What Instruments Should My Child Play?

You’re probably here because you understand the benefits that children can attain from learning to play a musical instrument. From creativity to abstract reasoning and beyond, children with musical training have better listening skills and are able to cope with challenges they run into more easily.

If you’re trying to help your child explore music and find the right instrument to learn, then you’ve come to the right place. Come dive in as we explore some of the top instruments for children.

Hand Percussion

We usually like to start very young children off with hand percussion, including rattles, hand drums, shakers, and bells. These instruments are easy to pick up and allow young children to begin making music instantaneously. One of the main benefits of these instruments is that they teach children coordination.

Xylophone

Young children have the ability to recognize melody before they understand language. One of the beauties of the xylophone is that any child can pick it up and play it. Plus, most xylophones have bright colors to give children a better visual for notes.

Ukulele

Ukulele is the happiest instrument around, great for livening up a child’s musical abilities! Not only are nylon strings very easy on small fingers, but it’s also a very low-cost instrument. Children can bring it just about anywhere to practice or play!

Piano

There’s no denying that piano has many benefits. It’s probably why people have been learning how to play piano as kids for hundreds of years now. From lowering stress to developing fine motor skills to enhancing concentration, the piano is an excellent choice. Plus, your child will have a much easier time if they ever decide to get into composing or producing.

Recorder

Young children benefit greatly from learning to play the recorder, which is why you often find it in elementary school classes. It teaches coordination and breathing techniques, all while being much easier to play than other wind instruments. If your child eventually wants to play the flute, saxophone, or oboe, starting them off with the recorder to get a feel for it is a good idea.

Drums

Many parents shy away from introducing their kids to drums, as drums can be extremely loud and obnoxious. Plus, many people don’t have room to store full drum kits in their houses. The good thing is that there are plenty of unique electronic options available for kids who want to play drums but don’t have a place where they can play loudly.

Many electronic drum kits are cheaper than regular drum kits and can be loaded up with new and exciting sounds.

Guitar

What’s cooler than being able to play the guitar?

Certainly, ask most kids, and they’ll tell you that the guitar is the coolest instrument around. Unlike many instruments, the guitar has a very wide range. Your child might choose to go the electric route, picking up a Fender Strat and a little amp. They might decide they like a steel-string acoustic guitar. Maybe, they’ll want to play a nylon string classical.

The beauty is that the skills on just one of these guitars are easy to translate to the others.

Violin

While the violin is certainly a challenging instrument to play, it is great for children that have discipline. If they can push through the difficulty of learning how to play the violin, they will develop excellent pitch, perseverance, and coordination skills.

Trumpet

When it comes to brass instruments, the trumpet is the best one for beginners. Trumpet can teach proper breath control, though it requires the ability to hold their instrument in place for a long time, which is something to consider.

While trumpets can be very loud instruments, there are mute devices that you can purchase so your child can practice quietly when they need.

Flute

The flute is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments on the planet, though it requires tons of patience and hard work to master. Not only is it like the trumpet in that kids must hold their arms in a single position for a long time while playing, but it also requires very focused breath control.

The great thing about the flute is that it is a wonderful crossover instrument choice for other wind instruments, such as the oboe or the clarinet.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, the choice should be up to your child. However, we recommend presenting them with these options so they can feel inspired and motivated to make a choice that they’ll stick with forever.