When I was younger I was a real music geek.
Add on top of that the following:
- my love for reading manga
- watching anime before it became “cool” and mainstream
- reading in general (the library was my second home)
- eating chocolate bars in secret (hehe)
- working on computers
- designing and typing out HTML code for Geocities (yes this dates me!)
…and it all added up to one socially awkward, slightly chubby preteen.
I took a lot of musical hobbies up as a kid as well, and I ended up singing in choirs (but please don’t ask me to sing anything right now).
I also started playing a few instruments: violin, viola and piano.
The piano was the only one I’ve managed to take all the way to the end of all the grades, whereas the violin and viola weren’t my strongest instruments.
When I grew up, almost everyone around me took lessons
Almost everyone. There wasn’t a single person I knew who didn’t play at least one instrument or was starting to.
I guess it was the thing to do to your kids — make them give up their weekends to practice a skill.
I’m very glad my parents had the means and the intuition to put us into these programs, because it sure isn’t cheap for lessons.
BF said I grew up as a little rich girl to him, because I got to go to lessons and play an instrument.
(He’s half kidding because his parents were REALLY, REALLY cheap with their money for paying for activities. )
So how much does it all cost?
The cost of playing a musical instrument (piano):
- 13 years x $15/half hour for 52 weeks a year = $10,140 <— WOW!
- Piano = $3000 (for the one I want) but my mom paid $5000 for an upright piano.
- Music & Theory Books = $100/year = $1300 <— may not be super accurate.
That adds up to $14,400. Let’s say $15,000 for a skill.
Holy. Schmoly. I am glad I took it, and that I went to the advanced levels of music, rather than stopping at the lower grades.
So now I’m curious nosy about everyone else’s musical abilities and if you think it was worth the cost in the end:
- Do you/did you play a musical instrument? If so, which ones?
- When did you start playing?
- Why did you choose that instrument?
- Did it ever make a difference in your math or learning abilities? (Baby Mozart and all that)
- Were you forced into it or did you naturally go into it?
- How many times did you go a week for lessons? Or did you learn it on your own?
- Do you still practice today?
- How much do you think it costs? — See my rough calculation above.
- If you plan on having kids, would you make them play an instrument and form your own orchestra? 😛
Here are my answers:
Do you/did you play a musical instrument? If so, which ones?
Piano, Violin, Viola (in order of competence :P). Does my voice count? If so, throw it in there.
When did you start playing an instrument?
Age of 5 for piano, age of 9 for violin and 10 for viola.
Why did you choose that instrument?
The piano was easiest for me to bang my little fingers on to make a sound. The violin was because I was really inspired by Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and the Duo of 2 violins.
Did it ever make a difference in your math or learning abilities? (Baby Mozart and all that)
Er.. I’d like to think so and my parents didn’t waste all that money. I wasn’t very good at Science but I did enjoy math once I understood the point of it.
Once I got into college, I avoided numbers like the plague. I thought it wasn’t relevant to my life (how wrong am I!?), but now I’m pretty comfortable with it.
Were you forced into it or did you naturally go into it?
Forced, then I grew to love it.
Do you still practice today?
No. 🙁
I’m rusty and I sound bad. I don’t think I want to play the violin or viola as much. I much prefer the piano, but I need to buy myself a Roland.
How many times did you go a week for lessons? Or did you learn it on your own?
Once a week, half an hour because my dad cried every week in the corner over the bill. $15/half hour x all us kids.
The violin and viola I took some lessons for in the beginning, then I stopped and practiced on my own. I managed to learn the pieces that inspired me to start those instruments in the first place, and then I stopped.
If you plan on having kids, would you make them play an instrument and form your own orchestra? 😛
Yes.
We’d turn into the von Trapp family with each kid playing an instrument, then I’d make them travel as a group and use the proceeds to pay for their food, clothing, lodging and education.
(JUST KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂 )
For the record, I really enjoyed it. I thought it was worth it, and even if it isn’t “useful” in a work-and-career related sense, it taught me that practice made perfect, and that beauty can come from ugliness (I was awful on the violin in the beginning).
And to boot, it’s a relatively free hobby once you get past those 10,000 hours of practice and paying for the instruments themselves.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
I started guitar in 2nd grade, piano in 3rd, clarinet in 5th. I continued on to almost finish my doctorate in clarinet performance, and taught lessons myself for 15 years. I do believe that math and music are very related, and once you understand one, it’s very helpful when learning another. I was not forced into any of these instruments, and practiced fairly regularly. I think that your estimate of cost is pretty accurate, although lessons cost depends on the area you live in.
Hey!! Here are my answers!
Do you/did you play a musical instrument? If so, which ones? Yes, I play some musical instruments but I invested more in piano
When did you start playing? I started piano with 11, but I already saw my father giving music reading lessons before!
