Any of your kids doing dual instrument?

[sleepy]

My dd is learning Guzheng as a CCA.

She requested to resume her piano lessons after a long break.

She finds Guzheng easier than piano though

[watmekiasu]

acforfamily:

watmekiasu:

This year, after her Gr8 violin exam, she took up the cello. Her new schedule is working out like a dream - alternate weeks on different instruments.

Just curious, how do you do alternate weeks? Is it a private teacher that allows this?

Yes. It's the same teacher for both instruments.

[pokemon]

Tks for all of your feedback. My ds will be doing his grd1 piano abrsm theory and practical exam next year, he is also keen to do exam for violin when he has reach the appropriate level.


Though my ds only 6yr old, he actually say he prefers cello but because of his size, violin will be more manageable for the time being, so when its appropriate time he would like to switch to cello-OMG :shock: ! I dunno what makes him think this way. Btw, i have checked with his violin tcher,he said it wil be any easy switch fm violin to cello. Initialy when he just started his violin lesson i was very negative abt his progress,keep asking him if he is ok. Luckily he is not put off by the teething problem.

He is very interested in classical music, his piano teacher let him play some suitable pces to motivate him, she is impressed over this perseverance to get the pces rite. I did have an agreement with him that he cant give up easily and may nd to sacrifice his play and tv time in order to pract the instrument. Right now, we have planned out a time schedule for his practices-6x a wk for each instrument, he is able to do it all by himself w/o me around, really thankful he is discipline enough.

I hoped he can juggle both school work and these 2 instruments, lack of time is the most crucial thingy. Im juz keeping my fingers cross that he will not take up sch band as cca since its very time consuming.

[pokemon]

mrswongtuition:

I personally did 2 instruments at one point of time. Guzheng & Cello. Stopped piano when I started Guzheng.


Guzheng & cello can complement each other. Although I did classical cello, my cello teacher allowed me to learn some fun pieces of chinese music which I play on my guzheng. It allowed me to express the same piece of music with different instrument & as a result, different feelings. It's a very special feeling & it makes you want to try more new stuff on the 2 instruments!

If budget permits, let your DS continue. Violin & piano can complement each other. But ask your DS what's his long term plan. Is he learning for fun or is he intending to take exams for both instruments? Ask him to draw up a simple timetable consisting of play, homework/revision and practising on both instruments. If he can come up with something decide & will stick to it, I think it's no harm letting him continue Come up with an agreement that if his results are not good, he must choice to drop 1 instrument.

Teach him the value of time management, setting goals & knowing his priorities. This is a truely teachable moment!

BTW, the violin is not as hard as you think if you have some music background (which your DS has with 2 years of music lessons).

I understand that cello also come in diff sizes, is the smallest the 1/8 size? My boy only 125cm tall, would he be able to fit the smallest cello size? He very cute say cello better cos dun need to rest on the neck so would not feel the ache.

[pokemon]

snowz:

dd is learning the piano & the violin. She is also playing the cello (no grade) for CCA. She enjoys music.

Does your dd find it easy to do cello since she is playing the violin? My ds think its easy, i can only wonder.

[mrswongtuition]

pokemon:

mrswongtuition:

I personally did 2 instruments at one point of time. Guzheng & Cello. Stopped piano when I started Guzheng.


Guzheng & cello can complement each other. Although I did classical cello, my cello teacher allowed me to learn some fun pieces of chinese music which I play on my guzheng. It allowed me to express the same piece of music with different instrument & as a result, different feelings. It's a very special feeling & it makes you want to try more new stuff on the 2 instruments!

If budget permits, let your DS continue. Violin & piano can complement each other. But ask your DS what's his long term plan. Is he learning for fun or is he intending to take exams for both instruments? Ask him to draw up a simple timetable consisting of play, homework/revision and practising on both instruments. If he can come up with something decide & will stick to it, I think it's no harm letting him continue Come up with an agreement that if his results are not good, he must choice to drop 1 instrument.

Teach him the value of time management, setting goals & knowing his priorities. This is a truely teachable moment!

BTW, the violin is not as hard as you think if you have some music background (which your DS has with 2 years of music lessons).

I understand that cello also come in diff sizes, is the smallest the 1/8 size? My boy only 125cm tall, would he be able to fit the smallest cello size? He very cute say cello better cos dun need to rest on the neck so would not feel the ache.

When I started to pick up the cello, I was already using full sized cellos

I've seen a custom made cello that's smaller than 1/8. Suitable for height lesser than 1m. It was specially made for a 3yo girl from China. Meet her during one of our orchestra trips to China I think in SG it's quite hard to find a small cello. I can help you ask my teacher, cos she has students who are 4yo

[snowz]

…

[pokemon]

[quote]When I started to pick up the cello, I was already using full sized cellos


I've seen a custom made cello that's smaller than 1/8. Suitable for height lesser than 1m. It was specially made for a 3yo girl from China. Meet her during one of our orchestra trips to China I think in SG it's quite hard to find a small cello. I can help you ask my teacher, cos she has students who are 4yo :)[/quote][/quote]

if nd to custom made must be v ex, dun tink i want to spend so much on it. if i remembered correctly, i saw a 1/8 size in mandeville showroom and the sales personnel say that is the smallest size, mayb he meant is the smallest size that mandeville is selling?

[pokemon]

[quote]According to my dd, she said with piano foundation, it is easier to learn the cello. The posture of the hands for bowing is different for the violin and the cello. She found it confusing initially for the notes of the cello strings. For violin, it is G D A E, whereas for cello, it is A D G C (If I remember the sequence correctly). Due to her small size, she is using size 1/2. She is learning the cello for her interest and is not taking any grade. The teacher advised that she has to drop one musical instrument (piano or violin) if she wants to go for graded exam for the cello[/quote]
Why need to drop 1 of the instrument if she decides to tk exam for cello? if she cn cope,cant she keep all. I kn the abrsm theory exam is the same for all instrument,so dun need to repeat for different instrument, even the oral section of the abrsm practical exam, dun need to repeat for other instrument. I was told by my ds piano tchr.

Btw, does your dd bring the cello back from sch to pract at home or juz pract few times in sch. i dunno shd reject my ds if he ever wanted to tk up sch band in school. They cant choose the instrument rite?

[watmekiasu]

pokemon:

I understand that cello also come in diff sizes, is the smallest the 1/8 size? My boy only 125cm tall, would he be able to fit the smallest cello size? He very cute say cello better cos dun need to rest on the neck so would not feel the ache.

For height of 125cm, he should be able to use the 1/4 size cello. My dd is 132cm and she is already outgrowing the 1/4 size. Sizewise, for the cello, it is more flexible than the violin as the cello has an adjustable rod at the base.