7yr old plucking the fiddle, what can I give her to explore on?

My daughter is learning and loving the fiddle. Yesterday she started plucking a tune with it under her arm and she was obviously delighted with the alternative sound. I was wondering what I could get her so she could explore this further … maybe a ukulele tuned to GDAE (E20)? Or a small travel banjo, but they aren’t cheap. Cheap and cheerful are important. I just want her to be able to explore the new musical avenue she was so obviously delighted with. I like the idea of getting her another instrument to try it out on so she can see how what she’s learned can translate to fun on other instruments too.

Any suggestions?

Tell her that music is not for her and that the devil will live with her for the rest of her life. It is a forbidden past time and not to pursue it any further but if she insists you might help her to avoid the addiction by directing her to a musical instrument that will cool her addiction. perhaps a guitar or some such thing that is only good for accompaniment. She will defy you but at least you will have tried.

Its the fiddle she likes , get her a small fiddle and maybe a few lessons

Get her a small fiddle and of course lessons. Unless she’s already playing - I’m not sure from your post.

A mandolin would have the same fingering. But there’s nothing wrong with plucking violin strings.

I started my son on a 1/4 size fiddle at age 7. He’s now 8 and after some initial struggles, he’s really enjoying it. We are using a local Suzuki method teacher who is more than happy to allow us to supplement my son’s regular lessons with Irish tunes of his choosing. I like the Suzuki method because it balances ear training with learning to read music.

This past week we played Joy of My life/Donnybrook Fair Jig together for a visiting Grandma. I can’t describe what a treat it is to have tunes with your kid. Good luck to you Sallygardens.

To answer your original question - there are loads of cheap child-size instruments available on e-bay, etc.

It must be a wonderful thing to see a small child enjoy music in that way! Give her every encouragement.

It sounds like your daughter is already taking lessons?

My 6yo is taking violin/fiddle and sometimes prefers to noodle around with the fiddle in guitar position. It gives her a chance to make music without having to work so hard at proper position and bowing. She does most of her “composing” in this position. I would say go ahead and let your daughter do that as much as she wants…as long as she practices her assigned lesson first.

I don’t know about getting her another instrument. I don’t think it’s necessary if she’s enjoying the sound she’s getting from plucking on her violin. I think it’s best for kids especially to focus on one instrument at a time. Though if you can afford to have multiple instruments around for experimenting with, that’s great.

Just my 2c…

What about mandolin? it’s tuned the same as a fiddle, and while not prevalent within Irish music, it’ snot out of place. Also is great for noodling without annoying the whole family.

Good luck finding a decent, playable instrument under $400-$500, though.

have her play the simple tunes that all kids learn; songs from the nursery- Twinkle Twinkle, etc. Keep the joy alive; that’s the most important part.

-By all means try a mandolin. Some are better than others for playability and tone. You may be pleasantly surprised by the state of cheap & cheerful mandolins, though they won’t be dirt cheap.

-She might find the violin tuning on the mandolin a delight as she’ll learn easily to pick out the same stuff she plays on the fiddle. Fretting strings will take a little getting used to but there’s nothing mysterious about it.

-She’s doing the same thing fingering violin strings, but there’ll be two on the mandolin for each single string on the violin. Changing mandolin strings when the time comes might be supervised or done by you until you’re sure she’ll do it OK.

-Mandolins do just fine with ITM, a nimble, responsive instrument well able to be played
to any tempo. They come in all varieties for all sorts of tastes. Mellow, sweet, quiet, bold, bright, loud -take your pick.

-Good luck wih it!
Brian

Thanks everyone. She is learning fiddle at school the last couple of years and has a few jigs under her belt. She LOVES it. I don’t have to ask her to practice, the 1/4 fiddle just lies about and she picks it up a few times in the day. I’m learning too so I suppose she is just practicing as she sees me do it here and there.

What do people think of getting a ukulele (I can get one for E20) and tuning it to GDAE … much cheaper than any mandolin I can find.

I vote mandolin…I bought a Rover for $150 just to plunk around on and it’s small enough that my 5 year old and 2 year old can sit and get their arms around it. It has a fairly nice tone for my noodling use (if I ever get serious about it I will think of upgrading) but then I am not a gear head and use an $80 bow with my $700 fiddle LOL

Anyway, the sound on a even a cheap mando is better than our ukelele because of the string quality. The kids prefer to plunk on the mando over the uke.

good luck

Has anyone tried putting nylon strings on a mandolin ?
It would be good if it worked. Some mandolin nuts need filing down (the white bit near the headstock - not the player ! )