Music lessons: five classic instruments

Another glittering orchestral night at the Royal Festival Hall, and on to the stage, to a standing ovation, strides your grown-up son or daughter, clutching their violin. The auditorium is hushed, your offspring prepares to play – and bang, you wake up from your dream.

All right, so you’re getting a bit ahead of yourself, but there’s no doubt that giving your child the chance to learn a musical instrument gives them confidence, improves (some say) their spatial awareness and may (if they’re really talented) even lead to a career such as the one described above. Question is, what instrument should they take up, and how much is it going to cost?

Violin

Age to start learning from: 6

Cost of instrument (new): £100-£250 (smallest violin is a one-eighth size (six-year-olds), up to a full size for 13- to 14-year-olds)

Cost of extras: strings £2, bow £10-£15

The good news: lots of opportunity to play in orchestras. A typical youth ensemble might need 30 violinists. The Suzuki Method (a pioneering method for very young players) is taught in groups, so it’s less lonely.

Less good news: progress is slow to start with, and painful to parental ears.

Piano

Age to start learning from: 6

Cost of instrument (new): electric £200-£300 (Yamaha, Casio), upright £1,000 (second-hand £100)

Cost of extras: upright needs occasional tuning

The good news: a piano is all you need to entertain others – and yourself.

Less good news: it’s a hard instrument to master, and is solitary to learn.

Guitar

Age to start learning from: 8

Cost of instrument (new): £30-£40

Cost of extras: strings £2

The good news: you can pretty much teach yourself, provided you can train your fingers to form the chord shapes.

Less good news: there are not many orchestral openings, and classical guitar is really difficult – you can’t just strum and hope.

Clarinet

Age to start learning from: 10

Cost of instrument (new): £200-£300 (good makes are Windcraft, Yamaha, Buffet)

Cost of extras: reeds £1.25, replacement hole-pads £40-£70

The good news: it’s quite easy to learn once you get going.

Less good news: orchestras need one clarinettist to every ten violinists.

Flute

Age to start learning from: 10

Cost of instrument (new): £200-£400 (Trevor James, Yamaha, Buffet)

Cost of extras: replacement hole-pads £40-£70

The good news: it’s easy to carry, and easy to learn once you’ve mastered the mouth-shape (embouchure).

Less good news: it’s a very popular instrument, so there is a lots of competition, unless you can find a great, big flute ensemble.

Know the score

Tuition costs: private tutors cost around £10 for a half-hour session (which is long enough for beginners). You usually have to block-book ten or so lessons. Tutors at school are often cheaper (subsidised by the local authority), though lessons can be shorter (20 minutes).

You can find tutors by asking at your local music store, or contacting your school’s head of music.

Instrument hire: it’s a good idea to hire before you take the plunge and buy. Some schools hire out instruments for free. Renting from a music shop or your tutor costs £15-£20 per month.

Buying second-hand: this is not a good idea unless you’ve got an expert to advise you. Music tutors often have a stock of used instruments (left by kids who have given up).

Exams: they start at Grade 1 and move up to grade 8. The rough rule of thumb is that Grades 1 to 5 are like GCSEs, and Grades 6-8 are the equivalent of A Levels.

Going up one grade a year is a steady rate of progress, though it takes twice as long for a violinist to reach Grade 1 as a woodwind player. Exam fees are around £30 for Grade 1, going up to £75 for Grade 8.

Online musical instrument stores:

Ackerman Music

Dawkes

Bonners Music

Mann’s Music

John Myatt