Recommendations: Nuturing kids for music

K

kat

New member
Need feedback from those who are parents. I have a 3 year old girl that I wish to nurture for music- but dont know how to or where to start.

You see, i am self taught pianist and guitarist without any formal education, learning from a tape recorder .. can't read notes to save my life... I do hope that my daughter will learn to enjoy and play music like I do, but some kind of formal lessons would be even better for her. l

So where & when should I start her on piano lesson? I have already eased her into some hardcore old time jazz like Bud Powell... wonder if it'll work.

Care to share some of your breeding experience?
 
i feel that once a young kid learns to appreciate a certain type of music when he/or she is small... they will grow up with that music in mind too, and will be quite attached to that kind of music when they get older... unless its a kind of music that is meant only for juniors such as barney stuff and all that haha
 
I agree with James. 3 year old is really too young unless, of course, your daughter is a prodigy. Otherwise, children at that age do not have the interest nor the attention span to sit down and attend formal lessons. You run the risk of destroying her interest instead of nurturing it.

What I did was just to let my kids listen to music at that age. They listen before they sleep, when they play, whenever. Currently, my 5 year old is learning piano from me. But my 2 year old is simply listening. Interestingly, my younger son is now singing his own tunes (self-composed) - and in rhythm as well! Nice melody too! He goes into his room, then I would hear him humming his own tune. My older never did that!

Of course, if you're a musician, make sure you play your instrument in front of her to build her interest. My younger would always keep very still and quiet whenever I play the piano - since he was 1. Now he wants to climb onto my lap everytime I play and tries to thump on the keys. So I just showed him where is middle C, gets him to play it with one finger, and that makes him happy and off he goes to do his stuffs.

Then there's always Hi-5 that James mentioned. It is actually quite good. My 2 kids watch them on VCD occasionally - if they behave themselves.

There are many ways to stimulate interest at that age. And I don't think formal lessons is appropriate at this age.
 
hi5 is ok.. but dont go for barney man.... getting ur child obsessed (most children who get lured by this monster usually get obsessed) is quite unhealthy for he/she... serious...
 
Cheez said:
Now he wants to climb onto my lap everytime I play and tries to thump on the keys. So I just showed him where is middle C, gets him to play it with one finger, and that makes him happy and off he goes to do his stuffs.
Click to expand...

I find the above quote very cute! :D

Anyways I think maybe you should let him listen to classical music instead of jazz music. I don't think jazz music would attract their attention in terms of exposure , to me I feel that it's just too "jumpy and thumpy" for a kid to comprehen at that age.
 
Well, there are different level of jazz. It all depends. My older son cannot stand jazz - he thinks it is too noisy. He prefers classical. But I'm not giving up. Anyway, I go according to his interest. Nowadays, my kids only listen to classical before they sleep. Other times are all those kids music and action songs. They love it; I can't stand it.
 
I feel every child should have the right to choose their path, be it musical or not. If your child would really like to get involved in music, then you should let him/her choose the genre of music. Heck, none of us ever thought metal and rock existed, let alone like it, when we were kids(I used to sing along to BSB).

But I guess 3 really is a young age. I think the youngest person I've seen playing a musical instrument was 6.
 
what is this?

you guys are talking in a very scary manner. About learning this and that, rudiments and stuff.

How about letting the kid well.... dance?
 
Why dont you send them to Kindermusik where they can sing songs and learn to appreciate music with other kids of thier own age. There is one in Tanglin mall but of course it doesnt come cheap.

Barney..hmm where do I start...I used to feel the same way, in fact I found it downright creepy after reading all the interesting opinions on the internet. Anyway, end of the day a kid sees it completely differently to an adult and it's only a phase they go through. I the case of our little girl she became totally disinterested in Barney after a while but still knows all the kiddy songs to sing and dance along to.

Musically I think she learnt more from The Wiggles though....
 
panz3rr said:
is it highly recommended to let your child listen to rock music?
Click to expand...

i dunno if tis works. my sis kips on listening to rock,pop,metal,rnb bla bla type of songs wen she is pregnant. my 3yrs old niece now is reli into music.even my 1yr nephew. everytime i blast my music in my room n practice or wateva like tat,they would sure come close to me and pick their instruments and strum along(anyhow la)
maybe tat is a sign. taught my niece how to play a D chord. she remembers n want to learn the rest.

to me it might be because tat my sis is reli a music person. runs dwn to them. but its hard if the kid's parents arent musicians/music lover.

dun weri Kat. ur gal will be 1. psycho slowly
 
for listening,Beatles and Beegees are recommanded, schools u have to try the luck.Most registered school have kiddie talent classes.Better start early. :D
 
XLayaR said:
I feel every child should have the right to choose their path, be it musical or not. If your child would really like to get involved in music, then you should let him/her choose the genre of music. Heck, none of us ever thought metal and rock existed, let alone like it, when we were kids(I used to sing along to BSB).

But I guess 3 really is a young age. I think the youngest person I've seen playing a musical instrument was 6.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this. I believe that with time to come, the child will learn to develop a personal liking to a certain kind of music. My dad is an Elvis fan. I thought that was cool, until I discovered Motley Crue when I was 12. Then onwards, it's all the way rock..
 
Come on guys,Kat would like her children to be on the quiet music side without distortion guitar.Read her original post..:)
 
how about a toy piano?
let it spark off some interest with some interesting sounds?

you know those 12 key piano with "sound"
they might come to like it if they were taught to play simple melody, like marry had a little lamb and slowly progress on
 
Might be a good start. I guess it's always good to start by investing in something that's not expensive first...then slowly progress
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R
Pop Piano Teacher
Replies
2
Views
13K
reeves
R
N
Focus Group for Musicians
Replies
0
Views
532
nabillahjalal
N
R
Looking for drummers/bassists/guitarists who like less mainstream mandarin rock music
Replies
2
Views
1K
rockmusic
R
A
What is the missing link for musician to build a sustaining music career?
Replies
1
Views
949
Artistco
A
J
Jazz guitar for beginners
Replies
0
Views
3K
Jimi22
J

Latest posts

Share this page

Back
Top