How young is too young?

[Elow]

So i have a little sister who’s 3 1/2 and i want to start teaching her some things but she doesn’t really understand what i’m saying. I have a junked up pan america cornet that i let her mess around with. She’s able to buzz and get the Bb but that’s about it. Anytime i tell her to press down a valve she doesn’t understand that it has the be pressed down all the way. I was wondering when i should try to actually start teaching her stuff, like valve patterns and notes and stuff. I was also wondering if anyone has a certain way to teach small children. She saw me marching during a game and loves to “march” around the house but she says she wants to “blow better music”

[RoscoTrombone]

I wouldn't worry about trying to teach her as at 3 1/2 nothing is going to stick.

Your best bet would be to invest in a p buzz or plastic cornet and just let her do her thing until she's a bit older. The pbuzz will allow her to make little glisses so she may like that

[Doubler]

Maybe a bugle? It' lightweight, and she can discover partials and perhaps mimic bugle calls played by you. Just a thought.

[WilliamLang]

alto pbones work well. i got my two year old one and they love just picking it up every once in awhile and playing some random notes. i find that you can teach kids younger than 5 as long as you don't have any other expectations than they make a sound occasionally.

[Kdanielsen]

Piano lessons!! Kids who start early have a HUGE advantage when starting to learn a brass instrument later on.

[harrisonreed]

18. Don't teach the trombone to anyone younger than that.

[BGuttman]

I was told that students shouldn't start wind instruments (with the exception of flute) until secondary dentition has occurred (loss of "baby teeth"). This is because biting on a mouthpiece or pressure on the front teeth can interfere with the growth of adult teeth.

[BholmesB]

I was told that students shouldn't start wind instruments (with the exception of flute) until secondary dentition has occurred (loss of "baby teeth"). This is because biting on a mouthpiece or pressure on the front teeth can interfere with the growth of adult teeth.

Absolutely!

[jcfitz7]

Keep going. A child is never too young to play at music. But you must have realistic expectations and the ability to understand if your "instruction" is reaching a receptive child at the correct moment. And you have to be okay with a serious lesson turning into play time.

I have a 4 year old daughter with a genetic predisposition to engage with music. She can on request play a half to whole note in 1st position on a trombone (usually F, occasionally Bb) and half note at middle c on a pTrumpet. Her functional limitation is the weight of either instrument and after more than a minute or two she either rests the crook or the bell on the floor and continues to play. I have taken a microphone stand and fastened a trumpet wall mount to it that allows the pTrumpet to rest level at her height and guards the valves against undue curiosity and effort at fast fingered valve pressing "solos". (Too much youtube of Cat Anderson and Arturo Sandoval) The stand has freed her up to concentrate on the mouthpiece and breathing. She is not as interested in the orange P-bone or the blue P-bone mini because she clocks them as "daddy's toy instruments". She gave up on the pink plastic clarinet once she saw the faces daddy had to make to get a sound out of it.

The first time Tigger was given a mouth piece she buzzed it, two of them in fact, basically un-prompted. When we put it in the trombone we had been given by a neighbor and handed it to her, she blew a note, then a few more. Same thing with a trumpet. She seems to get how cupped mouthpieces work. She keeps asking for a tuba. How small is too small for a tuba? She's 38" tall. As long as she is as fascinated by Gunhild Carling and Allison Balsom and Justyna Kryszakand as she is by Elsa and Anna and Malificent then I am happy.

Instruction:
I have with very limited success gotten her to engage with an instructor via Zoom for 15-30 minute lessons on 3 occasions. The usual pattern is to refresh her on taking a deep breathes and blowing long, relaxed notes. Once she has blown "long tones" 2 or 3 times, consistently, at a 4 count she will announce that she is done. If we heap too much praise she determines that she has reached her goal and is finished and will move on, usually to one of her other instruments (cowbells, ukuleles, cajon, clarinet, the "real" trombone, melodica, harmonica, etc)

Practice:
Tigger will agree to practice if she knows a "good practice" will get her a hershey's kiss, most times. Another 1 out of 10 times she will wander into "her" music room while I am playing trombone to encourage me or compliment me and stay and be cajoled into practice. And practice means more effort at blowing long notes on the plastic trumpet with no valves pressed or puffing staccato blasts on the trombone usually with me holding the bell section. When her interest seems to flag I will do almost anything to keep her in the room; watch youtube videos of brass bands or show tunes, "jam" of plastic instruments and march around, play clapping/counting/rhyming games, etc. Anything that will end the session with a smile on her face and a positive association with that space and the time she spends there.

Every Wednesday we drop Tig at the home of a family friend where she has "music room" with their college bound, very musically talented daughter who plays piano and guitar and sings with Tigger in a half play/half educational format. Tigger is very interested in both instruments and the engagement is heightened because of her affection for and admiration of her Aunty Nani who is also an accomplished hula dancer which Nani has used a few times to get Tigger's attention back. It is an hour of fun for them both and gives me a break on Wednesday afternoons.

General:
As I mentioned Tigger has a rare genetic disorder, Williams Syndrome, that give her a predisposition to connect with music on levels that are still being researched and understood. Because of the ways I have seen it manifest as a source of joy and a tool for education and connection I'll make every effort and accommodation to expose her to and connect her with anything I can in a musical context. Her earlier interest in trombone has led me to learn to play an instrument in my 50s and has re-connected me with music in a way that was squelched early on as a child. It has been expansive.

When she turns 5 next year I will look for a piano teacher for her. Stringed instruments are the default in our community and I think she will learn to play ukulele and guitar as she has recently admired her mother's playing and tried to insinuate herself into mommy's lessons & practices. She was a favorite fixture as a singer at the monthly Ukulele Jam at The Bishop Museum. I don't know if she will maintain her interest in being a brass player. I will certainly always try to make it available to her and encourage (prod) her to play with me.

I have no instructional experience so I have no tips. It's just getting the kid interested in practicing the fundamentals. For us it is half natural interest and half bribery. Good luck and keep at it, with patience. It sounds as though your sister is headed in the right direction.

Aloha,
Jason Fitzgerald

[WilliamLang]

that's such a lovely post!

[Posaunus]

that's such a lovely post!

Good luck Jason.