Do you get any input about what musical instrument you child will play in school?

[mjkacmom]

I'm not quite sure why I have to keep repeating that or repeating that I went to a meeting and thought I was there for my input because this wasen't assigned, its a choice for him to play. I thought that the orchestra and band teachers wanted to hear any concerns from parents along with any instrument background their child has, obviously I misunderstood and felt like what I said was just blown off.
I came here to ask what other school's do because I was curious if they did take into account anything the parent had to say, I didn't come here to vent and whine that my ds has to play the violin.

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I think you found your answer. Most parent meetings are about what the childrens' responsibility will be, what the expectations are. I've never heard of a music program where the teachers want parental input. In middle school and high school, I have to sign the sheet of the courses my children have chosen. I have to sign the sheet of the instrument they've chosen (our school provides them - we are also allowed to rent newer ones). That's about it.

 

[lillygator]

what kind of personality issues could he have to not gel with the violin....doesn't this strike anyone as odd?

 

[Magpie]

what kind of personality issues could he have to not gel with the violin....doesn't this strike anyone as odd?

Well, she mentioned he was in therapy. I assumed her son has an anxiety disorder, or something similar.

She went to the meeting assuming that she could say, "I believe drums would be a better fit, since my son is already familiar with them." But she was dismayed to discover that instruments had already been determined, and no one wanted to hear her opinion on the matter. It was just an info session, but she didn't know that, so she found the experience very off-putting.

 

[Kathi OD]

In our schools the students get to pick their instrument. If every kid picks the sax, that's what they play. The only exception is the trombone. If a student's arm isn't long enough, they have to wait until they grow "into" it. In over 25 years, we've never had every student pick the same instrument. The philosophy is that the students will devote more time to learning an instrument that they personally chose. Sometimes, after a several lessons, the band teacher may ask a student to change instruments, especially if the child is having problems with the instrument they chose.

 

[luvmy3]

Well, she mentioned he was in therapy. I assumed her son has an anxiety disorder, or something similar.

She went to the meeting assuming that she could say, "I believe drums would be a better fit, since my son is already familiar with them." But she was dismayed to discover that instruments had already been determined, and no one wanted to hear her opinion on the matter. It was just an info session, but she didn't know that, so she found the experience very off-putting.

Yes, it has nothing do do with the violin specifically, however I do know how hard and frustrating it was for my dd when she first started it so I do have some knowledge of what my ds is in for and how he is going to re-act to it. I also want to say that I didn't find the entire experience off-putting, when I met with the band teacher there was definitely a different vibe. I just assumed something that wasnt the case, and it was pretty obvious during the meeting what I thougt I was there for, the orchestra teacher could have handled it differently instead of ignoring what my concerns were she could have simply said we focus more on what the child wants and what fits them best, or something to that effect.


Truth is if I was really trying to control what he played- I would have told him not to put it on his list, or I would have filled it out myself

 

[MM27]

In our schools the students get to pick their instrument. If every kid picks the sax, that's what they play. The only exception is the trombone. If a student's arm isn't long enough, they have to wait until they grow "into" it. In over 25 years, we've never had every student pick the same instrument. The philosophy is that the students will devote more time to learning an instrument that they personally chose. Sometimes, after a several lessons, the band teacher may ask a student to change instruments, especially if the child is having problems with the instrument they chose.

Our violin teacher won't teach kids that are left handed She said it's too hard for her.

The instumental teacher has also mentioned the long arms for trombone, but I don't remember ever having a student that picked trombone.

 

[golfgal]

Our violin teacher won't teach kids that are left handed She said it's too hard for her.

The instumental teacher has also mentioned the long arms for trombone, but I don't remember ever having a student that picked trombone.

Our DS17 was the shortest kid in his class in 4th grade when they picked instruments and he had zero problems playing the trombone-he did need to use his toe to clean out his spit valve though.

 

[powellrj]

In our schools the students get to pick their instrument. If every kid picks the sax, that's what they play. The only exception is the trombone. If a student's arm isn't long enough, they have to wait until they grow "into" it. In over 25 years, we've never had every student pick the same instrument. The philosophy is that the students will devote more time to learning an instrument that they personally chose. Sometimes, after a several lessons, the band teacher may ask a student to change instruments, especially if the child is having problems with the instrument they chose.

You post stuck me, when my DS was in middle school, he really wanted to play the sax and was assigned the trombone. He REALLY didn't want to play the trombone and I really couldn't see spending the $40 a month we would have to pay for rental and fees to play something he didn't want to play.

He went with general music and took private guitar lessons on his own time. It was the best situation for us. He wasn't that invested in being in band anyway and once he got to high school discovered show choir which was a great fit for him.

His general music teacher was wonderful. He had a wife who is a professional christian artist and a brother who is a recording artist. That turned out to be a great fit for a kid that is going to college to be an entertainment lawyer!

