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A Joke a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

JazzGal said:
I played the accordion from 6-12 years old (parents couldn't afford a piano). Still wish I had it and could play it.
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This is where I find it tough as a parent.

My 3.5 year old will be doing soccer (for the second time) starting soon this spring and swim lessons again as well. I’d also like her to learn an instrument. I’d probably love it to be the piano (my favorite instrument) but then I was blasting Crazy on You by Heart today and the kids were dancing and I envisioned her being a badass who rolls her own way, jamming on the guitar like Wilson. But yeah, so anyway, my point is, I want to push her and have her try many things and learn them, he’ll master them, but also don’t want to push her if you know what I mean.

Whatevs. I’ll know what’s right I guess.
 
Wes Mantooth said:
This is where I find it tough as a parent.

My 3.5 year old will be doing soccer (for the second time) starting soon this spring and swim lessons again as well. I’d also like her to learn an instrument. I’d probably love it to be the piano (my favorite instrument) but then I was blasting Crazy on You by a heart today and the kids were dancing and I envisioned her being a badass who rolls her own way, jamming on the guitar like Wilson. But yeah, so anyway, my point is, I want to push her and have her try many things and learn them but also don’t want to push her if you know what I mean.

Whatevs. I’ll know what’s right I guess.
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You definitely want kids to learn piano. It's something that can be learned at an early age and it translates into learning more instruments later than guitar does.
 
Wes Mantooth said:
This is where I find it tough as a parent.

My 3.5 year old will be doing soccer (for the second time) starting soon this spring and swim lessons again as well. I’d also like her to learn an instrument. I’d probably love it to be the piano (my favorite instrument) but then I was blasting Crazy on You by a heart today and the kids were dancing and I envisioned her being a badass who rolls her own way, jamming on the guitar like Wilson.
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While it is great being able to play the piano (which I learned eventually), I have always wished I could play guitar. Not bad enough to actually do it, obviously.
 
JazzGal said:
While it is great being able to play the piano (which I learned eventually), I have always wished I could play guitar. Not bad enough to actually do it, obviously.
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Yeah, but I think learning guitar at a really young age is harder because of hand size/strength.
 
Wes Mantooth said:
This is where I find it tough as a parent.

My 3.5 year old will be doing soccer (for the second time) starting soon this spring and swim lessons again as well. I’d also like her to learn an instrument. I’d probably love it to be the piano (my favorite instrument) but then I was blasting Crazy on You by Heart today and the kids were dancing and I envisioned her being a badass who rolls her own way, jamming on the guitar like Wilson. But yeah, so anyway, my point is, I want to push her and have her try many things and learn them, he’ll master them, but also don’t want to push her if you know what I mean.

Whatevs. I’ll know what’s right I guess.
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My kids learned piano from age 5. Now my 15-year-old son can sit down and play almost anything within minutes. He plays in the School of Rock program and it is awesome. I forced him to start guitar about a year ago with the reasoning that he was so good at piano that it would come quickly and he'd thank me for it later. He was against it but I persisted. Now he's getting pretty good at guitar and digging it. My daughter still plays piano a little but sings and plays guitar since she switched to guitar two years ago(also now in School of Rock).

So the moral of my story is start them early. Pick your teacher carefully. Their first teacher was passionate. They learned a lot from her because she was dedicated and had regular performances. But by the age of 10 my son hated getting lessons from her because she was old. We let his piano lapse for a couple of years but he still liked to show off for his friends once in a while. Then a few years ago I put him in the School of Rock program and he took off. And get this... he doesn't practice much and for the most part I don't care. We don't push it but they are still learning and both enjoy playing.



Their original teacher is in Cottonwood Heights and probably still teaches if you are local and want her number.
 
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Thanks for the feedback, guys. More would be appreciated. My wife has no interests in music. Never did. I love music and vaguely remember going to a couple lessons as a kid (7 years old if I had to guess?) and hated it. Didn't understand it at all. But my wisps tell me that the teacher was boring and stuffy. If I can find a person who's great with kids and passionate/fun, I think it would be different for my daughter.
 
