What Do They Want To Play?

[ZenG]

This thread inspired by "The Slow Death Of...."

Do you have a son or daughter between the ages of 5 and 20?

Do they want to play a musical instrument?

Now ...WITHOUT ANY INPUT FROM YOU PERSONALLY in their decision...what was their first choice of instrument?

I realize this might be a bit biased because if the son or daughter sees dad playing bass they may want to be just like dad.....but still..

 

[Oddly]

Mine are a bit older...26 and 23.
Both attempted music at around 15. Keyboards for my daughter, guitar for my son.
They both had some lessons and seemed fairly decent...but they weren't as fanatical about playing as I was when I started, and have pretty much given up...although my son still has a guitar and amp set up in his room and will pick it up and play a little occasionally.
Neither seem inclined to join their old man in putting a little family band together...

 

[filmtex]

Trumpet first for our son, then he dabbled with a keyboard he absconded with from his grandmother and recently bought a Squier Strat.

 

[Bassball Fever]

My 13 year old daughter plays tuba as her main instrument, but she also plays bass in the jazz band and youth praise team. She has also played piano, euphonium, and clarinet. She is a natural with every instrument she has picked up.

 

[sharkbait130]

Gatorbait (my son) started out in middle school on tuba. He played that for 3 years through middle school. The county opened up an arts oriented high school in the area the same year as his freshman year. He applied and got in for tuba. A month in and the bass player for the jazz band in school moved away. The teacher asked if anyone wanted to play bass in the band. Up went Gatorbaits hand and he started a double major in high school. Early the next year in the school , one of the stand up bass players moved away. The teacher asked if anyone wanted to play stand up. Up went Gatorbaits hand again. For the following 3 years he majored in bass guitar and stand up bass with a minor in tuba. Being an art school there were a lot of plays and shows. By the time he was into his second year of bass guitar , he could absolutely smoke me on the instrument. Since graduating , he has gotten highly involved in theater playing in several pit orchestras on both stand up and bass. He has also had acting parts in "The Buddy Holly Story" in two different cities and also had an acting part in "The Million Dollar Quartet" in Manchester N.H. He is currently out in California managing a coffee house , playing in a band and has been approached for some pit work. Nothing locked in yet but it's looking promising. He was also asked to play tuba in the orchestra there but not owning one at the moment , he had to turn that down.

 

[tlc1976]

Like me, mine never played in school band. My offerings were wind instruments or nothing. Mine started at 14, with a guitar class in school. Got bucked off an animal she was riding, broke an arm, and ended up spending most of that class watching and learning. She got decent on the guitar but really prefers the uke. I think out of convenience. She's almost 17 now and had at least 4 of them. She also messes around sometimes on a keyboard to play riffs from her favorite bands like Fallout Boy. I'd say she plays folksy sounding stuff on the uke, with a strong beat, and her voice being something along the lines of Jewel. She does it all a lot better than I did when I was 16. Funny, she's never wanted to pick up a bass. But she says one of her best friends plays bass.

 

[SteveC]

11 yo daughter has been playing violin for 3 years.
8 yo son wants to start cello next year.

 

[Farseer]

When my son started guitar at the age of 6, he is now 16, I was a drummer. He was in gymnastics and came to me saying he wanted to quit. I told him he would need to find something else to do with his time and if we agree on something else he could. After 3 months he said "I want to play guitar". Well, he has surpassed me by FAR as a musician. He is my lead guitarist in my blues band Edited to add: He chose his Les Paul and the V based on feel. He could care less what other people play. His favorite guitarist is SRV and my son HATES strats.

 

[DirtDog]

Teenaged daughter in my case. I'd say "vocalist". She's got a pretty good voice, has performed in a number of musicals at school and theatre camp and has the uncanny ability to recite hundreds of song lyrics verbatim, even for songs she's only heard once or twice. She's also a pretty decent visual artist.

