Casually Introducing Violin to a 3 year-old
My 3 1/2 year old nephew has shown steady interest in my violin for the last 18 months. I'm an adult beginner(only been playing 18 months) but I have a supportive family so at big family gatherings they'd ask me to bring it out and play them a little tune. My nephew was terrified of the loud noise at first, it probably didn't help that I was squeaking and playing out of tune. To get him over the fear I let him carefully pluck the strings and I taught him they have letter names. He liked that a lot. He'd hold the electric tuner and tell me which letter I was playing. I'm not sure he knows what the letters really mean but he likes it, as long as the rubber mute is on so it isn't too loud.
So then when he was about 2 1/2 I started letting him hold the bow and move it on the strings while I held the violin. We play Twinkle like that. He'll bow(and sing along haha) and I'll do the fingerings and tilt the violin to change strings. He can't get enough of it! We can play Twinkle like that for a full 45 minute and he doesn't get bored. Eventually his arms get tired and I'll play myself and he'll dance. If I put the violin away he'll sneak off later and retrieve it and ask to play again. Poor little guy is so tiny though that he can't lift the case so he has to push it down the hallway.
But now I've upgraded from my beginner violin and bow to a nice one and I'm nervous of letting him play it like my old one. He does still on occasion need reminding that he isn't trying to saw through the strings and no the bow is NOT a light sabre and no bowing as fast as humanly possible while jumping up and down isn't a good idea either. Afterall he IS three. He gets excited.
I was wondering if I could buy a super cheap 1/16 violin to take along with me on my visits to my sister's house to let him try to play with supervision. I'd have to tell him it's mine because my sister would never actually let him have a violin and take lessons. Too noisy. I wouldn't want to leave him unattended with an instrument anyway, no matter how inexpensive since I don't want him to get the idea it's something he can throw around like a toy. But my concern is that letting him saw away on a tiny violin would be detrimental to any learning he might do in the future if my sister does break down and get him lessons. Is this a reasonable fear? I do still want to nuture his interest. Is there a better way to do it? Also I don't want to "teach" him wrong but he'll need basic stuff like how to hold the violin. As a beginner myself I'm am not really qualified to give any quality instruction.
Oh and hi everyone. I've been lurking here since I started my very first lessons, but I've never had anything to say before. :)
Replies (14)
Seems like you are already on the right track
- obviously be gentle, patient
- Develop his curiosity ...stories, coloring
- exposure to a brief performance...Utube or a DVD/Video segment might work. Child probably won't have the dicipline or patience to endure an entire performance. Most adults don't either.
- You are already demonstrating... but remember; always in multiples of short spurts for the reasons stated above
- Once, he has one "in hand" constant supervision...It is special and not a toy should be your battle cry (not the best term I guess)
I would discourage you from getting him a little violin. I see the real issue here as his mother's reluctance to provide lessons & to devote her time to attending lessons & practicing with him. Giving him a violin to take home courts disaster, and potentially raises his parents' hackles. It's like saying you know better how to raise their kid. Maybe you do ;), but you're not. Continue what you're doing. If you give gifts, make them of music. CDs of many instruments, styles, folk musics, etc., not just strings. Maybe take him to kid-concerts. If there are other nieces or nephews, take them, too. No, not all at the same time :) If your nephew stays as interested in violin or in music, he'll find a way when he's older. At that point, you can help with lessons, instruments,etc., if you want & are able, and it probably wouldn't raise the same potential conflicts. After all, It is only since the 1960's (in Japan) and 70's on (here, Europe) that violin for very little children has come in vogue. Sue
I did buy tiny violins, so that my interested 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 year old grandchildren could play along while their 7 year-old cousin/sister (whom I had been giving lessons) played at family gatherings. I kept the violins and only let them use them at my house (if I recall correctly).
It was easy to teach them to hold a bow reasonably correctly and they were satisfied just to play open strings. Neither one of them became violinists, but they are definitely musicians with music being about the most important things in their lives ---still----14 years later.
The oldest grandchild continued to take violin lessons with me for 10 years, played with her HS chamber music groups for two years and did carry her violin across the US for her first year of college.
So I'm in favor of sharing violin with young people who are ready to use it for music and not for hammering.
Andy
I would discourage you from getting him a little violin. I see the real issue here as his mother's reluctance to provide lessons & to devote her time to attending lessons & practicing with him. Giving him a violin to take home courts disaster, and potentially raises his parents' hackles. It's like saying you know better how to raise their kid.
Oops I think I was a little unclear. I don't want to leave it with him, that seems like a disaster waiting to happen. It would be noisy (my sister would kill me) and it would get broken because he's three years old. I was just going to bring it when I visit like I always bring my violin with me. I usually spend a week at a time out visiting my sister so my violin always comes along for the ride so I can practice. I was just wondering if I should/could bring a tiny one along for the rides as well.
Not unless you plan on consistently teaching the violin to your nephew. Otherwise it would be unfair of you. "Here's a nice, shiny new your sized violin I bought just for you but I get to take it home with me." Very few 3 1/2 year olds will understand that logic.
What you can do is make your nephew a box violin. Either buy one: http://www.amazon.com/Cherub-Training-Box-Violin-Size/dp/B001NYVOIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1269162981&sr=8-1 Or make one: http://www.csus.edu/stringproject/instruments/making.htm (These instructions are a bit complex. Just tape a paint stick to a mostly empty fruit roll up box and wrap up the box with shelving paper or wrapping paper)
That way he'll have something that's HIS that he can take home and practice on. Show him how to hold the box violin under his chin. There's not much damage he can do with a box violin and maybe his mom will be more inclined to sign him up for lessons if she sees him working on one.
