Five things you can do right now to help your child be successful:

1. Show interest in music & what your child is doing.

Show personal interest by sitting in on their lessons and taking notes. (This has an added advantage because you will know what the teacher told them to practice) Your kids take their cues from you. If you appear bored with what they are doing they will soon lose interest as well.

2. Practice with them!

Practice time does not mean “Go sit down and practice now!” What it really means, is that you need to sit down with them and help them set achievable weekly goals. Goal setting: Sit down with them and go through their lesson notes with them. Help them define clear goals for the week that they should  work on. Then help them break these goals up into individual practice session goals that your child can achieve each practice. Make a commitment to sit with them during their first practice of the week.

3. Have your child teach you what they are learning in lessons!

Kids love to show their parents something that they know that mom or dad doesn’t! Plus, we always learn more when we can teach others something new.

4. Create a music friendly environment.

Don’t put your kids in the attic or basement to practice! If you truly want your child to be sucessful with music make music part of the family environment and have your child practice where you can hear them. Setting up a practice station can greatly affect the amount of time your child wants to spend there. Make sure you have a pencil, paper, the books, and the instrument all together. You may also need to invest in a sturdy music stand to help facilitate practice.  

5. Clear your schedule before you start.

Success will happen if you give it time. Make sure you clear both yours and your child’s schedule before you commit to taking lessons. It’s so easy to juggle things around and make to many time commitments. Then we get overbooked and overloaded with all the things we need to do. But if you don’t make lessons, and practice time, a priority you are going to be wasting your money. Make sure that your child has the time in their schedule to devote at least 20-30 minutes to music everyday.

Questions to ask yourself before commiting your child to music lessons:

Music instruction can be an incredible experience for your child and you but only if you are prepared for them.

1. What is my end goal for having my child in music lessons?

Do you want them to be a world famous concert pianist? Do you want them performing frequently for competitions? Do you want them playing for your local church? Maybe you just want them to experience piano/violin/voice etc and learn to enjoy making music. Maybe you are using music lessons to help your child build self-esteem through learning a skill. Every parent & student will have differnent goals that you want to acheive through music lessons. Also, goals will change as your child grows into loving music. The great thing is that every goal is valid! What you need to do is make sure you find a teacher who will support your goals that you have. Communicate to the the teacher that you want your child to be learning Mozart sonatas or let them know that all you want is your child to grow to love music! Both are great goals to have. Once you know what your end goals are you can match your commitment level to what your ultimate goals are.

2. Am I ready to make a long-term commitment?

Time, time, time! How much time are you personally willing to put into music lessons? You will need to get them to lessons (if driving is an obstacle consider remote online lessons, wink wink). You will also need to make a financial commitment of at least 3-6 months of lessons to begin seeing results. Most importantly you need to be ready to invest in reminding your child to practice. Practice time does not mean “Go sit down and practice now!” What it REALLY means is that you need to sit down with them as they practice. Then, help them make goals that they can accomplish during their practice sessions. Trust me, the time you invest at the begining to helping them establish great practicing habits will help make the most of your investment. Ask yourself, am I willing to make the commitment of time and finances to making these lessons sucessful? If YOU not your child is committed to making the lessons successful your child won’t be either.

3. Is my child physically/emotionally ready to start music lessons?

Are YOU ready physically and emotianlly for your child to start music lessons? You can find a teacher to start your child at any age and there is no right or wrong age to start lessons! There are definitely age factors that influence physical abilities and concentration levels but most importatly you need to know if you are ready. A few factors that will influence if your child is ready to start are:

• Is your child able to concentrate for at least 15 min?
• How old are they and what instrument are they wanting to play?
• Developmental milestones
• How quickly are you wanting your child to catch on to their instrument? You can start a child very early but they might be very slow at catching on to reading music if they aren’t ready to learn to read.

Of course, speaking with a teacher can help calrify your questions and help you come to a decision. If your child loves music and you want them to experience it there are often community classes for kids like Kindermusick, Music Together, and others that will help develop a love of music  in your child. If you are interested in voice lessons be sure to sign up for a FREE voice lesson with me! I can help answer your questions and help you decide on a course of action.