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What is the best instrument for a child to learn?

Top 10 Instruments for Children to Learn to Play Music The Xylophone. Hand Percussion. Piano. Ukulele. Drums. Recorder. Violin. Guitar. More items... •

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Playing and learning music benefits people of all ages, including children—and, it’s proven to be fun. The benefits of music education extend well beyond childhood, lasting a lifetime. Music education is shown to have a multitude of benefits, including abstract reasoning and creativity. Children who are musically trained have stronger every day listening skills. Music engages both sides of the brain and challenges children to simultaneously concentrate on multiple tasks.

Explore how making music can be part of your children’s lives below!

Top 10 Instruments for Children to Learn to Play Music

**List order is based on "recommended age."

The Xylophone

Recommended for young children

Children often recognize the melodies of songs before they understand the words. The xylophone is an instrument any child can pick up and play. Most xylophones these days are designed with bright colors and/or animation that your child will be automatically drawn to.

Hand Percussion

Recommended for young children

Think shakers, hand drums, bells, rattles, etc. These instruments are ideal; young ones can easily pick up these with their hands and start making music instantly. Benefits to children include coordination and learning how to keep rhythm.

Piano

Recommended for children in elementary school

Playing the piano offers advantages to players of all ages, including developing concentration, lowering stress, improving self-esteem, and enhancing fine motor skills.

Ukulele

Recommended for children in elementary school

You can’t play the ukulele without a smile on your face! Try it with your child- it’s a given that it will lead to smiles and liven up the atmosphere of any room. The ukulele is a perfect instrument to learn to play. Nylon strings make it easy to play and the instrument itself can be purchased at a low cost. Children will benefit from hand-eye coordination and be playing songs with weeks, or even days!

Drums

Recommended for children in elementary school, middle and high school

Parents may be wary of buying a drum set for their child because of the noise factor. It might not be the quietest of instruments, but children love this instrument they can play with all of their limbs.

Recorder

Recommended for children in elementary school

Playing the recorder requires breathing techniques and coordination. The recorder is easier than other wind instruments and is the ideal introductory instrument.

Violin

Recommended for children in elementary and middle school

The violin can be challenging. If your child is disciplined to push through the difficulties of mastering the violin, they can play anything they put their mind too! Benefits include tone, pitch, coordination and perseverance.

Guitar

Recommended for middle and high school students

Learning to play the guitar is easy! Kids also gravitate towards the cool factor that the guitar brings. This fundamental instrument teaches children the basics of music.

Flute

Recommended for middle and high school students

The flute requires patience! Kids should know that it takes hard work to make sure their hands and arms should be in a lifted position for extended periods of time. This is a great instrument to play to crossover into playing the clarinet.

Trumpet

Recommended for middle and high school students

The trumpet is truly the ideal beginning brass instrument. Like the flute, students need to have the strength to hold their instrument in position for a long period of time.

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Why is music education being cut?

When Save The Music started in 1997, music education funding cuts in public schools were on the rise. School boards and superintendents often cited economic strain as a justification for schools cutting music programs from the regular schedule and relegating music and the arts to after school or enrichment programs.

When Save The Music started in 1997, music education funding cuts in public schools were on the rise. School boards and superintendents often cited economic strain as a justification for schools cutting music programs from the regular schedule and relegating music and the arts to after school or enrichment programs. Looking at the music education funding landscape twenty-five years later, we can see that music education budget cuts disproportionately impact school districts that serve students of color, immigrant students and low-income communities. According to the most recent federal data, a majority of students in the U.S. have access to music education as part of their school day. The approximately 7,000 schools without music programs are predominantly in school districts that serve black, immigrant and low-income student populations. In our experience at Save The Music, most people understand the benefits of music programs in public schools intuitively, and many are aware of the research that has shown investment in music education funding drives positive student and school outcomes – including better attendance, academic performance, teacher satisfaction and student social-emotional skills like confidence and focus. So why does music education funding remain at risk when school districts face budget pressures? Looking at research compiled by Americans for the Arts, there are two principal factors at play for why music programs are being cut: 1. Music education funding cuts continue to be an option for school districts that have weak programs and a lack of parental support, leading to chronic underfunding. 2. Schools cutting music programs have led to music education funding being inequitable.

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