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15 Sep 14 - 07:33 AM (#3660349) Subject: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST,Ed This strikes me as a very odd article: Electric guitar overtakes violin in music lesson boom I don't work in schools or have anything much to do with teenagers, but I see loads of kids with guitars and very few with violins ever. Am I missing something? |
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15 Sep 14 - 07:37 AM (#3660351) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST The ukeleles , but then they are rather small |
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15 Sep 14 - 07:39 AM (#3660355) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST Parents like their children to take up violin in case they are a latent classical music genius, but small body violins are squeaky and creaky little instruments. It the power of an electric instrument that attracts. You can even play power chords on a plugged in ukelele. |
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15 Sep 14 - 07:49 AM (#3660366) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST,Tunesmith Well, it is VERY difficult to play the violin well! MOST violin/fiddle players that I hear - including many classical players - have dodgy intonation, and poor sound issues. |
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15 Sep 14 - 08:54 AM (#3660400) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST,Johnmc I have friends who learned violin when young and, whilst they may not be great players, I have come to realise it gave them many musical advantages, especially over someone like me who learned guitar informally. It trains the ear to find intervals, and thus melodies. The dexterity acquired means playing a fretted instrument comes fairly easily. There is a great awareness of timbre and expression. IMO, learn piano and violin and you are well set up for making and even composing music. |
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15 Sep 14 - 09:36 AM (#3660421) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: Musket I played violin at school, although classical instruments and tuition were the only ones teachers were willing to teach back then. When I broke my wrist and complications meant never playing it again, I told my teacher my brother had bought me a guitar. Never mind, he said. Not quite the same as playing a musical instrument, but quite a few people like the noise they make.... |
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15 Sep 14 - 09:53 AM (#3660428) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker Imagine all the arrogant twat guitar shop salesmen rubbing their hands with glee..* Posh families bringing in their spoilt pre-teen brats and being shown straight to the 2 grand £££!!! Les Pauls and custom shop Fenders... [* Oi.. Baldy in Dawsons, Liverpool.. yes you, you pushy know-all knob] |
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15 Sep 14 - 10:04 AM (#3660438) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: Backwoodsman When I told my school music teacher I was learning guitar, he said, "You'd do better to learn a proper instrument, like the violin". Now, I wish I had. When I started work, our company had a (very good, competition level) brass band, and the guy who ran it asked me to go to their practice night and take up a brass instrument, but I didn't have enough self-confidence to go. Wish I'd done that too. And, according to one or two members here, I'm still a crap guitarist. :-) |
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15 Sep 14 - 10:55 AM (#3660461) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: Midchuck When I was - I don't know, 12 or 13 - my parents wanted me to take lessons on an instrument, and asked me what instrument I was interested in. I said, "guitar." They said, "No, we want you to learn a real instrument." They were very good parents almost all the time, but every so often they had flashes of utter stupidity. (I have no doubt that my children will say the same of me and their mother, some day.) After I'd tried a couple of instruments that didn't "take," They got me a cheap Stella for my 18th birthday. I've now played guitar for 54 years, come Oct. 29, and semi-professionally (stress on the "semi"), on and off for about 40. My wife, a fiddler, has tried guitar, but says frets confuse her. The absence of them confuses me. But she still has a considerably better sense of pitch than I do. |
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15 Sep 14 - 12:25 PM (#3660500) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST,Johnmc Guestpunkfolkrocker reminded me of the incomparable Not the Nine o'Clock News sketch about the Hi Fi shop: will you be wanting a Dolby ? etc |
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15 Sep 14 - 02:45 PM (#3660562) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST,FloraG Playing a guitar poorly still sounds quite nice, so the learning process is not so painful for the rest of the family and neighbours. You can play tunes or accompanyments or sing. Not many violin teachers are prepared to let the student do this with their violin. I know there is some flexibility - some teachers will teach through jazz or blues if thats what the student likes. I think the real tradgedy is that in some areas so few children learn any instrument. Its become the preserve of the rich. FloraG. |
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16 Sep 14 - 03:36 AM (#3660697) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: cooperman The good thing about guitar when you're a kid is that you don't need to be rich. You can pick one up very cheaply and you can play ok without a teacher. You can teach yourself from a cheap book and learn stuff from your mates...not so easy with violin! Oh and Backwoodsman, if you're considered a crap guitarist there's no hope for me! |
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16 Sep 14 - 05:24 AM (#3660722) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST,Johnmc My son did the Suzuki method at an early age and it was fun. As a result, he was able to progress in his teens, after a long break from the instrument. Also, even a cheap violin can sound ok. In fact, if a player is really good, close up I struuggle to hear much difference between it and a more expensive one. Nylon string cheap guitars seem to sound reasonable, but not so sure about cheap steel strings- and then there's the action to be considered. If it's only adoring parents in the house, the agonised sounds are not such an issue, I suppose. Another thought is that in the folk tradition, you would have a better chance to learn inexpensively. To sum up my thoughts: easier to go from violin to guitar than vice versa. |
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16 Sep 14 - 05:36 AM (#3660730) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: banjoman From more than half a century ago, I cherish a school report from a Mr P. McDonough issued after I said I wanted to play guitar or banjo. It states "Musically speaking this pupil is dead from the neck up." It actually inspired me to persist although some may say that that report still rings true. I tend to agree with Flora and believe that all children should be given the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, even if it is only a Chinese Nose Flute. |
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16 Sep 14 - 11:43 AM (#3660828) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: Rob Naylor I think it's been the case for many years that far more children take up the guitar than the violin....maybe not through formal school lessons. There were a few kids at my school, nearly 50 years ago, who were learning guitar through school. I don't recognise the "not a real instrument" comments at all...guitar wasn't looked down on, it was just that more kids studied violin, cornet, flute etc at school than guitar. However, informally, probably 3-4 times as many kids in my year had a guitar at home as those who learned violin, and either taught themselves to play or got slightly older friends to give pointers. Almost all the violinists gave up in their late teens or early 20s. Most of those I'm still in touch with who had a guitar still have one and at least occasionally get it out. |
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16 Sep 14 - 12:49 PM (#3660841) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST This was on the radio 4 programme this Monday with John Etheridge repressenting guitar players and Tasmin Little the violinist. No explanation was made of the technical problems of learning either instrument, only that if you want to be a world class violinist better start young and practice a lot. Etheridge mentioned the magic 10,000 hours but I think a classical violinist will exceed this by a lot. |
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16 Sep 14 - 08:22 PM (#3660972) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: Stanron Guest Ed, the article said the figures came from the ABRSM examining board. This is usually associated with classical music studies, grades 1 to 8, which is why piano and violin used to be the most popular. I didn't even know they did electric guitar grades. Must be a fairly recent thing. |
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17 Sep 14 - 11:27 AM (#3661223) Subject: RE: For children guitar overtakes violin From: GUEST,sciencegeek this past Saturday we had our 6th annual fiddler's fair... cold & wet at the start, but once again we had two dozen kids from 100 miles away - the Buffalo Suzuki group - attend and have a great time. Three were playing the cello and they aged from 6 to 17 and have attended every year... so I got to see some of these kids since they were 6 or so. I had to complement their parents and say that they far exceed the parents that drag their kids to sporting events... supportive of all the kids and none of the drama that seems to go with baseball and football clubs. Since I'm entering my second childhood, I wish I could join myself... lol |