Children in Bluegrass - How young should they start learning?

[sarai]

it all boils down to how much you want to play with them. Kids learn to speak 'cause we speak to them. I'd liken that to a musical journey.

true - it's good for my own practice too !

[Ivan Kelsall]

Jeff - I still can't come to terms with the fact that i waited until i was 60 years of age to begin playing the mandolin,an instrument i'd loved the sound of for over 40 years. I was 18 when i began playing banjo (1963),just at the time when the Folk music boom was kicking off over here. In fact i couldn't have timed it better,because prior to that the banjo was mainly a dead duck. However on mandolin i'm making up for lost time,still sticking it 3-4 hours a day - & loving every second of it,
Ivan

[sarai]

I don't know any musician who doesn't wish he(she) started earlier.
I wish I started ten years before I was born, actually.

I still can't come to terms with the fact that i waited until i was 60 years of age to begin playing the mandolin

How old were some of you when you started playing, how many years has it been for you now? And what is your proficiency after that time?

i'm making up for lost time,still sticking it 3-4 hours a day

Wow I wish I could find that much time to put in it. I'm lucky if I get a 1/2 hour or an hour.

[sarai]

PS - Last night I asked my littlest guy what instrument he wanted to learn? And he said "the thing like you got mom" (Mandolin of course). I told him I could get him a mini guitar but he likes the mandolin. So I played cripple creek for him and put around his shoulder and had him play just the first 2 notes of it. It was a 3 minute lesson before he lost interest but he had a glow on his face just for playing those first 2 notes and left the "lesson" with a smile. I guess that is a good start! We'll try again later... guess I'll keep strapping it on him and letting him play a couple more notes.

The thought occured to me with the Mando though - it'd be a long stinkin' time before he could play chop chords, his hands are so small? But I suppose I could try what someone suggested about putting a capo on for awhile to make the frets closer together - when he's ready to try chopping anyway - which could be awhile.

[greg_tsam]

How old were some of you when you started playing, how many years has it been for you now? And what is your proficiency after that time?

I was 33 and 41 now. 8 years. Just as soon as I start thinking I'm getting better I have a breakthrough in learning and then realize how much further I have to go. My ear keeps getting more refined so my playing technique gets better but I hear more things I want to sound like and/or change in my style/sound.

My son is 4 12 now and with a family full of musicians I always figured he'd naturally get into it but lately I've been wanting to encourage it without pushing. If I ask if he wants to play he'll sit with it a strum, mock chords like me then give it back after a minute or two. I don't know if his fingers are ready yet.

[catmandu2]

May as well weigh in on the poll-

I started playing around with guitars at 8, started sax in school at 9, classical guitar at 15, and so on for the ensuing 44 years

Perhaps significant--since my parents weren't players themselves--is that my mom sang all the time around the house. Now I do the same thing. I believe singing is very important

[Ivan Kelsall]

Sari - I'm 67 (68 next Jan.) I began playing banjo in 1963 aged 18. By the time i was 20 i had a band together that was good enough to open for Bill Monroe when his band came over a year later in '66.I spent every spare second playing banjo as long as i had my studies done (i was working & also taking exams). I bought every Bluegrass record that i could find over here & one of them was 'Ragged But Right" by the Greenbriar Boys - Bob Yellin - banjo / Ralph Rinzler - mandolin & John Herald - guitar & vocals. On the LP was the song 'I Cried Again' with for me (still) the finest Monroe style intro ever not played by Bill Monroe,it shook me rigid & i've loved mandolin ever since. What stopped me playing ? - well,thinking about it,i'd have been hard driven to actually find a mandolin over here in the UK. The real reason was a bit of 'twisted thinking' that goes something like this:- A mandolin is tuned like a violin - violins are used in Classical music - Classical music is 'hard to play' - therefore mandolins must be hard to play. I didn't think that i was should we say 'musically adept' enough to play one,so, the mandolin was condemned to wait 40 years for my loving devotion.
I've been playing for 7 years in Sept. & i must have put in over 9,000 hours of playing in that time. 3-4 hours is what i'm putting in now.I used to get at least 6 in every day since i retired (early) in 2007. I've amazed myself. Tunes i never though i'd come anywhere close to playing,i can play very well.The big plus point though,is that playing banjo for so many years 'by ear',has given me the ability to pick up tunes very quickly purely by listening.That doesn't mean that i found the tunes easy to play,but if you get the tune 'in your head',you're half way there. The way i do it is to search for the 'sounds' on the fingerboard & note ( no pun intended ) where they are so i can get 'em next time. Over time,i can almost instantly find the 'sounds' i'm hearing on recordings & find them on my mandolin.I know that they are actually musical 'notes',but you can find them as 'sounds' without knowing the actual name of the note - the position on the fingerboard will 'name them' for you.
As for my proficiency - i can play such tunes as 'Rebecca' & 'Amandalina' by Herschel Sizemore,also his version of 'Grey Eagle'.
I can play John Reischman's tune "Eighth of February",a tune i never thought i'd be able to play,& many more.All i've done is stick at it & practice,practice,practice.I'm very mindful of the fact that other folk don't have a 1/10 of the time to put in as i do. I'm also mindful of my age & as i'm not going to live for ever,if i'm ever going to be a reasonable player,i'd better get it done !. One last fact - i take my playing very seriously.I want to be as good as the 'best'. That's the driving force behind my playing.The fact that i never will be doesn't enter into the equation - i'll still 'try to be',
Ivan

[greg_tsam]

Very nice, Ivan. I hope to continue learning and live as long.