Do all parents do this? Listen, I want my daughter to follow her own path in life. But I picture her being a rockclimber/Nancy Wilson guitarist badass type, who is a stud State champ track athlete, valedictorian, great human being who sees purpose in community and volunteer work, and yet is sexy as hell. Has it all.
 
We’re at the quandary right now with piano. We want our kids to play it (oldest three are taking lessons). Getting the 10 year old boy to practice is hell. He would literally rather be grounded to his room all day than practice the piano. He wants to play guitar, but we told him he had to learn piano first. Now we’re like “do we make him keep doing something he hates but we know he’ll wish he learned later in life? Or do we let him do what he wants now?” There is literally not enough time for him to do both piano and guitar right now. I’m serious on the time thing. I honestly cannot remember the last time we had free time and now spring sports have started up so it’s even worse.
 
bigb said:
We’re at the quandary right now with piano. We want our kids to play it (oldest three are taking lessons). Getting the 10 year old boy to practice is hell. He would literally rather be grounded to his room all day than practice the piano. He wants to play guitar, but we told him he had to learn piano first. Now we’re like “do we make him keep doing something he hates but we know he’ll wish he learned later in life? Or do we let him do what he wants now?” There is literally not enough time for him to do both piano and guitar right now. I’m serious on the time thing. I honestly cannot remember the last time we had free time and now spring sports have started up so it’s even worse.
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Let him jump around a bit, eventually he'll find what he likes and stick with it.
 
Wes Mantooth said:
Do all parents do this? Listen, I want my daughter to follow her own path in life. But I picture her being a rockclimber/Nancy Wilson guitarist badass type, who is a stud State champ track athlete, valedictorian, great human being who sees purpose in community and volunteer work, and yet is sexy as hell. Has it all.
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Yo. Believe it or not, I built my 2.5 year old girl a climbing wall. Gonna have to build it higher because she's already gotten to the top. It's crazy.

Bought her a little kids sized real piano for like $50. She bangs around on it, has no idea what's going on, but likes it. But yeah, I think all parents do it. We all want our kids to be the best at everything, and still be great people. But we also have to recognize what they want to do and what they like to. It's hard at a young age, so just put them in a bunch of stuff and figure out what they like.
 
Started teaching my oldest (9) the drums last week. He’s picked it up pretty quick. Taught him a couple beats and played guitar to it. Much less of a guitarist than I am a drummer.
 
JustTheTip said:
Yo. Believe it or not, I built my 2.5 year old girl a climbing wall. Gonna have to build it higher because she's already gotten to the top. It's crazy.

Bought her a little kids sized real piano for like $50. She bangs around on it, has no idea what's going on, but likes it. But yeah, I think all parents do it. We all want our kids to be the best at everything, and still be great people. But we also have to recognize what they want to do and what they like to. It's hard at a young age, so just put them in a bunch of stuff and figure out what they like.
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That’s awesome. Did you buy the toe holds? Is the wall straight up and down? How high is it? We have a playhouse with one that goes up at about a 75 degree angle but it’s only about five feet high. And rock climbing gyms don’t allow you to bring kids unless they’re at least five years old.
 
Wes Mantooth said:
That’s awesome. Did you buy the toe holds? Is the wall straight up and down? How high is it? We have a playhouse with one that goes up at about a 75 degree angle but it’s only about five feet high. And rock climbing gyms don’t allow you to bring kids unless they’re at least five years old.
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Yeah I bought a bunch of toe holds. It took her a little bit, but she figured it out well now. I'm not bothering with mapping it yet, she just likes to climb.

It's 4 ft tall straight up. For some reason I thought 4 ft would be higher than what it is, but it's not very tall. I have room to add another 3-4 feet up, so I'll do that this summer.

It's an easy project, if you wanna do it I can send you pictures and instructions. Just got the holds off of Amazon.
 
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