Do you have a young child that have started to develop an interest in music?
That’s great, because learning and playing any music instrument is not an amazing source of joy, inspiration and creativity.
Studies have also shown that playing music instruments results in several measurable improvements of physical and mental abilities.
However, starting with a “too advanced” instruments can scare your child away from music.
Which is why I personally recommend to begin on a super beginner friendly instrument. Something that not only is extremely easy to play, but also sounds good (or at least not bad) regardless of how you play it.
For example: I would not recommend starting on a string instrument like guitar or even ukulele. And not even the recorder, which has been a standard “starter” instrument for decades.
I believe the best “first instrument” is a diatonic instrument (an instrument tuned to 1 single scale). Something that sounds musical, is super easy to play, and most importantly: fun! Let’s have a look at my top list:
5 Best Music Instruments for Young Children
- Boomwhackers
- Xylophone
- Tongue Drum
- Kalimba
- Table Bells
Make sure that you choose a instrument that is diatonic (tuned in 1 scale). For example, there are professional xylophones, but a small diatonic and even coloured one will be best for a young child to start on.
If you want to give your child an instrument that can play every single note, but is still easy to learn on, I would highly recommend the melodica. It has a keyboard layout, and a hose that you blow air into to create the sound.
But if you want to give your child a very simple start in music, any small hand percussion instrument will work great. Such as a small frame drum, bongo set, maracas, or even a small egg shaker.