Why did you choose that instrument? I really dont know! I dont know if I choose, or it was given to me!
Did it ever make a difference in your math or learning abilities? (Baby Mozart and all that) I think that music helps the development. I always was very good in maths and portuguese, even in all other disciplines. Learning music made me study 2 schools (and courses) at the same time, but it was good!
Were you forced into it or did you naturally go into it? It was my initiative. I saw my father giving lessons because I couldnt stay alone at home and one day I asked him that I wanted that too!
How many times did you go a week for lessons? Or did you learn it on your own? I studied in a conservatory, and after in music university. Today I study other styles by my own, I do classes for me almost everyday, through methods books.
Do you still practice today? Sure!
How much do you think it costs? — See my rough calculation above. I really dont know. I have acoustic piano and some keyboards. And I’m always investing in studio material. So yes, its a “little” expensive, but its not just a hobbie… its my professional work! =)
If you plan on having kids, would you make them play an instrument and form your own orchestra? I feel that I would educate them, but I will want that they give their initiative on playing an instrument. I want that they have pleasure, and not feel that they must just because I would like that!
I play the piano since I was perhaps 5. My mom made me learn it and I didn’t really like it. It was only once I joined an actual music school (as extracurricular) in junior high that I really began loving it. Part of it was that there was a structure to the learning (no more randomness of pieces chosen) and the other crucial part was that I got a new teacher who was absolutely amazing and fascinating. Like you, I ended up going all the way in the curriculum.
I don’t know whether it made a difference in my math or learning abilities, but for sure it made me learn to prioritize my time. However, the most important thing about playing the piano is that it “saved” me.
My mom always likes to say that I never had those crazy rebellious teen years, but I was a quiet kid in pain and anguish. Wracked with existential questions, sadness, gloomy thoughts, and melancholy… playing the piano allowed me to release those feelings. I would always tend to pick the more dramatic pieces and it felt good for me to play them.
So it was something that was forced upon me, but that I fully grew into and I’m grateful.
How much do I think it cost? A fortune, and priceless.
If I have kids, I will definitely encourage them to pick up an instrument, or something artistic, definitely.
Interesting topic and one I can relate to. 🙂
I started playing the piano when I was 5. I grew up in the Philippines so most parents there enrolled their kids in piano so that’s what my mom did. I’m not sure if it really helped with my math or learning abilities. I would like to think that it did. I think it taught me discipline. It sure helped a lot with my typing class! In the beginning, I was forced (like most kids) but I ended up liking it when I got older. I took lessons once a week, usually on Saturdays. I still practice today via playing for our church choir. Since piano lessons are expensive here in the US, I joined church choirs so I can maintain my piano skills. I don’t think I was quite as good as when I was 13 but I can still play the difficult music pieces I did back then. I’m honestly not sure how much it costs because it was in pesos and I don’t know how much my mom paid.
I have a 5 year old son and a 2 year old daughter and I plan to enroll them in piano lessons. I’ve been trying to teach my son but he refuses to listen so I’m considering enrolling him in a proper piano school. Haven’t decided yet though. I wouldn’t mind him joining orchestra for school cause I did and it was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I learned to work with other musicians and this translated well when I joined the church choir.
Do you/did you play a musical instrument? If so, which ones? – piano, guitar, flute, accordion (chick magnet!) and dabbling with violin. Reality is, once you learn one, the others are easy. Like you, I’ve gone as far as possible through the formal grades, but there’s always another level through the virtuoso levels (Royal Conservatory).
When did you start playing? Age 4, on the piano. Guitar took a couple tries in my 20s to really learn. Flute in middle school, recently revisited.
Why did you choose that instrument? – Like you, when I was a kid, everybody took lessons. Piano was considered the easiest to find teachers for. And once into piano, every other instrument seemed to be a compromise.
Did it ever make a difference in your math or learning abilities? (Baby Mozart and all that) – definite tie-ins with early interest in math, and later IT career. Music develops parts of your brain that don’t develop otherwise.
Were you forced into it or did you naturally go into it? – 100% natural. Never forced. Playing was part of my daily routine until my late teens, when I just naturally drifted away, to revisit it later with a vengeance.
How many times did you go a week for lessons? Or did you learn it on your own? – a half-hour for piano, and about an hour for theory, every week. For years. Still doing it today in my fifties.
Do you still practice today? – every day. I also play semi-professionally so it’s a nice income stream too.
How much do you think it costs? — See my rough calculation above. – Seriously? I spend over $4000/year today on lessons, workshops, and books. Part of that I consider to be income supplement for my aged teacher (same one since age 6!). But that also includes occasional lessons for a niece, so it’s hard to say. Getting proficient on an instrument should be about as expensive as an undergrad degree, so call it $40K.
If you plan on having kids, would you make them play an instrument and form your own orchestra? – Too late for that. Teaching might be in my future though.