Musically, she was at one point a pretty good piano player (for her age) but got bored of lessons. She did a bunch of recitals and showed absolutely no stage shyness. At that age, I would have been a ball of nerves. At a community fest one time, after my band played, a bunch of teens got up and played a couple of newer rock tunes, unrehearsed - she got up in front of a thousand people and sang the lead vox on these tunes. I was shocked and impressed. She enjoyed it. Then I mentioned, hey would you like to do a school of rock thing? Nope, not interested!

At one point, she showed interest in acoustic guitar, so I got her a Baby Taylor. Didn't stick. Then showed interest in ukulele, so I got her a Kala.

I'm hoping she shows interest in percussion next, because I would REALLY like to justify a drum kit in the house - maybe V-Drums!

 

[Low Commotion]

Ok, so my son is 25, but he played piano from the age of four or five. Now we've always had a piano, Hammond organ and keyboard around, but I've always had several guitars and basses around too. He also played trombone in public school and high school but wanted to play sax, but they put him on trombone. He took piano lessons until he was 13 or 15 and went through the entire program including grade 2 theory. After he wrote his last exam in theory he said he was done and has never played the piano or any other instrument since. It's a shame because he was an excellent player and he's always had good music teachers. In fact his piano teacher said that he was one of his best students.

 

[DirtDog]

It's a shame because he was an excellent player and he's always had good music teachers. In fact his piano teacher said that he was one of his best students.

Same with my daughter - weird how they can just drop it.

But I quit piano abruptly as well when I was 11 or 12. Mostly because I sucked and it was ungodly boring, but also because my softball season was starting up!

 

[jmone]

I'm 24 and play bass primarily and don't ever see that changing

I've picked up a synth last year and I'm strongly considering learning how to play grid based MIDI controllers due to it being tuned in 4ths like a bass. The idea being that I would instantly know all the chord shapes and scales and could open a whole new world of sounds.

 

[petrus61]

My daughter (11) picked up guitar without any pushing from me and even joined guitar and string club at school. She listens to what most people here refer to as non-music.

 

[bassliner50]

My son plays video games.

 

[70s Custom Mod]

Trombone in the band primarily. Then some guitar and more recently bass in the band also.

 

[Raman]

Last December, I took my 6 year old son to the St-Joseph Basilica here in Montreal. I used to sing there as a choir boy. Every year at Christmas, they have a series of concerts by the choir, accompanied by a string ensemble and a (massive) pipe organ.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. We got a letter of acceptance for my son at a music school, starting next year in grade 2. YEAH!!! We're super happy and discuss with him what instruments he thinks he'll be interested in learning... So now he wants to be a pipe organist...

 

[ELG60]

I've only been with my partner for a couple of years, but her daughter, (almost 12 now) was taking piano lessons when we met. She played a bit of clarinet for a couple of semesters and has taken voice lessons. She bought herself a uke last year and wants an acoustic guitar for her birthday in a month or so. I picked up a 3/4 scale Taylor for her. Her uncle is a guitarist and has told my partner that he'll teach the child the basics, etc.

 

[CryingBass]

Violin and Cello. Now? Neither play Either.

And trust me, I tried to steer them to the low side...

 

[filwitheneff]

This thread inspired by "The Slow Death Of...."

Do you have a son or daughter between the ages of 5 and 20?

Do they want to play a musical instrument?

Now ...WITHOUT ANY INPUT FROM YOU PERSONALLY....what was their first choice of instrument?

I realize this might be a bit biased because if the son or daughter sees dad playing bass they may want to be just like dad.....but still..

My daughter (25) had no interest in music. My son (21) expressed interest in bass, so I taught him. He has a good ear and a really good sense of rhythm. But he just doesn't have the drive or passion to do anything with it. He ended up selling his bass when he bought a house.

 

[BtaylorTheRogue]

have pretty much given up...

I took a 4 year hiatus, then remembered one day I had a guitar under my bed.