Reply to MCYO audtions

Forum Index » Tweens and Teens

Reply to "MCYO audtions"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I too have wondered why Asian kids focus so heavily on piano and violin. You would think a few more would try horn or tuba or bassoon, all of which are desperate to find players. It’s a lot easier to get a bassoon spot at an Ivy League orchestra than it is a violin spot.

My kid plays the French horn and she has really benefited from the lack of competition.  She has a really good ear (honed through piano lessons and choir from a young age), and loves playing, but it’s also nice that it’s easier to be a “star” in her realm. To be a star violinist takes at least 2 hrs of practice a day by middle school and then more from then on. Not so for the more obscure instruments.  [/quote]

As I am in this pickle right now (DC plays violin though I tried to steer them to a less competitive instrument), I can offer some guesses.  First, if your family cares about music, they will start early.  Piano and violin and voice are two things a young child (4 and 5) can start.  It’s like how soccer is a good first sport.  A little kid can’t play the french horn but they can plunk out some notes on piano or pick up a tiny violin.  There are plenty of group violin classes, Suzuki teachers, and materials.  The issue is that playing a stringed instrument is often hardest in the early intermediate stage.  At that point, your child either quits or keeps going.  If they get past that, and it would happen around fourth or fifth grade if they have been playing since early elementary, then they go to school and realize they are ahead of all the kids who started in fourth in their school music program.  This makes them feel good, especially if there are other areas they are not good at, at an age where they also get nervous about starting and failing at something new.  So it is hard at that point to get them to switch.  Meanwhile other kids are starting fresh and may choose band because they see the kids who have been playing the violin since they were five and feel they cannot catch up.

On top of that, the reality is that in orchestra, the violins are the stars, play the melody, get the virtuostic bits.  It’s the fun stuff.  It’s more competitive but the upside is that violins have the most seats in orchestra so you also could participate in youth orchestra without investing as much time as the concertmaster does, whereas in smaller sections like viola, cello, many band instruments, you have much fewer opportunities.  I noticed that in sports.  Soccer, football, basketball are the most popular sports so you’d think people would try less popular sports, but they don’t for similar reasons. On the flipside, while for let’s say college recruiting, you’d be competing with more kids, there are more slots than in some niche sports.  Unlike music, a strong soccer player often can switch to another less competitive sport even as late as high school and excel because they have acquired general fitness and agility.  It would be much harder for a violinist to easily switch to a band instrument.  I have seen some people who have played piano for years suddenly pick up another instrument in high school,
though, and do really well.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics