My child has Down syndrome… Can she play an instrument?

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March 21st, World Down Syndrome Day

One of my aims for my children is that each one of them should learn to play an instrument. I want them to be kind and smart and happy and all that. And I want them to play a musical instrument. They won’t all be professional musicians. Perhaps none of them will – though one son is working very passionately on his music, which has truly struck a nerve, bringing in great reviews, contracts and acclaim. Certainly, I hope all my children will grow up to appreciate and enjoy music, and also have the option of making music if and when they wish to.

I have one child, of whom I am immensely proud, who played the recorder for years and years. She decided to take singing lessons when she felt that she couldn’t sing. Later, she took an elective music class at university. She appreciates and enjoys music, whilst working hard in a completely different profession.

My oldest son, of whom I am also immensely proud, played cello and piano throughout childhood, but hated music at high school and dropped out after two years. He started over, doing a vocational course in construction (!), where he did brilliantly, and then went on to university. After graduating, he decided not to work in his field of study, but is currently fully focused on his band Slomosa.

One great discussion and review states that “Slomosa may be newcomers, but their sound draws on decades of established heavy rock traditions that are nothing if not stalwart… An acclaimed music journalist on national radio station P13 called it “some of the best new music to surface in the last couple of years”, saying the song “took his breath away”, and later picked Horses as one of Norway’s five best songs of 2019. It’s exciting!

Down syndrome… The middle one of my seven children has Down syndrome. When she was born, she was adorable, and we didn’t immediately notice anything unusual. The doctors, however, quickly grew suspicious, so we were sent to have her checked out. The first week of her life was spent in hospital, where she went through a series of scans and checks and blood tests.

I had noticed some peculiarities soon after she was born, but my lightbulb moment came when I realised that as far as the doctors were concerned, she either had Down syndrome – or something worse… When her diagnosis was confirmed, everyone was relieved that it was just Down syndrome. It’s amazing how one’s perspective can change in the course of one intense week.

Down syndrome is caused by a genetic twist at conception, which gives the tiny embryo an extra 21st chromosome. A baby with Down syndrome has two of all the other chromosomes, and three copies of number 21. There are a few variations, but this is the most common one, and so, March 21st – 21/3 or 3/21 – is celebrated as World Down Syndrome Day.

Celebrated? I’m still not sure about celebrating Down syndrome as such. Life with an extra chromosome is a life well worth living, but the syndrome definitely comes with downsides, aka lifelong limitations. The most important of these, I think, is that very few people with Down syndrome will ever be fully independent, fully autonomous.

I currently have a (nearly) 15, 17 and 18 year-old, plus their younger and older siblings. The 17-year-old, confident and competent as she is, cannot look forward to the same opportunities and milestones as her brothers and sisters. Does it matter? Does she know? Does she mind? I really don’t know… I think she knows that she is different, but she doesn’t like to talk about it. I am probably prouder of her than of any of my other kids. (Sorry, guys…) But, I do wish that her place in society came with respect and dedication to finding the best opportunities and outcomes for her and her peers.

March 21st, for me, is a day to celebrate opportunity, equality, high quality early and lifelong education, inclusion and dignity. People with disabilities are not merely “objects,” recipients of our charity and protection, but “subjects” who, with the right level of support, can make decisions for themselves and live full and fulfilling lives. And, selfishly, I celebrate the rewards, joys and tribulations of having mothered and raised a child with Down syndrome, a path that I would quite possibly not have chosen, had I had a choice.

So, back to the music. Which instrument is best for a child with Down syndrome? I would suggest that he or she can play whatever instrument they like. Mine loves singing, imagines herself as a pop star, loves to be on stage with a microphone… For Christmas this year, I gave her a singing machine, totally inappropriate for an older teen – but she loves it. SHE LOVES IT!!! If you should wish to buy one of these for your own family to enjoy, you can find it here (US) or here (UK) (affiliate link).

However, the instrument I chose for her to play is the violin. She doesn’t practice as much as she should, she is still in Suzuki book one, she sometimes sounds awful and sometimes sounds quite ok. But she plays. I figure it’s good for her eye-ear-hand coordination, her mental ability, her fine motor skills, her listening and responding skills… It has multiple, lifelong benefits. It takes patience, time, dedication, as with any child. I enjoy it, she sometimes enjoys it, and she is often proud of herself.

When she started formal lessons, why did I choose the violin, rather than the piano or some other instrument? The violin is perhaps one of the most difficult instruments to learn – but I figured that it would work for someone with short fingers and small hands. It is small and light, and doesn’t require a lot of physical strength. It is easy to find a junior orchestra or group where beginners can practise playing together.

In Norway, the national day on May 17th is a big, fun celebration for all the family and for the entire nation. In 2020, Covid-19 made it impossible to celebrate the way we usually do, with parades, parties, and crowds of people. However, A had been practising the national anthem on her violin, so we made a recording.

This summer, we have signed up for a Suzuki summer school, which I look forward to, Covid allowing. I am taking A, plus the two youngest kids, so I will have with me a violinist, a violist and a cellist. At the outset, I found it hard to choose, and applied for two or three different summer courses for my two youngest. Finally, I settled for the Suzuki. I’m pretty sure it’ll be more fun, less angst-creating and altogether more enjoyable for the younger kids than some of the other options. Having decided, I was looking at babysitting options for A, and realised that I might have to take her with me. So I emailed the organisers, and nervously asked if it would be possible to bring along a violinist with Down syndrome.

The very next morning, I received an enthusiastic reply. They had previously had another participant with Down syndrome – who still played the violin and was still making good progress. So, A was very welcome, and this World Down Syndrome Day, I am definitely celebrating inclusion! She is now signed up, much to her annoyance, as she would rather sing and write and not have to go to camp… I’m sure we will all enjoy it, though, and it’ll be a nice trip and mini holiday for us.

Are there any tricks that can make it easier to teach a child to play? I’m not going to go into the merits of various methods, but suggest playing on the strengths and interests of the child. I very much enjoyed Beyond the Music Lesson: Habits of Successful Suzuki Families, US link here, which is full of encouragement and useful ideas. I listened to the audiobook, but it is available in several formats (affiliate link).

One thing that we do for A, which I don’t really recommend for other children as it does stop them reading the music, is to colour code her music. The fingering is written in blue-green-red-yellow, corresponding to the strings, G-D-A-E:

On a good day, A can play quite nicely, but she still has to have her copy of the music with fingerings and colours. Faced with a sheet of unmarked music, she can not play – the paper might as well be blank. She knows how to translate the music she reads into the act of playing. She can read the rhythms – running, walking and long notes. She plays her Suzuki pieces, and arrangements of songs or themes from films that she enjoys, like Frozen, or My heart will go on from Titanic.

One current challenge is the concept of scales and keys. She can read and play a scale – but why do we practice scales? Why is finger number two sometimes low and sometimes high? Why does it change from string to string, and from piece to piece?

Another challenge is that she doesn’t seem to memorise pieces, or to be able to listen and copy what she hears on the violin. She is a very visual musician, like me – not at all like her brothers and sisters, who easily memorise and learn by ear. She happily improvises on the piano, but never had lessons and doesn’t play actual pieces. On the violin, she doesn’t improvise, but will happily play piece after piece.

One reason why she needs to see the music may be that she learned to read and play from the very beginning; she didn’t start out listening and ear-playing, as Suzuki advocated. However, children with Down syndrome tend to be visual rather than auditory learners, and visual supports are used as educational aids across many areas of development. She learned to read early, but it is not always easy to understand what she is saying; even now, she resorts to writing when we don’t understand her. I think she simply needs the visual material.

She knows that playing together, in an ensemble, means that we start and finish at the same time. She watches and follows the conductor, but when the music is complicated, with repeats and jumps, prima volta and secunda volta, she needs someone to help her by pointing and making sure that she is in the right place. With this support, a simplified part to play, and whispered reminders about intonation and high or low 2nd finger, she plays and performs with the junior orchestra.

So, can a child with Down syndrome learn to play an instrument? My answer is a resounding YES! It will take patience and perseverance, and it will present challenges. You will need to find a teacher who enjoys the challenge, and your child will need even more support than other children. But the benefits and the fun of singing and making music make it well worth the time and effort – for every child. Choose an instrument, find a sympathetic and interested teacher, and start playing!