|
Post by musicfan on May 4, 2005 20:11:46 GMT
Following on from the "Difficult flute" thread in the Woodwind section... The thought of an 8-year-old attempting to play a tuba led me to think that there must be many instruments that have a minimum age (well - arm-span, height, lung capacity etc really) requirement. First off there must be a minimum height for bassoon players, unless you stand on the chair instead of sitting on it! Harpists must have arms of a certain length, otherwise they would have to run round the side of the instrument to reach the highest strings! You can see where this is going... Please add your thoughts (or is it just me that thinks like this? )
|
|
|
Post by tremolo on May 5, 2005 10:54:34 GMT
First off there must be a minimum height for bassoon players, unless you stand on the chair instead of sitting on it! or unless you have a really high chair!
|
|
|
Post by Matt on May 5, 2005 14:50:49 GMT
There are mini-bassoons, 3/4 length, transposed into F I believe...they should be alright for anyone...
Harps: Why anyone would take up harp I don't know, but alot of harp music (I believe) is going up and down strings next to one another, so little people could sort of move around more while they're playing
Tuba: I'd say this a no-no for little people. Not only doy uo need long arms, but you need alot of puff too, and it's one of the heaviest instruments around...
So tuba, and probably double bass wouldn't be good for little people, but who knows, it might happen someday...
|
|
|
Post by musicbabe on May 5, 2005 15:12:14 GMT
well a lot of younger ones wanting to learn saxophone are usually better off starting with clarinet. coz u need bigger hands for sax
|
|
izzy
Grade 3 - Rookie
Posts: 137
|
Post by izzy on May 5, 2005 16:01:30 GMT
You can play tuba from a young age. You can get a stand for them to support the weight, and there's a smaller version of it. My friend had a tuba which was fairly big, then got a different one which is huge and weighs a ton, but someone who played at band once had one he could carry around on his back no probs. You definitely couldn't do that with any tuba my friend had!
The tuba player in the national youth orchestra is 9 years old.
And you don't actually need that much puff to play a tuba, less than you do for a trumpet, or even a clarinet! I've tried!
|
|
|
Post by monkey laydee on May 5, 2005 17:03:10 GMT
You can get tinyeeeee violins. They're so cute! ;D
|
|
|
Post by ~*~Ruth~*~ on May 5, 2005 17:36:21 GMT
yep i wish i'd kept my first violin from when i was 4! it was so sweet!
i saw this girl in orchestra yesterday who was playing a double bass and she had a really big stool! even bigger than the normal ones and she had a cushion on it as well! i'd say she was about 12
|
|
|
Post by fluteandbassoon on May 5, 2005 19:50:21 GMT
You can get tinyeeeee violins. They're so cute! ;D I know someone with an 1/8 size violin and 1/4 size cello. Bassoons are usually started at the age of 8-9 SOme recorders you have to have large hands for. ooo and some times young flutes players need a curved head piece.
|
|
|
Post by tremolo on May 6, 2005 8:04:33 GMT
is there such thing as 1/16 size violin?
|
|
|
Post by musicfan on May 6, 2005 19:06:07 GMT
is there such thing as 1/16 size violin? Given that it would play 4 octaves above a standard violin and the strings would be very very short, I suspect it would be too small for practical use. However, I stand to be corrected... I'm disappointed that no-one's mentioned the Sousaphone yet! Now there's a large instrument. A small child could get lost in the bell! I can only assume that they're not as heavy and awkward as they look, but I wouldn't like to try to carry/play one in a strong wind!
|
|
|
Post by jazzking on May 6, 2005 19:39:25 GMT
Wow! The sousaphone is great! ast time I saw being played was by Harry Strutters Hot Rytmn orchestra with George Melly.
|
|
|
Post by monkey laydee on May 6, 2005 20:58:37 GMT
yep i wish i'd kept my first violin from when i was 4! it was so sweet! i saw this girl in orchestra yesterday who was playing a double bass and she had a really big stool! even bigger than the normal ones and she had a cushion on it as well! i'd say she was about 12 Who was that? Is it the girl who was in Trans? She used to go to my school.
|
|
|
Post by tremolo on May 6, 2005 23:05:48 GMT
never heard of it!
|
|
|
Post by Matt on May 7, 2005 10:12:02 GMT
is there such thing as 1/16 size violin? You could use a matchstick for the bow!
|
|
|
Post by ~*~Ruth~*~ on May 7, 2005 10:26:52 GMT
Who was that? Is it the girl who was in Trans? She used to go to my school. yep it was her. she looked like she was having problems with it didnt she?
|
|