 

[jen0610]

Our violin teacher won't teach kids that are left handed She said it's too hard for her.

The instumental teacher has also mentioned the long arms for trombone, but I don't remember ever having a student that picked trombone.

It is crazy at DS middle school, what the kids will pick from year to year. The kids have to start band in 6th, otherwise they can't take in 7th or 8th. When he started in 6th, no one picked the trombone.

Forward to his 7th grade year and that years 6th grade band had 9 kids playing trombone. And that 6th grade class was huge - 58 kids. Jump again to his 8th grade year and that incoming 6th grade class had 2 playing the trombone. When the 7th grade came up to play, they were down to 5 trombone players and they had lost about 20 kids in total from the band.

The poor stings class for 7th and 8th grade this year, were 5 kids stong, 4 8th graders and 1 7th grader. But the 6th grade class had 24 kids in it. Here is hoping that several of them stay with it for the next two years.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Our violin teacher won't teach kids that are left handed She said it's too hard for her.

The instumental teacher has also mentioned the long arms for trombone, but I don't remember ever having a student that picked trombone.

That is total BS. I've taught all the string instruments for over 25 years and have taught plenty of lefties who do equally as well as righties.

 

[Cindy B]

Well, that explains my DD. She wrote her top three as clarinet, flute and oboe as her third choice. Well, she came home assigned the oboe!! She's happy, so that's all that matters. My DS wants to play the bassoon, once he gets to 6th grade, guess he won't be disappointed either!! LOL!!

The oboe is tricky for a first time instruments. The reeds are more fragile and made differently than say a clarinet reed . Do not be suprised if they can't do notes or make any sounds at first, the double reed instrument is hard to master in the beginning. I'd recommend my high school age son as an oboe tutor (he does advanced wind ensemble and doing oboe for 6 years) but I think it would be a heck of a commute.

Bassoon is a HUGE instrument..

 

[trickiwoo]

For band and orchestra in the schools around here, you get to pick your own instrument. But if too many kids pick the same instrument, the teachers will try to get kids to switch to something that is less popular.

There is a benefit to playing the less popular instruments! It's easier to get into All State Band or All State Orchestra because there is less competition! My best friend in middle and high school started out playing the flute in 6th grade. She never got into All State Band because there was a lot of competition. Everyone played the flute! Then in high school, she started dating a trombone player. She switched to the trombone so she could get private lessons from her boyfriend in order to spend more time with him. After she switched, she made All State Band every year because there weren't a lot of trombone players auditioning!

 

[Talking Hands]

My oldest picked viola in 3rd grade. Her teacher advised against but my daughter was adamant she wanted viola. Well she is 32 and is playing it professionally. Younger daughter started on violin at age 5 and switched to viola as soon as she was able to. They don't have 1/10th violas. As soon as she fit a 3/4violin she switched to viola. When they had to do strings in elementary she had already played for 3 years and was allowed to continue with her principal intrament. She is 27 now and is not a professioanl musician.

 

[richmond282]

I was hoping he would get percussion since he already knows how to play from his experience on dh's kit. I think it would have been great for his self esteem and we could avoid what is ineviatble (sp?) when he starts the violin.

I did explain that it had nothing to do with his musical ability but his personality type, and I just posted above some of the reasons I have concerns about the violin, which I did tell the teacher. He did excellent on the percussion also, but I never said this was about him not getting his pick.

I don't really get this at all. How is a personality going to determine what instrment your child plays? He will have to practice no matter what instrument he plays. I am also a band director. I will only let a child TRYOUT for percussion with a recommedation from their elementary music teacher. This is not a musical recommendation either, it's a behavior issue. I refuse to give 2 wooden sticks to a behavior problem.

Also banging around on a drum at home does not a percussionist make. I have umpteen hundred kids come in every year and tell me they already can play the drums. Um, imitating a rock drummer does not count. Playing Rock band on the XBox does not count. (OP, I'm not saying that is necessarily the case for you. I just thought I'd give you a teacher's perspective.)

Band director here!
-Lots of kids don't wind up on their first choice instrument, but because it fits them well, they're better at it and they tend to enjoy it! You typically don't enjoy what is a major struggle for you, right?

And then we have an evening where all the kids try out different mouthpieces and see what fits them the best. We had like 70 kids try out for 12 percussion spots this year. Like 40 try out for 10 sax spots. Most kids leave happy, but every year we have the parent of a kid who didn't get a limited instrument yell at us because their kid didn't get what they wanted. I'm sorry, but we can't have 10 saxes in a single band! They'd never get to really play! Nor can we have umpteen percussionists - there wouldn't be parts for everyone! It's hard to convey this sometimes because we have to look out for our overall program. And you know, band teaches life lessons sometimes - like you don't always get everything you want exactly on your terms!
And some folks have brought up drum lessons - I tell you, if you want to be a percussionist and not a "drummer" take PIANO lessons and that will increase your chances of getting percussion at my school. Drumset and percussion are two different animals.

