Getting Kids interested in music

[JRA]

@dalkowski covered it in a great post #5!

I don't know what to do

a "mini me" never works out for the mini. getting support to try things, and being encouraged to overcome fears and resistances is a great way to spend a childhood --- when security/love isn't at risk. love 'em up and teach 'em how to get along --- they'll be gone in a whipstitch...and the world needs more citizens! good luck!

 

[bass theory]

Guys - I'm sad.
My daughter is 9, going on 10 - and nothing I can do seems to get her interested in music outside of jumping around the house and singing out of tune.
I've tried to teach her a little bass. guitar, uke, piano.
She's not interested in anything she has to work at for more than 60 seconds.

By this age, I was already playing elementary school recitals.
I don't expect her to be a prodigy. But I know that there's certain musical literacy if you don't pick it up at a young age is very hard to replicate later.

I don't know what to do

Maybe it's just all people screaming at the camera on youtube or TikTok from here on out.

i have a suggestion that worked wonders with 8 y.o. granddaughter.
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Try drums first. It takes very little effort to learn to keep the beat. although it does take some time for them to hear the beat in a song to match it. it is not really long compared to learning music theory. And by learning to pick out the rhythm of a song they are also learning to hear the different parts of the music seperately.

This gives them a big step up to developing music ability for any instrument. at 9 my granddaughter has now progressed to actually learning the drum rudiments. She is also starting to do more than just strum an open guitar. I built her a Strat-o-caster knockoff, but in a 24"scale rather than the 25" that Fender offers. And she is now starting lessons on guitar as well as drums.

I personally was a drummer for a gigging band for many years before i started to try bass. So i know what i am talking about when i say that learning to hear and understand the music works when learning to play drums and that does translate into quickly learning music theory. Because music theory is actually just giving you a way to express the music you already love and understand.

I am teaching her drums, so that i can be sure her focus is on understand the music as a whole not just drumming. she already has an electronic set of pads at home (super el cheepos)so she can play with a headset on and not disturb the family. she plays my full size professional set at my house, but she can't really reaach it right. I am considering investing in a youth set for her. not toys... but a pearl youth set. My first set was pearl, and i still consider then to be the best. (except it's hard to beat Ludwig snares). Th e trick to making cheap drums sound good is the heads.... use Remo Diplomat or other top quality Remo heads.

 

[dalkowski]

@dalkowski covered it in a great post #5!

Thanks @JRA, appreciate it.

And I'll add a coda: Whether or not they embrace the things we love, our kids' health — mental as well as physical — is paramount.

 

[JRA]

 

[mike buzzetti]

Don't be a DICK buy em a RIC ! , at least you get a bass out of the deal !

 

[bass12]

I was enthralled by music from a very young age. I attribute that to the following:

- My mom would play (piano or guitar) and sing to me from before I could talk. Part of my bedtime routine was her sitting on my bed with her guitar, singing melodic songs.

- Limited access to T.V. From when I was old enough to want to watch T.V. my parents moved the family television set out of the living room and into their bedroom. I was not allowed to watch T.V. at my discretion but I had unlimited access to the stereo system/record player.

- There were no video games and no internet - but there were plenty of opportunities for boredom. I would spend countless hours sitting and listening to records (both music and storytelling).

- My mother took me to see live music when I was a toddler. I got to not only see instruments up close, I got to see them being played by competent musicians.

- My parents would buy me whatever music I was interested in without trying to influence my tastes. I had total freedom to explore the music I wanted to explore and neither one of my parents ever made suggestions about what I "should" listen to.

- I was given access to music teachers but was never forced to "stick with it". I got to explore banjo, violin, clarinet and piano before settling on bass. I was never made to feel guilty for losing interest in an instrument.

That was me. Not all kids respond the same way to a given stimulus and some kids respond better to a light nudge than do others. Some kids have a rebellious streak, some don't. And some kids simply aren't interested in music and are unlikely to be, no matter what you give them/expose them to.

 

[bmusic]

Throw away video games.

Au contraire, play Rock Band with them on the Xbox! It’s an awesome way to truly share your love of music with them, picking up instruments and “making music” together without getting into the mucky-muck of learning a real instrument. (That will come later.) We did it with our kids, my son starting when he was two. He’s now a drummer in one of the top high school jazz bands in the country. Oldest daughter plays keyboards and guitar. Middle child, my daughter, spontaneously picked up the bass a couple years ago. And you’re not forcing anything on them; it’s a video game that shows how fun it is to make music together. After that, she’ll either catch the bug or she won’t—and you all will have had a blast in the meantime.

 

[Carl Hillman]

I can only relate my personal experience growing up since I don't have kids.

My mom sang to me and strummed guitar when I was a lot younger than your daughters. (at 2 to 4 years old) This was in addition to the records and radio being played around the house. My parents also limited my TV time until I was already able to read. (5 years old) And, of course, there were no internet-connected devices or video games to amuse myself with back then.

I think all of these things helped instill my love of music and made me learn to focus on something for more than a minute or two. I also agree that the window for a "certain musical literacy" happens earlier than 9 or 10 years of age.

 

[basslayer]

I didn't care for music until it was a social affair; once a friend started a band, I was more interested in playing and getting better. It sounds like you were involved in music at a social level as well when you were young. Perhaps involving her in something musical with people her age will be illuminating as to whether or not it's for her.

 

[QweziRider]

Guys - I'm sad.

It may - or may not - come in her own time frame. My wife and I are both life-long musicians. Our son took to it all on his own. Our daughter, not so much at around the same age as yours. There was just no nudging her anywhere near it. She had her dance and other things she loved, but not music. Out of nowhere about 6th grade she decided to try tuba in school band (like her dad, who she does not want to be like). Then she's taking up bass before you know it (again, like me). Then you see her doing all the things dad suggested but were all stupid ideas until someone else said them (5 string bass, anyone? Wrap your cables correctly? Get perturbed anytime someone touches the bass amp at school wrong? Into symphonic metal?).

