Studies have shown that music and music training provide a wealth of educational benefits to children. Early exposure to music has been proven to help develop areas of the brain responsible for language and reasoning skills. Music education also increases the spatial and temporal reasoning necessary for advanced mathematics. Children who study music typically score better on standardized testing as well.

Music education not only provides children with a terrific healthy outlet for self-expression, it enhances creativity and boosts self-esteem. There are a number of ways for parents to help their child receive quality education in music, starting as young as birth. The most important thing is to expose your child to a variety of music, including several different genres, not just classical or kids music.

Sing songs to your infant each day. Fun, repetitive songs with movements or motions are best and as your child gets older, you can encourage her to join in. By the toddler years, your little one can dance along with music. Continue to sing simple silly songs with your toddler and dance together to a variety of songs, both upbeat and slow. Toys, like the Baby Einstein Learning Sounds Piano, will allow your toddler to create her own beats and songs.

Preschool age children can begin to differentiate between tones and pitches. Play games to pick which note is higher and which is lower. Introduce your preschooler to the specific sounds made by various instruments as well. Continue to listen to many different types of music with your preschooler and discuss how various pieces make you and our child feel.

Make musical instruments with your preschooler and play them together. Shakers are easy to make out of ordinary household items. Attach two paper plates together with a hole puncher and yarn or cover the ends of a toilet paper tube with construction paper and fill either with dry beans or rice. A coffee can and lid can be used as a drum. Have fun and use your imagination to create your own family band.

You may want to start formal music education with music lessons at this age. Discuss how various instruments are played and allow your child to choose the one he would like to learn. Visit a symphony or orchestra performance to investigate the various instruments. Piano lessons are typically best for this age because your child will learn to read and play music without having to remember difficult fingering techniques.

Continue your childs music education as she enters elementary school. As your child gets older, she may begin to prefer a certain genre of music, but keep exposing her to a variety of music. Allow her to start learning an instrument by this age and make practice a part of her daily routine. Provide your child with encouragement and support in her musical endeavors.

By the middle school and high school years, encourage your child to be a part of a band, symphony, or orchestra. Playing music as a group provides even more developmental benefits than playing alone and a teenagers involvement in a quality music program is important for self-development.

Music, even without the educational benefits research has proven, is a fun and relaxing pastime. Start at a very young age to instill the love of music in your child and continue throughout her childhood to provide an excellent musical education that will drive her future success.


Which Musical Instrument is Recommended for Beginners?
by Henry Genry



Which Musical Instrument is Recommended for Beginners?


You have decided to take up a musical instrument but you are not sure which one to
choose. When deciding to purchase a musical instrument there are a number of factors that
might influence your buying decision:


* Will the instrument I choose be affordable? * Which instruments are easy to learn and
which are difficult to learn? * Will it be a quiet instrument or a noisy one? * If I dont choose a
popular instrument will I be able to find a teacher easily? * Is the musical instrument of my
choice popular or is it an instrument that not many people play? * How much will a lesson
cost? * I want to choose a musical instrument that I can play in a band. What instruments
should I choose? * I want to play a certain type of music. Which musical instruments are
suitable for different styles?


In the following article I will be answering all of the above.


Here is a list of musical instruments to choose from listed in popularity, with the number 1
being the most popular:


1) Guitar 2) Piano 3) Keyboard 4) Drums 5) Violin 6) Cello 7) Flute 8) Saxophone 9) Clarinet
10) Trumpet/Cornet 11) Trombone 12) French Horn 13) Banjo 14) Recorder 15) Viola 16)
Tuba 17) Oboe


You can see a list of all musical instruments here: Musical Instrument Shop. Lots of
information and choice. Buy Musical Instruments here


Will the instrument I choose be affordable?
If you want to buy a musical instrument but dont wont to spend too much money I would
choose either a guitar, keyboard, violin, clarinet or trumpet. These instruments are the
cheapest to buy when starting out.


Which musical instruments are easy to learn and which are difficult to learn?
The easiest musical instruments to learn from the list above are: Guitars, Drums and
Recorders.


Guitar
The guitar should be easy to pick a few chords and you can almost start strumming and
playing a simple tune from your first lesson. It is best advised to learn the classical guitar
first as it has nylon strings and will be easier on the fingers than a steel strung electric or
acoustic guitar.


Drums
Drums are fairly easy to learn as well. The important thing is to feel the rhythm, once you
have this, everything else should be easy to pick up.


Recorder
The recorder is probably the easiest of all musical instruments to learn. Most children at
school take up this instrument before progressing on to the clarinet, flute or saxophone
which is much more difficult to learn.


The most difficult musical instruments to learn from the list above are: Oboe, French horn,
Trumpet and Piano.


The Oboe
The Oboe is probably the most difficult musical instrument to learn. It is very difficult to even
produce a sound at first, let alone a musical note. This instrument can take many years to
master


The French Horn
The French horn also takes quite a while to get the hang of. The sound is produced not only
by blowing, but by creating an embouchure and buzzing the lips to control the air stream,
which in turn creates the correct pitch to produce the note. Then the correct valves that
correspond to the right pitch have to be learnt. The hand is also used to help the quality of
sound by placing in the bell. Wow! Perhaps this is not a great instrument for beginners!


The Trumpet
The trumpet is considered difficult to learn initially because of the techniques needed
(similar to the French horn but without using the hand in the bell). The difficult thing about
the trumpet is trying to make a nice sound which can take a few years to perfect.


