Earlier this summer, I took my younger son Nick to a music class to settle an ongoing argument we’ve been having over what instrument he might want to learn.
When they were young, I coerced both my boys into taking piano lessons. Erik stuck with it for 5 years, even though the last 3 years were sheer torture with daily tantrums and tears during practice time. Once Erik took up a band instrument (clarinet in 5th grade, then switching to alto saxophone in 6th grade), I released us both from the Piano Wars. But we both still have battle scars from them.
Nick has taken 2 ½ years of piano and I’ve already incurred more casualties with him than with the first son. I’m ready to transition him onto another instrument NOW. I found a great book from the library about how to pick the right instrument based on your child’s natural temperament, titled Musical Instruments for Children: Choosing What's Right for Your Child by Richard Crozier. I found it highly insightful and much of the author’s assessments, while generalizations, do have some basis in truth from my own musical experience. So, from studying this book cover to cover, I am thinking that either 1) flute or 2) drums would be a good fit for Nick.
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