Learning musical instruments?

Question:What would you say is the maximum amount of musical instruments for a 14 year old to be learning at one point? I know a 14 year old girl whose learning 4 at the moment and also having singing lessons the trouble is she seems to be making very slow progress on each. Is this too much and is it the case of being jack of all trades but master of none? Her music theory is well below par and she is even having trouble mastering both key signatures from the very simplest major scales and also time signatures too. She first started learning music 6 years ago and to me the simple theory exercises should make some sense by now. I'm concerned she's doing too much and thats why she's not doing as well as she possibly could. Any views or advise anyone?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: What would you say is the maximum amount of musical instruments for a 14 year old to be learning at one point? I know a 14 year old girl whose learning 4 at the moment and also having singing lessons the trouble is she seems to be making very slow progress on each. Is this too much and is it the case of being jack of all trades but master of none? Her music theory is well below par and she is even having trouble mastering both key signatures from the very simplest major scales and also time signatures too. She first started learning music 6 years ago and to me the simple theory exercises should make some sense by now. I'm concerned she's doing too much and thats why she's not doing as well as she possibly could. Any views or advise anyone?

I think you're right. I'm a professional music instructor,,,
The range of one's abilities is so vastly varying from one to the other. At 14,,, it sounds like this girl is biting way more than she can chew. She has a lot more to worry about,, such as school projects, tests,, math assignments ,, whatever.
I really doubt that she has time to progress on 4 instruments let alone go to all these music lessons every week.

It doesn't sound like she has the talent to pick up every instrument and learn to play them. If she doesn't understand the simplest of theory,,, maybe music isn't really her thing at all.
How does she sound???
It will be much more effective for her to focus on one instrument. Once she gets pretty competent on one,,, which requires time and practice,,, she will definitely find it easier to pick up other instruments a little further down the road.

It's like learning a new language: you can't progress until you learn the basics of grammar. If someone were to try and learn 4 languages simultaneously, you'd expect them to make very slow progress in each. The same is true with musical instruments, whereas the the same grammar (theory) rules apply to all, but the vocabulary is entirely different for each. The only use in attempting 4 instruments at the same time is to help determine the 1 instrument the student truly enjoys playing. At 14, there's plenty of time for the other 3.

I'd cut it down to two.

I'm taking piano, violin, and singing lessons and that's a lot and it's all very time consuming. If you wnat to take even that many you've got to think "How much time can i put into this?" Piano takes 20 mins. a day and Violin takes 26-35 so i spend almost an hour on just to instruments.

I would say no more than 2 at a time. I learned the flute and the piano at the same time and i did O.K, but i think i would have gone crazy if i was learning another one at the same time. It would be too much to remember. so ya, stick to 2 and if you think you can handle one more, give it a try.

Two instruments is plenty for anybody to learn. That should keep a person fully occupied with lessons and practise.
Better to be good at two instruments than lousy on four.

I really don't see why people try to learn so many at once. It would be okay if they were good at them but from what I have seen they are usually terrible because there is not enough time in the day to practise so many instruments.

When I was learning classical guitar as a teenager, I spent half and hour a day practising, increasing to an hour with higher grades.

I also tinkered with piano for a few minutes a day.

I think I could only have learnt two instruments at a time and given enough time to each for productive practice.

It's all down to individual ability, of course.

Musical instruments all have the same foundation, so once you learn one in depth, the others will come easily. I played saxophone (alto and tenor) for a year and a half, and in my spare time afterward, picked up bassoon, flute, clarinet, and trumpet (and just purchased a soprano). I would say work on one or two instruments, and once are play proficiently on those, expand.

I started learning the violin when i was in 2nd grade, the sax when i was in 3rd, then the clarinet in 7th, and the trombone in 8th. Sometime between all those i had time for the guitar, and percussion. I never found myself not doing as good as i could, but the only one i really had issues with was the trombone, i just couldnt play brass, but i could read basss clef as easy as i could treble. my friend, well i shouldnt call him a friend, he isnt the BEST at the instrument that he plays at the moment and he wants to learn another one, i thought he should learn the one before he moves on, but theres the other kid, hes not necessarily a friend either, but he can play alot of different instruments really well, i guess it just depends on the person.

maybe she should focus on ONE until she gets better, then move on to the next.