Mrs. Redguard and I were discussing the various activities that we want to get Rachel involved in.

She'll be starting kindergarten in September and we're enrolling her into the French Immersion program. We've always known that we want to encourage Rachel to be bilingual since she IS Canadian.

We also want to get her involved in at least one sport and get her a musical talent.

I'm all for her taking piano lessons, or some other instrument.

Mrs. Redguard supports the instrument idea, but wants her to take "Singing Lessons".

Rachel is turning 4 in April and currently sings.... LIKE A 4 YEAR OLD. It's cute, but it's not the kind of then that has me saying, "Wow!! You're going to be the next Beyonce or AmyRoo!! Let's work on developing that voice!"

I sorta hinted to Mrs. Redguard that I wasn't in complete agreement with us investing in singing lessons for a 4 year old. But she's a hard one to convince. Again, an example of the wife looking to spend money in any which way she can find.

Add to that the fact that I'm of the belief that singing is one of those things that you either have, or don't have. If Rachel is going to be a singer, then she's going to be one regardless of singing lessons... unless she plans on being a classical soloist which would require training. But besides that, I can't shake the thought of singing lessons being kinda cheesy. Maybe I've watched too many episodes of American Idol where I see terrible singers who've said that they've received singing lessons, etc.

What do you guys think? :wall:

As usual in these matters between you and the Mrs., I agree with you. I think American Idol has got everyone thinking they're going to be the next star. Either you've got it, or you don't. Are you guys plugged into a church yet? Why not get Rachel involved at church. Our church has a great children's program. Kids as young as 4 are involved in musicals and plays. Hey, even Whitney started in the church choir! Plus, it's free!

She's too young for singing lessons. 4 years old? Maybe piano, but nothing really complicated like flute or clarinet.

We started our oldest in dance (and will start our youngest this fall) at age four. We are also getting them involved in sports programs at the YMCA.

We were in a music store this fall shopping for a guitar for Mr. McG. To kill time, I wandered through the percussion session with Sarah and Sean. I put both of them in front of a drum kit. Sarah banged away, as I expected, just making a lot of noise. But Sean, to my surprise and the surprise of the sales guy, Sean got it. At 4 he actually understood how to play drums and did it. The guy asked me how old he was, and I told him. He said he's too young for lessons, another two years. Now, I don't know if that was because of his size/size of drums or just maturity. But I would guess the best way to determine whether Rachel is ready, is to seek advice from a professional. This would also get you an out. This way Mrs. Redguard can't blame you for not being able to spend the money on lessons she's not ready to take.

Our church has a Creative Arts Pastor who is in charge of overseeing things like Drama, Arts, and Music. His wife also participates on the Praise Team.

Mrs. Red HAS brought up the idea of getting in touch with them to see what kind of things Rachel can get involved in. I'm all for that. JUST as long as she shakes off this idea that she's going to pay someonen to teach Rachel to sing. No way!

But I'd really like to see her take up an instrument. Mrs. Redguard is worried about us investing into purchasing an instrument and then hearing Rachel say that she doesn't want to play it. I think EVERY kid goes through that phase though. I used to take piano and went through the phase of saying, "I don't want to play anymore". Unfortunately, my parents listened to me and now I wish they'd forced me to continue.

Probably not something like singing lessons, or instrument lessons until she's older....

But when she starts school in the fall, I'd like to get her involved in Girl Scouts, some kind of sport (she likes soccer), etc.

I'm with you on the singing lessons - to young for that and yes - either you got it or you don't.

Maddy is in ballet - has been since she was 2. She loves it so we will keep her in it. She has also taken gymnastics & we may do that again - but the freakin' ballet is so stinkin' expensive!! Can't afford both right now.

Voice lessons are pointless until around age 13 or 14. If you want your kid to be a singer, the best thing for them is piano lessons. With piano, they learn about rhythm, melody and harmony, the 3 basic ingredients of music.
We're planning on having all our kids take piano lessons when they are old enough. Christopher really wants to play the violin and I may start looking into that. Right now, he take a kindermusick class once a week after preschool. He's done a couple sessions of soccer, also.

I agree with AmyRoo.

If she learns piano, she'll learn both Treble Clef and Bass Clef. She'll learn rhythm, beats, note count etc. I'd push piano before other instruments.

Some of the best piano teachers I know "interview" kids before taking them on. They'll sit with them, talk with them and see what their maturity level is before "teaching" them. You can have a 4 year old who is ready while a 7 year old might need some more time before they start.

My child is starting K in August. He's in AWANA and I'll be having him checked out for piano lessons too. I play piano but teaching is a different story.

As for sports, he's doing swimming in the summer and that's plenty. Starting school will be enough for him so I dno't want to add to many new things.

Oh...and we're already bilingual here.

:wave:

What's your other language? :)

10 to 1 its probably Spanish! She is in CA after all.....( I think it CA)... :dunno:

i espanol hermano ! :thanks:

:thumbsup:

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I've got my oldest in her 3-4th year of Ballet.

Looks like our girl will be starting guitar lessons soon. Tommy traded in one of his for a 3/4 acoustic for Sarah's birthday next week. Hopefully her father will have enough patience to teach her himself (and save us some cash). Otherwise, it's private guitar lessons!

My uncle was trying to teach me and Mrs. Redguard how to play guitar when we were in New Jersey back in December.

It's hard! :(

I've started my kids on piano/keyboard lessons. They pay me with chores. :D

From a musician:
Don't hammer a kid on an instrument unless they have a reputation as a quitter. I hated piano lessons. It did teach me a thing or two about music that I've held on to since, and now I'd like to learn (don't have keys, though! :( ).

Anyway - I hated piano lessons, but loved guitar. I didn't stick with guitar long enough to get past basic chords (never could do bar chords) but I still had problems. My fingers were too fat to really do much with the guitar. Hey - I wear a size 12 wedding band. I loved to listen to Rush, and found that I could kinda-sorta keep up with Geddy Lee on the bass with my tiny six-string. So, I put it away and used my very first income tax refund to buy an electric bass. It's since been pawned, but it did get me on stage with a heavy metal band in Corpus Christi one night.

I love music. I love to arrange music for four-part harmony. I love to sing. I love to play my acoustic bass (though it sounds like crap when it's plugged in). I love to plink around on my dad's Radio Shack keyboard. I love to grab my daughter's recorder and play some tune that's in my head. I love to grab my wife's :butt: - wait - I mean clarinet and mess around with it.

The only instrument I have problems with is the drums. I can't seem to do very good on them.

You mean, back when you were in NJ and totally blew off the McGs? Oh I remember that...

Sorry! :D

:lol:

I bet Mr. McG could have taught you how to play guitar...if you hadn't blown us off.

But then we're getting used to this. Louis blows through Jersey every other month it seems and we've yet to see him!

Then again, the way he describes his condition/appearance after being on the road that long, I'm not sure we'd want to see him. :huh:

Yeah..And he'd probably want to borrow some Ziplocs...

:lol:
I was gonna say the same thing!

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or worse....drop some ziplocks off.

:sick: