Are violin lessons a good idea for my 7 year old son??

Question:He is 7 like I said I am wondering if this will be a good idea as far as learnig more to focus???

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: He is 7 like I said I am wondering if this will be a good idea as far as learnig more to focus???

if he wants to and is interested, then yes!
you could rent the instrument for the first few months/years in case. if you rent from victors, then all repair things are free from them
a goood idea if he is that young

any music lessons are great for a child!!!!! If he doesnt like the violin try the guitar or drums or let him experiment to find the instrument he likes so that he will be more excited to learn and will stick with it!!!!!! As a child I played flute and I always loved playing for my folks and when I wrote a song they just loved it more. Great for focus, learning math through count and rythym, a connection to the arts.....nothing but good can come of it!

It really depends. My fiancé as a child (around that age) took up violin lessons. The reason: his mother thought it would help him concentrate better. He did learn a bit but as time passed, he ended up breaking the violin for good because he hated it so much.

I can't say your son will do the same but maybe you should ask him what he wants to do. Give him a few options he can choose from and try them out. That way, it won't feel like he's being forced to take ONLY violin lessons.

It would be a very good idea. Give your child a chance to experiment with the Violin or any other instrument, to see if they like it. It would be great for focus and he would have the ability to play an instrument.

Only if he wants to. Any type of music lessons shouldn't just be forced on someone; they should be taken at the person's own choice.

If he wants to, I would let him take lessons. Some of the best violinists started playing around that age, and some of them started playing at even younger ages. Who knows? Your son might even be one of those people if he continues playing violin for life.

Also, violin(and any other type of instrument or music for that matter) incorporates a lot of skills from academic classes(math, language arts, science, and social studies) into it, so it will help in those areas too. I've been playing violin for 3 years now and I'll be going into 9th grade after this schoolyear is over, and it's been a great experience for me for those 3 years. I plan on playing violin as long as I possibly can because of my great experience while playing.

Yes; music lessons are wonderful for children (assuming you find a good private teacher). See:

What are some of the advantages of studying music?
http://beststudentviolins.com/PedagogyTe...

I believe that music study is productive for anyone, at any age. The benefits may be said to include (a) Sense of accomplishment, self-esteem; (b) informs one's knowledge of human history and aesthetics; (c) teaches self-discipline and awareness; (d) is enjoyable and pleasurable; (e) gives meaning and purpose to life; (f) inspires self-knowledge and psychological insight; (g) teaches patience and persistence; (h) promotes physical coordination; (i) develops attention to fine detail; (j) teaches humility; (k) provides a release of emotions; (l) allows one to share concepts with some of the best minds in human history; and in chamber music performance (m) teaches one to work with and respect others.

For children, in particular, it is thought that music study supports high academic performance and positive socialization. Individuals responsible for decision making on college entrance applications look at private music study and orchestral experience, as very positive factors. For adults, it is an aide to memory and physiological coordination and wellbeing. [See also: Why We Play.]

It has been amusingly pointed out by a denizen of the Early Music forum (rec.music.early) that the same advantages may be had by baking bread. I think that is accurate; anything done well will produce similar results.

I learn the violin and I can tell you that the violin is extremely difficult to play.
I only recommend it to people who love the sound and really want to play the violin. If he has trouble focusing then perhaps the piano would be a better option.
He won't have to spend six months just learning how to get a decent sound out of a piano.

I am just curious.... what made you think of the violin ?

no he is already to old for this, but stile in time to play guitar :) much more popular also

I am probably in the minority among violin teachers, but when people with children younger than 10 come to me for lessons, I generally discourage them. I would rather see them learn piano when they are that young. If they learn piano first, they'll learn to read music, they'll learn some theory, and will learn how to practice. Then, if they are truly interested in playing the violin, I recommend age 10 or older. Violin is a very difficult instrument to learn and play, and if a student doesn't practice, they simply will not improve. Most young children just don't have the physical ability to practice for long periods of time. Most children at age 10 or 12 practice and learn faster than small children. Much of the time, you can't tell a the difference between a 13 year old who started at age 4 from one who started at age 10, especially if the 10 year old really wanted to learn, and the 4 year old was only there because mommy was convinced he was a prodigy.

Of course, this is a total generalization. I realize there are famous violinists (like Hilary Hahn and Josh Bell) who started playing at age 4 and were playing concertos with major orchestras as teenagers. But I'll bet there are a lot of teenagers who don't play music at all because their mothers forced them to play the violin at age 4 and by age 8 they were sick of it and frustrated and never wanted to play again. I wish someone who do a study on this subject. I'd be interested in the results.