Recommendations for a musical instrument for my daughter

[JuiceBox52]

I'm wondering if I posted a (picture-less and sound only) video of her playing the guitar and singing on this site and received feedback from members on this site that I could show her that it might be a confidence booster for her? She tells me that the responses I get on Facebook don't mean anything because they are all from family and friends (people who have to pretend to like her music). I am thinking that maybe if I got some feedback from people I don't know in person that maybe she would be more inclined to believe their input. Does that make sense?

That does make sense. I would love to hear it

 

[dmpfishlover]

That does make sense. I would love to hear it

It won't let me attach/upload a video

 

[dmpfishlover]

How can I upload/attach a video on this site? I would love to share a video of my daughter playing the guitar and singing with everyone but it won't let me.

 

[JuiceBox52]

How can I upload/attach a video on this site? I would love to share a video of my daughter playing the guitar and singing with everyone but it won't let me.

If it wont let you post one you will have to upload it to YouTube and post the link here. Or link to one of your facebook posts of her

 

[dmpfishlover]

So, I decided to share a (picture-less ..sound only) video of my daughter playing the guitar and singing.. She won't let me record her image.. just the sound as she is playing/singing, because she is insecure and self conscious. I'm hoping that receiving some feedback from some non Facebook (friends and family) people will possibly be a confidence booster for her. She has zero self confidence and my word as her mother is meaningless to her... I'm not sure if I have done this right or not but below should hopefully be a link to one of her videos.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=3877796198929618&id=100000978289944

 

[JuiceBox52]

Beautiful. She has a really good voice. I could only wish to be able to hold a note for that long.

 

[dmpfishlover]

Beautiful. She has a really good voice. I could only wish to be able to hold a note for that long.

I wish she had more self confidence...

 

[JuiceBox52]

I wish she had more self confidence...

Yeah. It's hard though. Self confidence can be tough in an ever criticizing world. I struggle with it but am getting better she'll come around eventually

 

[Gypsum]

I'm serious about the pipes. But here's my even more serious advice (and I've played the Irish pipes since 2004 -- frequently in public at Irish traditional music sessions and the odd gig -- and faffed around with assorted other things before that). Let her choose her music. Don't get her more instruments just for the sake of it, or push her to perform or whatever. She's 15. She'll figure out what she wants to do in her own time. But she'll need space to work that out. Child prodigies are arguably playing one or two instruments at a professional level by then, but the rest of us are puntering along, trying to find the music and the instrument that calls to us, and there's no rush. But it sounds as though she plays quite a lot of instruments, and she may be talented, but to become solidly proficient at any one instrument, most of us mortals need to dedicate a gazillion hours to that instrument, and it doesn't really pay off to spread yourself too thin amongst too many instruments. That said, some people somehow manage to do it well, many more do it poorly, and some instruments have similar-ish skillsets (guitar/ukelele/banjo/mandolin/bouzouki, or flute/pipes/tin whistle, or violin/viola/cello...), i.e. I could go from pipes to flute with less work and vexation than pipes to fiddle.

But really, it doesn't matter. Encourage her to play what she wants. If she really wants to try a new instrument, a fiddle, or an accordion, or a clarinet, or a set of bagpipes, get her one by all means, although many of those are not cheap. If she wants to put her music out there in public, definitely encourage and support her, but don't push her if she's not keen (I don't like solo gigs very much -- give me ensemble playing any day). Compliments from random strangers on the internet are nice, but if she doesn't feel like solo performing is her thing yet, that's totally fine. If she prefers being part of the ensemble in the band, there's no shame in that (and more money if you become professional, as few people make it as solo artists but lots get by as session/ensemble players). Maybe instead of getting her random instruments, expose her to different types of music. Irish and Scottish trad music, Breton music, Asturian music, Klezmer, jazz, blues, classical, non-Western music like Indian, African, indigenous Australian, Middle Eastern.... And modern fusion of any and all of the above.

There are 'folk music of the world' CDs you can buy that have all sorts of stuff. Putamayo is a record label worth looking into. I have zero connection to Ireland and Scotland (other than living in Scotland now as an American expat) but my Dad loved his world folk music and had all these albums lying around, and for as long as I can remember, I was drawn to Irish music and the pipes in particular. It was years before I got the connections to get a hold of a set and learn to play the damned things. Still, my parents pushed me and my brother to learn some sort of music when we were wee kids, and I messed around -- with no great degree of competency -- on the French horn, high school choirs, the mountain dulcimer, the recorder, Native American flutes, the harp, the bodhran (Irish drum), the tin whistle, before I finally got a set of uilleann pipes at age 21. My brother played around with the trumpet when he was about 8, and then settled on the didjeridoo. To be honest, the breadth of music my parents exposed us to, with all their weird and crazy CDs, probably had more of a profound effect than French horn lessons when I was 9.

So my advice? Get her a world folk music CD or five with music from all over the world. And a tin whistle. They're like seven bucks.

 

[dmpfishlover]

I'm serious about the pipes. But here's my even more serious advice (and I've played the Irish pipes since 2004 -- frequently in public at Irish traditional music sessions and the odd gig -- and faffed around with assorted other things before that). Let her choose her music. Don't get her more instruments just for the sake of it, or push her to perform or whatever. She's 15. She'll figure out what she wants to do in her own time. But she'll need space to work that out. Child prodigies are arguably playing one or two instruments at a professional level by then, but the rest of us are puntering along, trying to find the music and the instrument that calls to us, and there's no rush. But it sounds as though she plays quite a lot of instruments, and she may be talented, but to become solidly proficient at any one instrument, most of us mortals need to dedicate a gazillion hours to that instrument, and it doesn't really pay off to spread yourself too thin amongst too many instruments. That said, some people somehow manage to do it well, many more do it poorly, and some instruments have similar-ish skillsets (guitar/ukelele/banjo/mandolin/bouzouki, or flute/pipes/tin whistle, or violin/viola/cello...), i.e. I could go from pipes to flute with less work and vexation than pipes to fiddle.

