tapers to the instrument. Its not the electric I use most of the time, but used that picture to prove a point. Price wise, that particular one is around the $4000 mark I believe, with the frets, 2 extra strings and improved pickup - I got that when the £-$ was around 1:2. Their website is www.woodviolins.com in the US - which is another issue - always try before you buy if you can.

The electrics I use mostly, are by Bridge in Lincolnshire, here's mine -



and their website is Bridge Violins - the 4 string is around £750 - if you're anywhere near Brum on the 17-18 of January, I'll be at something called Fiddle Hell and will likely be bringing all of my electrics.

tt4n,

m

skid11

iTrader: (1)

Thanks i will pass that on to her because im away that weekend.
We are in the cannock, wton area so pretty close.
Nice work.
Thanks

madfiddler

No worries mate, the thread she should look at on my forum is this one...

Fiddle and Alternative Strings Forum, Fiddle Forum, Violin Forum, Electric Violin Forum, Cello Forum, Viola Forum, Message Board, Community.

Iain Young

Aaarrrgggh - don't tempt me. I'm a cellist, and have just seen that they do electric cellos as well. Must resist..... Bookmarked for future reference...

Anyway, 5 is a bit young but it really depends on the child. Some won't be ready until a bit older, and some never will

The trick with practice (especially at the beginning) is little and often. It's surprising how quickly they can progress. Stringed instruments such as the violin, viola, cello etc are certainly harder than many other instruments to play, but the rewards can be greater.

Prices for lessons vary. I think the Musicians Union recommended rate is around £20 an hour, but most teachers charge a lot less than that. Most music shops will have a list of local teachers so it would be worth asking them.

A previous poster made the comment about not singing around the violin at christmas etc. That's not really the point. I started the cello when I was about 12, and am still playing it now (25 years later). I am lead cellist in our local orchestra, deputy lead in another, and play in about 10 others (as well as being a founder member of the Red Hot Celli). I also gig around a bit, play some irish / folk stuff, and want to start playing with some electric stuff. I may not sing to it at christmas, but playing it in a band of over 100 other people is an experience I would not want to give up.

They are not solely for classical music. For example, ever heard of a band called Apocolyptica (YouTube - Apocalyptica - Enter Sand Man)? Instruments are what you make of them. They should not be stereotyped.

madfiddler

Lol - yeah, their cellos are rather nice (coming from a non cellist!)

I started at 6, and whilst it was my grandad who started me off, lessons were also available at school so I don't think it was too young at all. I think I was doing 15 minutes practise to start off with - that was all my parents would endure!

When I was teaching, I was charging £22 an hour. When I was learning, which was 18 years ago, my teacher was £17 for 45 minutes, but then he was that good. It does depend on the teacher. I can charge a reasonable amount as I'd be teaching more along the lines of improcivisation, music technology etc within the lesson... but I still believe classical technique is the way to go to learn to play the instrument.

I know what you're talking about. Personally I don't care for the classical performances, but I've done gigs as a member of a band in front of 5000+ people, and there's not need for getting drunk or stoned in those occasions, you simply don't need it.

Apocolyptica rock btw. Kinda refreshing that they're not pretty blondes with nice breasts and mini-skirts

Iain Young

Not that there's anything wrong with that of course