Hello, fellow band director!! I concur with everything you said other than limiting horn and baritone. I'll take ANYBODY who wants to try those.

I had a kid INSIST on playing the saxophone. His parents backed him up and rented him one. He tried that blessed thing for 2 weeks. I finally asked him. "Um, how did you do on the mouthpiece test?" (I didn't test him). He says "I couldn't make a sound at all. I tried like 5 times." Needless to say, his parents returned his saxophone that day and chose something else!

 

[richmond282]

Our violin teacher won't teach kids that are left handed She said it's too hard for her.

YIKES!! That is just ridiculous. Sounds like you guys need to hire a new violin teacher!!

 

[MinnieFlute]

I don't really get this at all. How is a personality going to determine what instrment your child plays? He will have to practice no matter what instrument he plays. I am also a band director. I will only let a child TRYOUT for percussion with a recommedation from their elementary music teacher. This is not a musical recommendation either, it's a behavior issue. I refuse to give 2 wooden sticks to a behavior problem.

Also banging around on a drum at home does not a percussionist make. I have umpteen hundred kids come in every year and tell me they already can play the drums. Um, imitating a rock drummer does not count. Playing Rock band on the XBox does not count. (OP, I'm not saying that is necessarily the case for you. I just thought I'd give you a teacher's perspective.)

Hello, fellow band director!! I concur with everything you said other than limiting horn and baritone. I'll take ANYBODY who wants to try those.

I had a kid INSIST on playing the saxophone. His parents backed him up and rented him one. He tried that blessed thing for 2 weeks. I finally asked him. "Um, how did you do on the mouthpiece test?" (I didn't test him). He says "I couldn't make a sound at all. I tried like 5 times." Needless to say, his parents returned his saxophone that day and chose something else!

Well, hi! We do occasionally have to coax kids into playing one of those instruments, but we typically get the spots filled. We have a pretty big program for a junior high and it's hard to justify giving a kid who has no chance of sticking with it a school-owned horn, kwim?

And AGREED on what you said about percussionists. The kid who comes into the tryout with their own drumsticks NEVER gets percussion because they have this completely different idea in their head of what percussion is about. When they come out with "timpani rock band" maybe we'll consider it! Again, not necessarily saying this is the OP, but just to perhaps give you the teachers' perspective, they are very very different.

As a little rant here, I really wish all of the parents would see that we're the experts on this stuff (to be fair, most do, but there are a few). The drum thing is something we encounter a lot. We get a lot of complaining about not getting sax. And we don't give in when we're pushed hard about it because that is a BAD precedent to set. As I said, we have instrumentation down the line to worry about and believe it or not, we WANT your child to succeed!

Now, I will tell you I have never heard of pre-assigned instruments! How weird (to me at least)! Our kids at least get some input and feedback on why decisions are made. A couple of "interview nights" where the kids will tryout instruments will sure save some headaches later! Another example (in addition to my flute example in my PP) is a kid with super thick lips will probably have a hard time on trumpet - the mouthpiece is too small. I can't imagine not knowing any of that stuff and saying "okay, flute for you!" And then having to switch after an instrument has been acquired? Yikes, it seems like a pain!

It is interesting to me seeing how differently things are done across the country.

 

[McKelly]

The oboe is tricky for a first time instruments. The reeds are more fragile and made differently than say a clarinet reed . Do not be suprised if they can't do notes or make any sounds at first, the double reed instrument is hard to master in the beginning. I'd recommend my high school age son as an oboe tutor (he does advanced wind ensemble and doing oboe for 6 years) but I think it would be a heck of a commute.

Bassoon is a HUGE instrument..

Yes, I have heard that the oboe is difficult. My DD was one of only three that could actually make a sound. The band teacher also asked her if she was "good in school", because he was only allowing students that did well academically to play the oboe, not sure what that was about.....perhaps because she will need to practice more often.

I was shocked how $$$$$ an oboe was, much more than the clarinet or flute. But she plays, or I should say honks, almost everyday, she's bound and determined, probably because I was concerned with the "what if she can't play it". Now she's going to play it just to prove me wrong!!!

As far as percussion goes, our school told kids straight out, that if they didn't already have two years of percussion experience, they would not even be considered for percussion.

 

[AristocatFan]

When they come out with "timpani rock band" maybe we'll consider it!

DS(16) would love this! He played timpani in middle school. The one thing I love about percussion is all the different instruments the kids get to play. Well, at least that's how it's done here. DS can play marimba, vibraphone, xylophone, cowbell, brake drum, shaker, timpani, steel drum, bass, snare, concert bass, and this summer he is marching tenors. Marching tenors at State Fair was his ultimate goal and he was ecstatic when he got the part!