The cardboard stringless violin is really not a good idea. Even a 2 year old is smart enough to know when a violin is not a violin, especially if he has ever actually actually made noise with a real one. It's kind of like a real violinist having to settle for an inferior instrument after having had a good one.
No strings, no sound!
I got one once for the little 2-year old sister of a couple of my teenage students. Her fascination did not last beyond realizing it could not make music. But she had been fascinated with her brothers' daily music making since birth, so nothing was really going to discourage her in the long run.
She finally became my violin student shortly before her 6th birthday and was old enough to treat a real violin with respect.
Andy
Yeah I don't think he'd be too keen on the cardboard violin simply because I think 90% of the reason he likes my violin is because he gets to make noise.
Andrew, I'm really interested in the specifics of how you managed to introduce those little violins to your grandchildren. Did you correct them a little bit so that they could play open strings without squeaking? Did you suggest certain strings to play so that when they played along it matched the music being played? My mother(guitar), brother(electric guitar), step-father(banjo), and I all will play folk songs together and I think if my nephew could even eventually play open strings along with us he'd have a lot of fun and would be excited at the idea of participating.
And please everyone don't assume my sister isn't a music hating parent for not getting him violin lessons. She just hates the hight pitch sounds of the violin. And she is actually looking into getting him piano lessons after he matures just a little bit. He has shown a similar facination with the piano at his grandparents' houses. He seems a little more intense about the violin but I think that's just because we play it together and make real songs. He's a very bright little kid(I know everyone thinks their kid is bright :P) and whatever instrument he ends up with I think he'll do really well. He certainly has an intense interest in music....or it could just be an interest in noise making, I guess time will tell. ;)
My grandson has a VSO he can play when he wants, but he usually doesn't; I also got him a ukulele that he plays quite a bit. I took off the fishing line it had, and restrung it with a retires set of violin strings, in GDAE. That way, he can make some of the same notes I make.
Instead of focusing on the violin, maybe give the concept that he can make music, instead of listen? Then he can choose his own instrument.
The no sound thing is a downside to a box violin (or perhaps an upside?). But half the reason why the nephew is so interested is because he is doing something that an adult he looks up to is doing. Consider how kids like to shave with dad or put on make-up with mom. They're not disappointed when the razor has no blades in it. It's the act of being able to imitate that makes him interested.
At the age of 3 singing, listening, and clapping along to a lot of music is probably just right. For even the most motivated kid (esp. a boy) to play the violin the immediate family has to be willing to push them to practice at times so the parents have to be on board.
I would think if the child really comes the love the violin he'll ask about it eventually. I know that I actually asked if I can try the violin when I was about 8 (my father loved the violin, but never tried to get me to play). I think it might be more useful to buy a recording of the twinkle variations of mozart on itunes and burn a cd telling his parents he loves to sing along with twinkle twinkle than it would be to buy a tiny violin for him to play with for short periods of time and risking irritating his mother.
Maybe you can work on the mother's attitude toward the violin too. Add in some of the mozart violin sonatas with the twinkle (I recommend Grumiaux, K304 and K301) or maybe a relatively cheap CD (I have a nice recording of works by Schubert by Pamela and Claude Frank that was like 6 dollars). If you can get him to sing along with these too even better (I think singing along with a variety of music is really helpful for children)
I have to agree with Joseph. The main advantage of starting violin or some other fretless instrument in the pre-K years is the ear training. This happens with repeated listening to simple tunes, something that three-year-olds tend to like anyway. They learn the intervals, first a fifth then the others, by passively listening (although nobody would expect them to name the notes or draw them or read them). They also develop a melody memory and an ability to mimic and match the pitches and rhythms. They are setting up their mental map of music which easily generalizes to any instrument. When you give them an instrument they then find the notes in their ear on the instrument, very easily. These skills once developed also lead to a comfort in improvising, joining in jam sessions, etc... So, maybe the most profitable thing you could do would be to give your niece the first two or three volumes of Suzuki tunes, and some recordings of folk tunes intended for children to sing along to. The Fun and Folk series is really good and has tunes that once learned can be used in Bluegrass sessions.
As someone who has had a violin in her hand since the tender age of 3 (actually 2 1/2) I would say if your nephew shows an interest...please put a violin in his hand and get him started. Now, if his parent has no interest, you may have to take over the reins when it comes to getting him lessons, and probably purchasing him his violins as he grows...but music is such an important part of a child's growing process...anytime they show an interest, I believe in feeding it.
K Gray,
I use a wood pencil to help teach people how to hold a bow - and I did that with the little kids. Then (within minutes) I let them try it with the violin bow and then we added the violin. I did not direct them in any way as to which strings to play on. But these were kids who had already demonstrated a love of musical sound in a number of ways. Being able to play on the violins became one of the percs of visiting their grandparents.
My own background included being given my own violin as a present by a grandparent on my 4th birthday. I played it daily to my heart's content for 6 months before my parents got my violin lessons going - to preserve their own sanity. I did have the example of my own father's daily violin practice to encourage me - but I was never (never - ever, even 10 and more years later) given violin instruction at home unless I specifically asked for it. Then it was given freely. I had "my own teacher." My father had his own teacher.
(Some people have very acute high-frequency hearing and sensitivity to the sounds that are part of string-instrument (especcially violin) overtones. If you have to play around such people, you may need to use an appropriate mute and close doors. Also be careful to not bow with excess pressure or too close to the bridge - both of which can increase the offending sounds. - and yes, some violins just sound bad and especially so to those sensitive to it and it can take a really good player to make them less offensive.)
Andy
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March 20, 2010 at 03:17 AM ·
Of course you are not his mother, but the best solution would be for his mother to find a good Suzuki violin teacher for him. That way he will learn good habits early on. With an experienced teacher and a dedicated parent and a reasonably coachable three year old, this is a perfect time to start.