Recommend an instrument for my 10 year old son

I would suggest waiting and talking to the band teacher, and have her test him out on different instruments to see which one he will do best on. The best instrument for your son will be one that he can immediately get a somewhat characteristic sound on with minimal instruction. There are different physical features that make different kids better suited for different instruments. I would not promise the trumpet right away until you find out if this is going to be a successful match for him. In my experience, the instruments that kids end up liking are the ones that they can be successful on, and not necessarily the one they think they want to do at first. There are kids I have seen where we try them out on instruments, the parents listen to what the kids think they want over what the band directors tell them is best, and the kid ends up getting easily discouraged and quitting after only one year. Keep an open mind and go see the band director. This comes from 8 years of experience as a band director on my part.

Try getting a used instrument from a reputable music store (possibly suggested to you by the teacher).

If I can help you out more, then let me know. First things first, though. Call the band director and see if she is going to have a sign-up meeting where she tries kids out on different instruments. If not, see if you can schedule an appointment with her to do this. Also, keep in mind that the band director may have a certain instrumentation needed to keep a balanced band sound. Think of it this way. In football, you can't have 10 QB's and one running back. By that same token, you can't have 40 trumpets, 1 trombone, 1 tuba, 1 flute...I think you get the picture, because the band will never sound good as a group. I hope this helps.

Joseph Botwinick

[ April 10, 2005, 07:02 PM: Message edited by: SaggyWoman ]

 

A marching band for 10 year olds? Are you sure? No offense, I mean it might work, but usually, we start beginners out in a class where we simply focus on teaching them how to read music and play their instruments. we don't mess with marching until 8th grade at the earliest.

Joseph Botwinick

 

Yes. Do this. Wait for the rental program and have her try him out on different instruments and see which one is best for him.

Joseph Botwinick

 

i play the trumpet and i love it

 

I am not sure what freecycle is. Wherever you get the instrument, I would definitely see about having the band director check it out and make sure it will be an acceptable instrument. This will save some heartache later on if she knows her instruments. I would highly recommend not playing around with instruments until Nick tries out instruments with the band director for two reasons:

1. Bad habits can be hard to break and retrain.
2. If the band director decides it would be best to go a different direction than the instrument he has already fallen in love with, there is going to be conflict.

Joseph Botwinick

 

Trumpets take a lot out of your lungs and jaws. If he's really interested though, make sure he gets checked for TMJ to be safe. Other than that, it's a rather classy instrument and very much needed in orchestras.

-David

 

I started playing the trumpet when I was in 6th grade, and it is pretty cool... common misperception is that it is really loud (of course it can be, but it can be pretty quiet too). It wasn't too hard to learn either (but maybe that's because I could already read music).