But really, it doesn't matter. Encourage her to play what she wants. If she really wants to try a new instrument, a fiddle, or an accordion, or a clarinet, or a set of bagpipes, get her one by all means, although many of those are not cheap. If she wants to put her music out there in public, definitely encourage and support her, but don't push her if she's not keen (I don't like solo gigs very much -- give me ensemble playing any day). Compliments from random strangers on the internet are nice, but if she doesn't feel like solo performing is her thing yet, that's totally fine. If she prefers being part of the ensemble in the band, there's no shame in that (and more money if you become professional, as few people make it as solo artists but lots get by as session/ensemble players). Maybe instead of getting her random instruments, expose her to different types of music. Irish and Scottish trad music, Breton music, Asturian music, Klezmer, jazz, blues, classical, non-Western music like Indian, African, indigenous Australian, Middle Eastern.... And modern fusion of any and all of the above.

There are 'folk music of the world' CDs you can buy that have all sorts of stuff. Putamayo is a record label worth looking into. I have zero connection to Ireland and Scotland (other than living in Scotland now as an American expat) but my Dad loved his world folk music and had all these albums lying around, and for as long as I can remember, I was drawn to Irish music and the pipes in particular. It was years before I got the connections to get a hold of a set and learn to play the damned things. Still, my parents pushed me and my brother to learn some sort of music when we were wee kids, and I messed around -- with no great degree of competency -- on the French horn, high school choirs, the mountain dulcimer, the recorder, Native American flutes, the harp, the bodhran (Irish drum), the tin whistle, before I finally got a set of uilleann pipes at age 21. My brother played around with the trumpet when he was about 8, and then settled on the didjeridoo. To be honest, the breadth of music my parents exposed us to, with all their weird and crazy CDs, probably had more of a profound effect than French horn lessons when I was 9.

So my advice? Get her a world folk music CD or five with music from all over the world. And a tin whistle. They're like seven bucks.

I've never once pushed my daughter to learn to play anything. Every instrument we have bought her or given her has been at her request. She asked for every instrument she owns, with the exception of the piano (that one just kind of fell into our lap). She has never had a single lesson, nor would we ever make her take any. She plays when or how often she wants to. We have never pushed her to practice or perform. This is her hobby and she saught it out herself. It was never pushed on her. I would not buy her a musical instrument "just for the sake of it" (most instruments are far too expensive to do that), nor have I ever pushed her to perform. Her passion for music comes from within her and that is where I want it to come from. I'm not sure I would call her a prodigy. She is definitely talented, but more than that, she loves music. She is already exposed to all different kinds of music, but she plays what she wants and knows what she likes, and learns at her own pace. I simply wanted to surprise her with something nice for her birthday and thought that a new instrument might be a nice idea because she loves music so much. I may just give her money and let her decide what instrument she wants (if any).

 

[Colin_T]

stick her on America's got talent and when she gets a place, she might realise she has got some.

 

[Gypsum]

I agree... She just needs to take that first step... I keep encouraging her. At first she wouldn't let me record her playing the piano or guitar, but then I talked into letting me record her with sound only and covered the camera on my phone. So I do have recordings of her singing and playing the guitar with no picture, just sound. I have posted her picture-less videos on Facebook and they received rave reviews. I shared this with her and I think it helped. I think she may just let me record video of her with picture now!! Fingers crossed...

Sorry... I may have misread this post as implying that you were trying to encourage her to publically share her music when she wasn't that keen. Anyway, yes, giving her money and letting her decide is the best way forward. She might even want to upgrade an existing instrument or buy something like this, https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/zoom-h2n-handy-recorder, which makes higher quality audio recordings than phones.

 

[PhantomCarp]

She could go on a instrument version of the masked singer

 

[dmpfishlover]

Sorry... I may have misread this post as implying that you were trying to encourage her to publically share her music when she wasn't that keen. Anyway, yes, giving her money and letting her decide is the best way forward. She might even want to upgrade an existing instrument or buy something like this, https://www.zoom-na.com/products/field-video-recording/field-recording/zoom-h2n-handy-recorder, which makes higher quality audio recordings than phones.

The only thing I want is for her to have confidence in herself...The only reason I have ever shared her music (always with her permission) is to be able to show her the responses her music gets, so that hopefully eventually she will be less insecure and have confidence in herself. Whether or not she decides to ever publicly perform is entirely up to her.. I'm fine if she never does..I just want her to know she is good and to have confidence in her abilities. I don't want a lack of self confidence to hold her back in case she does want to do or go somewhere with her talent.

 

[dmpfishlover]

stick her on America's got talent and when she gets a place, she might realise she has got some.

I have mentioned it to her, that and American Idol, in a joking/teasing way, knowing she would not want to because of her insecurities. She always laughs at me and says "You are my Mom, you have to say I'm good" LOL... She is probably partially right... A mother is always a little biased. I would never push her to do something she is uncomfortable with, but if she ever wishes to go somewhere with her talent, I will be her biggest cheerleader and her biggest fan.