Music Curriculum recommendations requested

[gabbyraja]

I'm looking for an excellent music curriculum. I've got 5 kids aged 1 to 10. The older kids want to learn things like violin and drums, the little ones are far enough off that I don't need to worry too much yet. We do have a HS co-op for music classes/band, but for several reasons it just didn't work out for us at this time. The kids still have a great interest in music, but violin lessons are absolutely out of the question financially. I guess I'm hoping there's some "Rosetta Stone" of music I've not come across; self-paced, self-directed, little intervention from me (I can teach them to read music and so on, but none of the how-to for playing the various instruments), video-based, etc. If they were able to become somewhat proficient on their own and still showed interest I would concede to the co-op again for them to join the band.

I did a search, but couldn't find anything, much less something as cool as I describe. :) Any ideas?

[moominmamma]

I can't comment on drums but as a violin teacher I feel strongly that not only are the beginning stages the most crucial but they require a ton of guidance and feedback based on "touch and feel and watch and listen" that simply can't be done justice via a DVD type program. You can get things looking right positionally, but if it's muscles rather than balance achieving that position, or if there's tension in the wrong muscles, not only does learning get hung up after a year or two, but there's a ton of remedial unlearning that has to be done first. It can be really demoralizing. An occasional student will have an intuitive feel for the instrument, but it's such an awkward un-ergonomic instrument that they're really rare kids. My mom has been teaching violin, and training teachers, for more than 30 years and she often says "Any idiot can teach an intermediate student, but it takes an expert to teach a beginner."

Some instruments lend themselves mor to self-teaching or non-expert teaching. Piano, guitar and recorder are known as somewhat easier in this respect. Not sure about drums. Violin ... Definitely not. That's why there are almost no self-teaching programs even on the market, let alone successful students.

Is there a children's choir program near you? A good choral program can provide an amazing musical foundation for kids whether as an adjunct, prelude or replacement for instrumental training.

Miranda

[tankgirl73]

 "Any idiot can teach an intermediate student, but it takes an expert to teach a beginner."

THIS!

I'm a professional piano teacher and I can certainly vouch for all the students I've had to UN-train from their previous self-teaching or, even worse, BAD teaching from teachers who thought "I'm no expert but I could teach a beginner."  

My son is one of those who can intuitively play almost anything.  So from my experience with watching him pick things up on his own and with lessons, I would say that guitar -- not *classical* guitar, but folk and rock guitar -- is pretty easy to pick up from videos and books.  And there are a TON of great instructional videos on youtube for guitar stuff.

Drums are also not too bad.  You could not do it with ONLY a book, because you'd have no way to gauge if you're actually accomplishing the rhythm patterns correctly.  My son used some play-along CD's which were very effective.  He did recently hit a 'wall' where he can't really progress much more on his own, so now he is taking lessons.  The technical elements of proper drum playing are not as complex as, say, the violin, so there isn't really a lot he has to 'unlearn' - it's just refining and making some adjustments and corrections.

Wind instruments like sax, flute, etc, also really need a coach to get things started.  You have to be VERY lucky to just stumble across the right way to blow, it's not easily picked up from written descriptions.  Once you've got a foundation, you can progress on your own for a good while, though.

The recorder, however, is pretty easily picked up without professional teaching.  That's why it's so popular as a beginner instrument in schools, it's not too difficult to play or to learn or to teach.  In fact there are some pretty decent 'teach your child recorder' programs specifically for homeschoolers.

Ukelele is also not too tricky, has lots of free online resources, and doesn't need lots of coaching to get to a basic level of competence.

And of course, as mentioned above - choral singing is a wonderful option too.  And it's cheaper since you don't have to rent or buy ANY instruments at all.  :)

If you're really set on something like piano, violin, or many wind instruments, though, I really advise to get a qualified teacher, at LEAST until they have some basic competencies and won't be spending years reinforcing bad habits (which also seriously limit progress AND enjoyment!)  If not a private teacher, then some kind of group program is often available - it's better than nothing.

Yes, it can be pricey, but to me it's like many sports.  If someone wants to do gymnastics, or ballet, or speed skating, you don't just set up a high bar or a barre or an oval rink in your backyard and say "okay, here's a video, now go figure it out."  Things like that need *physical* coaching.  I'm all for the independence and self-learning of homeschooling -- but some things just need coaches, IMO.  Many basketball players are largely self-taught, but you don't see many self-taught ballerinas.

Oh, there are also some excellent *general music* curricula out there -- with history and appreciation and all that, without the performance aspect, if that's at all of interest to you.  But yeah, if coaching-needed instruments are just not financially feasible, then stick with things like recorder, ukelele, guitar, drums are probably okay, and choral singing.  That's my opinion, anyway.  :)

[flightgoddess]

What about instrumental lessons with a college music major? Would be a little cheaper...

[gabbyraja]

Let me give a little more info. I took band classes for 6 years. I played the recorder, clarinet, then the flute. I'm perfectly comfortable with reading music, scales and that sort of thing (though some printouts and some instruction on HOW to teach it well would be nice), and with wind instruments. However, none of the kids are interested in winds, of course. Now, while I wouldn't expect ds to learn the violin from a video, I WOULD expect him to mess around with SOME instrument long enough to decide he really does like this music thing, or he's bored and would rather I NOT spend $2000 on a violin and another $2000 on semi-private lessons. If he decides he's passionate about it, ok, I'll see what I can do to make him the next Joshua Bell. If it's really just a passing fancy, I'd rather he stick with the glockenspiel and/or drums long enough to learn the basics or even long enough to start a horrible rock band with his 16 year old friends in a few years, kwim? I bought the bells and drum pad this week on CL, and I'd love to be able to teach them with the guitar we already have and these new instruments.

So, if there is a curriculum to help me teach them the BASICS, of the most BASIC instruments, that's what I'm looking for. Would I expect it to make them a concert pianist? No. Could it teach them the notes and where they are, how to read music or the basic holding of a drum stick and common rhythms? Yes.

Btw, I've looked for college music majors, local homeschool parents that would like to teach for less, and the VERY non-secular homeschool music co-op, but nothing has worked for us so far. Since I already know what I consider to be "enough to get started", I thought I could probably get started, with the right curriculum.