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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]

Instrument choice was another very frustrating experience. Other than “they should have fun”, no one explained the consequences of certain choices early on. Is it the end of the world, absolutely not. But, I’ve heard enough of “everybody knows that and you should have done things differently”. Choices for MS do affect HS, so I would like to repeat the same mistake again.

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We are in this stage - I am genuinely curious about the instrument choice in ES. DC picked violin in 4th, but is looking to switch to band next year. Can you please share your learnings/perspective? Thanks![/quote]

OP here. There were a couple of issues that I did not understand when my DS was in the fourth grade. Keep in mind that my experience might be school specific, so it is probably best to ask around and see whether the same applies to your school.

The first issue is that by the sixth grade, students start being separated into groups. I don’t know the exact logic, but it seems to be something along the lines of the years of experience and skill. Maybe something like: novice, played before but behind the expectations, intermediate, and advanced. Now, if your child just likes trying new instruments each year, you might think that’s ok, but by the sixth grade you might end up assigned to a group that does not have much interest in music at all. This is not the best experience for a musically inclined child eager to try a new instrument.

Second, at least at our school, those instrument groups track into every single one of the specials. So, the art / PE / language group is going to depend on the group where your child ends up being due to their instrument choices in the fourth and fifth grade. Your child can all of sudden be separated from all of their friends in every single specials class. No one talks about this when they tell you it doesn’t matter whether you choose strings or band or if you keep changing the instrument every year.

The bottom line is that no matter what your choice of the instrument is, playing reasonably well and having the sufficient number of years of previous practice by sixth grade matters.

If I knew what I know now, I would have had DS try different instruments outside of the school and then stick with the one that seems most fun and the best fit for him. [/quote]

Thank you so much for this detailed response! I had no idea about the groups, but that kind of makes sense. DC is not with any of their friends already even if some of their friends are doing the same instrument. DC wants to move to band next year and we hope they have some of their friends there. Thanks a bunch![/quote]

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