Is it ridiculous for a child to "learn" guitar or violin w/o a formal teacher?

I don’t think it’s ridiculous. My son who is a music major at college learned piano “from” my husband. When my son was 8, my husband was practicing a LOT for a competition. So I think that inspired him. He had very very few actual lessons from my husband. He was extremely motivated by watching his dad I think. He became a very accomplished pianist by anyone’s standards, even though he largely learned by himself. He loved it so much he never had to be told to practice. He always wanted to play what Dad was playing. Example, example. He has gotten several piano scholarships for college, and has been greatly praised by instructors (not bragging, but just saying it is possible to not have “lessons” every week and turn out great).

Now the 3 other kids want to play instruments and sing, and regular lessons aren’t for us. It is really hard for them to keep motivated. I think it will depend on the kid. I wish I knew what exactly made the difference. We have found good teach yourself books for guitar and drums and singing, and some have videos. There are plenty of things out there to use, just like any other homeschool subject.

It really seems to be up to me to keep it going, and I’m not very musical. My husband is the one who could help more, but he’s an airline pilot and gone a lot. I can see, though, that when I make sure I am with them; they do learn. I guess that’s just like any other homeschool subject too. I think the intermittent lessons are a great idea. When my son did a competition, we had a teacher who was willing to give one or two lessons to help check up on him. It was a big help.

Anyway, not ridiculous, but it does take work.

My kids taught themselves guitar and piano, with very little except a few pointers from a friend and Youtube videos, but they were considerably older (about 15) and very, very self-motivated. They also already could read music and had some music theory.  I don’t know how it would go without instruction at your childrens’ ages.  I do agree, I can’t see how to teach violin without a teacher.  

Guitar, absolutely doable without a teacher. No way would I attempt violin without.

I probably posted on some of those older threads! 

I started learning the violin and teaching my 6yo DD about 2.5 years ago, because she had been asking for lessons for a full year, but private lessons weren’t in the budget.  My opinion is that if the choice is between not playing at all and learning on your own, why not try it even for the violin?  It’s true that I will probably never reach the level that I might have with an in-person teacher, but I enjoy it and I’m playing better than never picking up the instrument!  That being said, I don’t think my DD could have done it without me learning right along with her.  In order to help her, I need to have my own instrument and being trying things out with her so that I can feel how it feels and see/hear how the instrument reacts.  I also have piano and flute experience, so your music background will help.

I started by reading many blogs, reading a few books, watching tons of youtube video, and asking lots of questions.  Then about 18 months into the process I found  http://www.reddesertviolin.com/ and signed up for the online lessons.  I wish I had done that from the beginning.  The teacher, Lora, is great at explaining things, and will view pictures or videos that you send her to give feedback.  It’s geared at adult beginners, so I watch, learn, and then teach.  My now 8yo wouldn’t have the patience to sit through the online videos and get all the information that way, but a teen probably could.

My DD is now attending group violin classes (they accept students at age 8).  It costs about 1/3 of what a private teacher would charge, and now that she has been playing for two years I know she is committed, so I’m willing to pay for the lessons.  You should check around to see what your options are.

I’m still learning through the online course, though.  I don’t have as much time to practice, so my progress is slow, but I’m enjoying the process and very glad I did it, despite many nay-sayers.  I plan to enroll in level 2 once I get there.

Ask me if you want more information about some of the resources we used.  I also have an online store that I can recommend for purchasing violins.

Joanne 

We bought new from http://www.fiddleheads.ca/shop/instruments.htm , and only paid about $120 plus shipping for the smaller violins (we bought sizes 1/4 and 1/16 because my DD4 is starting to learn as well).  Mine was about $500, but I needed a 7/8 size which is harder to find.  I’ve been pleased with all the instruments we got from them.  I expect to be able to sell for at least $100 once we outgrow them, so to me it made far more sense to buy than rent.  The stores I visited all wanted to sell/rent me $600-$800 instruments.  We could rent-to-own, but that was still far more than we were prepared to pay.  Our first instrument (size 1/8) was also in the $150 range, from a local shop, but was much poorer quality.  It needed repairs within a few weeks, and when I took it to the shop that sold it to us, their response was “Well, you get what you pay for.” And they weren’t able to repair it.

If you like, PM me and I’ll send you some more links.

Joanne

My husband would suggest that you let her start with a full size guitar. He is solely a Martin or Taylor guy and believes these are the best of the best. (He has tested literally 100s of guitars since he began playing at age 14, so I trust his judgment!) If you have a Guitar Center nearby, take your dd in there and let her test a full-size guitar. They keep them in a humidified room, but they are available for playing, though you need to be with her because they frown upon children going in that special room unsupervised. My husband’s personal guitar is a Martin which cost $2,600. (It has a wireless pick-up in it for playing on stage, which adds to the cost.) He has had it for 8 years, and it is just now needing some repair. He plays it almost daily, and it needs to be re-fretted. BUT, he purchased a Taylor 400 series for the church’s use whenever he has a guest musician, and it cost $800. He prefers the depth of sound of the Martin, but he LOVES this Taylor as well. So, you can get a GOOD guitar and not spend thousands. I agree w/ MountainMamma: get a quality guitar. She will enjoy it much longer, it will last, and the sound will make her want to play.

He uses Martin SP strings. The Martin Elixir strings are a little softer and may help her develop calluses without causing a lot of pain. Most Martin strings are made of bronze.

My dh learned 3 chords (G, D, C) and was off from there. He knows how to read chord charts, but does not use them. Look into the Nashville Number System. The chord numbers translate from guitar to piano to other stringed instruments, and are helpful to know if she ever wants to play with a band, like at church. He is able to conduct quick rehearsals with our praise band at church because instead of telling everyone which chord to play, he just calls out a number and they all know what to do. I’m doing a really bad job of explaining this, but look up the numbers system and it will make more sense to you. 

I’ll chime in on the other side of the fence here.  I understand why all the comments on having a teacher for violin, but there is a book series out there that we bought that is designed for self-teaching violin from a young age.  Unfortunately, we haven’t delved into it much yet, so I wish I could offer more first-hand feedback, but after talking to them for a good deal of time, we felt that this was a well-designed program.  Not sure if I can post links or not, so if you’re interested you can search for The Violin Book by Ebaru Publishing.  I believe they might go to some homeschool conferences, so maybe someone else has seen them and can give more info.

Kim