The Piano
Although it is easy to make a sound on a piano, just by pressing any note you sound like a
professional, the piano is very difficult when you need to play more than one note at a time.
All the above instruments require you to play just one note at a time but with the piano
sometimes you need to use every finger and thumb at the same time! You also need to
learn two different clefs, and to learn to read this at the same time is not easy at first.


Will it be a quiet musical instrument or a noisy one?
Do you have neighbours that dont appreciate music? And they live right next to you with thin
walls. Do you want to play late at night or early in the morning Are you embarrassed that you
are not making a good sound yet, or you dont want people to hear what you are playing.


If any of the above is true, you need a quite musical instrument or at least one that you can
play with headphones or adjust the sound electronically.


If you want to learn a quiet musical instrument, then choose one of the following: Guitar,
Piano, Keyboard, Recorder, Clarinet or Flute.


The Classical guitar is very quite and delicate but not the electric or acoustic guitar which
are very noisy when amplified!


You can plug headphones in to a digital piano or keyboard or you can turn the sound down.
This is the ideal instrument to buy if you dont want to make any noise. The acoustic piano
(also known as the upright or grand piano) is very noisy and should be avoided if you need
some peace.


The Recorder is fairly quiet, apart from the high notes, so this instrument would be ok. The
Clarinet is a fairly quiet instrument. It does really depend on how it is played. The Flute is
also quiet but the sound can be a bit piercing on the higher notes.





If I dont choose a popular musical instrument, will I be able to find a teacher easily?
You can find a musical instrument teacher almost anywhere; there are literally tens of
thousands in the UK. You will almost certainly have no problem finding a teacher if you play
the more popular musical instruments: guitar, piano, keyboard, drums or violin.





Is the musical instrument of my choice popular or is it an instrument that not many people
play?
Please see the above list of musical instruments. They are listed in order of popularity,
number 1 being the most popular instrument.


There are a few guides to find out if a musical instrument is popular. Just look at a
symphony orchestra or a wind band and count the number of instruments there are and how
many there are of each. You will find that there are lots of violins and percussion (clarinets
and flutes in the wind band case) which means that there is no shortage of people learning
these instruments. You will also find that there is only one tuba, one oboe, a few french
horns, a few flutes, a few clarinets etc. Of course this is only a guide, as some of the other
popular musical instruments such as the guitar, piano and keyboard are not normally found
in a symphony orchestra.





How much will a lesson cost?
Individual musical instrument lessons can cost between £8 and £20 for half an hour. Group
instrument lessons £5 to £12. Popular musical instruments are normally cheap than not so
popular instruments, normally because there is no shortage of teachers and competition
tends to bring the prices down. It is normally better to learn instruments in a group rather
than learn individually. Group learning is much more fun as every one is the same level as
you and you can share experiences together. Individual instrument lessons can be too
serious for a beginner and can actually put you off learning music because of this. However,
individual lessons are a must when you get to a certain level of proficiency.





I want to choose a musical instrument that I can play in a band. Which instrument should I
choose?
The best musical instruments to learn if you want to play in band are: Guitar, Saxophone,
Clarinet, Violin or Cornet.


This list might be considered a strange one, but let me explain the reasoning behind this.


* The guitar is second-to-none as a solo instrument for a band. If you are the lead guitarist
(electric guitar), you get all the limelight. You can play great riffs from all the famous songs.


* The Saxophone is a great solo instrument and if you play in a jazz band or big band you
get lots of solos to play.


* The clarinet is the king of the wind band; it is the orchestras equivalent of the lead violin. In
a wind band you get to play lots of solos and intricate melodies.


* The Violin is a fantastic solo instrument and orchestral instrument. Many of the great
composers have written beautiful solos and melodies for this instrument.


* The Cornet is the king of the brass band. This instrument has one of the most delightful
sounds of all. The cornet is given the lead role in a brass band and is featured in all the best
arrangements. The lead cornet player gets to play many solos.


I want to play a certain type of music. Which musical instruments are suitable for different
styles?



Here is a list of different music styles: Rock, Classical, Pop, heavy Metal, R&B, Jazz,
Blues, Folk, Carribean, African, Latin, Dance, Country, Rap, Hip Hop, Christian, Opera. This
list below would be endless if I went in to it in great detail, so here is a short list.


1) Guitar. The electric or bass guitar is suitable for pop, rock, R&B, heavy metal,
R&B, Jazz and blues, the classical guitar for classical music, the acoustic guitar for pop
and folk. 2) Piano. The acoustic piano is suitable for classical, jazz, blues and dance. 3)
Digital Piano/Keyboard is suitable for pop music, dance, jazz and blues. 4) Drums are
suitable for pop, rock, classical, jazz, African - well, almost everything! 5) Violin is suitable for
classical, folk, country and dance. 6) Cello is suitable for classical. 7) Flute is suitable for
classical. 8) Saxophone is suitable for jazz, blues, pop. 9) Clarinet is suitable for classical,
jazz and blues. 10) Trumpet/Cornet is suitable for classical, jazz, blues and dance. 11)
Trombone is suitable for classical, jazz and blues. 12) French horn is suitable for classical.
13) Banjo is suitable for country and folk. 14) Recorder is suitable for classical. 15) Viola is
suitable for classical. 16) Tuba is suitable for classical. 17) Oboe is suitable for classical.


I hope that you now feel more informed and can make a decision on which musical
instrument is best for your needs. If you need more information about musical instruments I
can recommend visiting the top musical instrument shop in the UK - Soundsmusical.com

Happy learning!




Graham Howard is a respected member of the music community. He is known as The Guru
of Music and has written many articles about musical instruments. You can reprint or reuse
this article as many times as you wish, but keep my links and Author Bio intact.