It all came in her own time frame and interest.

 

[kdn1]

I bought my daughter an Ibanez Mikro Bass and she learned Seven Nation Army in about 5 minutes. She noodled around for a few years (she played flute in elementary school band, so had some musical interest)...and so we traded in the Mikro for a Supro Huntington II short scale...I thought this awesome upgrade would take her to the next level...but it sat in the case for about a year until she said she wasn't interested anymore. She fell in love with knitting (her new passion)...so I "inherited" an awesome bass AND got a new toque for Christmas! No pressure along the way...she just needed the space to discover what she wanted to do with her creative side.

 

[LordRyan]

When I was 11 my parents just said to me and brother we were going to start taking piano lessons. I had no real interest but went along it with and didn't practice much. After a couple of years I heard some rock music that inspired me and I became obsessed. My parents probably would have liked it better if I had gotten into big band or classical music but they were always supportive because some family members had made a career out of music as my brother and I have done.

 

[bon viesta]

strangely, what really dragged me into music was the myth of the beatles. i had heard about them as a child, and i saw videos of their music and them playing it and it was like a lightbulb went off. these guys are legends, listen to what music they make. and shortly thereafter i became a drummer. and then a bassist

must be baked into the cake, because my dad is a musician too. and i always loved music before, but with the beatles it was the start of a specific, ongoing chapter in my life of being a musician and loving that kind of music.

 

[Stock]

Guys - I'm sad.
My daughter is 9, going on 10 - and nothing I can do seems to get her interested in music outside of jumping around the house and singing out of tune.
I've tried to teach her a little bass. guitar, uke, piano.
She's not interested in anything she has to work at for more than 60 seconds.

By this age, I was already playing elementary school recitals.
I don't expect her to be a prodigy. But I know that there's certain musical literacy if you don't pick it up at a young age is very hard to replicate later.

I don't know what to do

Maybe it's just all people screaming at the camera on youtube or TikTok from here on out.

I think a good start might be choir at school. It is social, they learn to listen and experience intervals and might even learn to read music a little. Later when they are playing in a band the additional singing experience will come in handy because to me being able to pick out the missing harmony interval and folding it in is a minimum requirement of everyone in my projects.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

I have some young children of my own, and one seems to be interested in drumming. I think it is more important that every child has "a thing" to pursue. Luckily, both of mine are into reading a ton. If all else fails, I still have that one.

 

[wazzel]

My kids did band from elementary school through high school, but nothing after. My son claims he wants to learn the bass and has one of mine, but never picks it up. I keep threatening to take it home, but he insist he will pick it up and play. My middle kid sings well and will join the family band from time to time, but nothing outside of that.

 

[2strings2frets]

If you enjoy playing at home your making your own musical enjoyment will imprint on her. She may decide to learn on her own even if it is later in life. If you force the issue then she will resent it for a lifetime. Dad’s enjoyment will be a pleasant memory, forced lessons won’t be. Just saying

 

[Benj-jammin]

You have to make it fun - here's what worked for me. Grew up playing the keys, then guitar, then bass, etc. In addition to my own kids, I also have 8 other nephews and nieces. I have 2 pianos and a bunch of synth/workstations around, but also, a couple of cheap Casio 4 and 5 octave keyboards. I would play all of the sound effects on the Casios, and they were mesmerized by the spacey sounds, bells, ghosts, vocals, etc. 6 of the 8 eventually took piano lessons. Not saying it was all me, but for awhile, all they wanted to do was to play the sound effects, then gradually the piano and organ programs...brass, woodwinds, it was all fascinating to them. Just an idea.

 

[TeaTime]

Put my twins through various lessons in elementary school. They both love listening, but never connected with playing. Didn't push it too hard.

I play something (bass, drums, guitar, keyboard, flute...) daily. One day at 13 my daughter walked into my music room and asked if she's allowed to use one of my guitars. Two years of lessons and heavy practice later she's doing classical recitals and hard-rock party jams.

Wish I could help, but I have no idea what flipped the switch. We have fun jamming though.

 

[Fynn]

Guys - I'm sad.
My daughter is 9, going on 10 - and nothing I can do seems to get her interested in music outside of jumping around the house and singing out of tune.
I've tried to teach her a little bass. guitar, uke, piano.
She's not interested in anything she has to work at for more than 60 seconds.

By this age, I was already playing elementary school recitals.
I don't expect her to be a prodigy. But I know that there's certain musical literacy if you don't pick it up at a young age is very hard to replicate later.

I don't know what to do

Maybe it's just all people screaming at the camera on youtube or TikTok from here on out.

Two options:
#1 is just forcing her and telling her how great it is.

#2 is to just let her be and hope that she will eventually identify with some sort of music. I started playing at 14 because I found music to be something that I can have by myself and just enjoy without any stress or feeling of guilt when I neglect it. It's an easy hobby to get into and has pretty much endless possibility. If your child does not come to that conclusion herself, then she probably wouldn't enjoy it anyways and it would be wasted lifetime for her.

Music is either a chore and a job or it is a happy place. I wouldn't make my kid learn something that they don't have any personal use for. I know that the idea of having children that enjoy the same things as you is nice, but that barely ever really happens. Usually children like to do the opposite of what the parents do or more specifically do what other children their age like to do (which barely reflects the parents interests).
Don't worry too much about it and try to not project your passions onto your children. That NEVER ends well...
I would even go as far to say that the less intrusive you are the more your child will later want to actually take part in your interests. And they can learn everything later. Yes it will be harder, but better late then never.