[Charlieshafer]

Hey Sarai, one thing we do with all the real little ones who want to play mandolin are put old Stellas or Regals or Washburns in their hands. For some reason, the frets and strings of the old cheap instruments are really easy to push down. I'm, sure it's all a part of light gauge strings, flat tops (do these take less tension on the strings due to the flat soundboard?) or whatever, but they're really inexpensive compared to the nice ones, are just playable enough that there's a level of satisfaction, and no, we don't teach chop chord until they're older. We reduce them all down to two-fingered chords, which while they may be less interesting, are very easy to learn and fret. Many times, you just play two strings, but who cares? At that age, it's supposed to be all about the fun.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Hi Greg - Believe in yourself & you'll do it !. It was 'self-doubt' over the mandolin that robbed me of 40 years of incredible enjoyment. I'm making up for lost time,although realistically,you can't ever do that. Enjoy each day you get to play. I'll be working my way through my 2 new CD's today - Del McCoury's "Old Memories" - The Songs of Bill Monroe & his Fiddle player,Jason Carter's CD "On The Move". A new day,a new challenge = (hopefully) ''improvement''.The jury's out on that right now,
Ivan

[Santiago]

Five is too young for most on fiddle.

[oldwave maker]

Our oldest started with banjo on the belly in utero, 'flunked' out of suzuki violin at the tender age of 4, started mando ($90 kentucky)at 6, much later won the utah state fiddle, mando, and guitar championships, rockygrass dobro, etc. Younger started on $39 tiny nylon string guitar, then $80 pawnshop alvarez. We played fun silly stuff every night after dinner for 45 mins by the time the boys were 7 and 10, and when we made them learn Osborne brothers tunes they would go to the phone and pretend to report us to child protective services for child abuse! We live so far out in the country I tell people they learned to play rock and roll on butane guitars. They went occasionally to Steve Smith for lessons, always liked performing at that age at Sarah's Closet for pie, ice cream, and chateau coca-cola. We always tried to keep it fun, but performance videos from their teen years look like they're being tortured. Now in their early 30's, one a physicist and one a medical research manager, last month at grandma's 90th birthday party they did a slammin fiddle/guitar/vocals duet version of Tony Rice's Church Street Blues......

[mingusb1]

Bill, that is great photo! And I like your tie. Looks like you are sheriff of that there outfit!

Z

[Mandolin Mick]

As long as they're interested and it's not being shoved down their throat, I think that around 4 years old is appropriate, the same that they would begin other kinds of education.

[stonefingers]

I have four children and all of them play (as do my wife and I).

The youngest is now 7, but has been playing guitar since he was 5.
The next, is 9 and plays fiddle, but before we got her started on that (at the first of this year), she was working with a Dobro starting at around 6 or 7, learning chord changes and playing in time. We like the dobro because of the open tuning and idea of "counting chords" using the bar.
My next is 11 and has been playing banjo since she was 9 and before that also messed with the dobro and some mandolin.
My oldest is 16 and has been playing guitar for several years. She started on fiddle when she was about 5, but never really took to it. She too spent some time with the Dobro learning all the same stuff, and then moved on to guitar. This works well for her because she is also a lead singer.

I can definitely echo what many have already said here, start 'em early, expose 'em to as much music (live and otherwise) as possible, and keep it fun. My kids have been going to jams and festivals since they were babies. Have we had teachers on and off for each one? SURE! But it was always someone that understood that music is supposed to be fun. A lot of what they each have learned though has been through watching others and participating in jams. You'd be amazed at how willing most people are at a jam to stop and show something new to a child that is trying.

As a dad, there is no cooler feeling than walking through the house and hearing each one in a different room (voluntarily) pickin' on their instrument; OR, better yet, when we all get together and just jam for a while. I'll take that over video games and "mall runs" any day!

[catmandu2]

S-fingers, that is very cool. The mall is a hell and the tube a cornucopia of dung. Sharp contrasts to ways of life: we are so privileged to not only be parents and teachers, but to be fluent in so enjoyable and elegant a medium as music--comprising one of the great beauties in life. Beyond the benefits of music studies to impart discipline, a parent may dwell with child in a space full of subtlety, sincereity and honesty, peace, ecstasy, beauty, history, mythology, mystery... Few activities afford such opportunities.

Fingers and Bill have hit the jackpot--perhaps they have provided just the right amount of encouragement and other environmental factors to induce the kind of wonderment and desire that often is only assuaged through involvement in highly creative pursuits. these gentlemen obviously possess an intuition or affinity for nurturing through music--one of the more sensitive and imaginative of mutual activities, and a language accessible to both child and adult with equal profundity

As a dad, this is one of the more gratifying experiences we have with children

Yes, let's strive to instill the desire to pursue creativity and life of imagination

[J.Albert]

"Children in Bluegrass - How young should they start learning?"

As soon as you can get something into their hands that "fits".

They'll take care of the rest...

[Jared Heddinger]

I'm only 16 and I wish I had started music earlier. If I had started mandolin (or violin, or mandocello, or Uilleann Pipes for the matter) when I was younger, I could be so much farther along. If they like the sound of music, I say let them play. Just make sure they have enough determination and desire to do it.

[sarai]

You guys are all so encouraging. I think I might go get them some of the uke's in the short term until we have the opportunity to get them some significant instruments. I want them out in the open for them. Which I could convince DH to cut out the cartoons in our house.

[250sc]

I think you have the right idea about them being "out in the open". You'll likely find that your kids interest will come and go over time but as long as the tools are available they're more likely to pick them up.

Also, in another post you mentioned your concern about small hand size and chop chords. Show them a 2 note chop and they'll be fine. They can add the other 2 fingers in later as they grow. I know lots of adults who only use 2 notes for chops and it sounds fine.

You guys are all so encouraging. I think I might go get them some of the uke's in the short term until we have the opportunity to get them some significant instruments. I want them out in the open for them. Which I could convince DH to cut out the cartoons in our house.