Music Lessons: Body & Soul

If your child comes home from school wanting to learn to play an instrument, or sees friends having a good time making music together and would like to be able to take part, what do you say? How do you know whether he or she is ready, or what instrument to suggest? How can you reinforce the school's program, if there is one, or help continue the private teacher's instruction in between lessons? How do you keep your child's interest and motivation strong through the years it will take to become a good player?

The first thing to realize is that it doesn't matter a bit if your child sings like a croaking frog. No one can tell from a child's singing whether he or she has musical ability or not. Besides, any child can do something with a musical instrument. Those with talent will go faster, and those without the facility in their fingers will have to spend a little longer on each step of learning, but everyone can develop musical skills to an intermediate point and enjoy the learning experience all the way there.

If your child has some trouble at the age of eight or nine forming letters when writing at school, you might consider a brass instrument - which has valves, such as a trumpet, or a slide, such as a trombone - rather than an instrument with many keys and holes like a flute, or the need to place fingers accurately on a string, like a violin.

It is a good idea to start those children who are dexterous on a string instrument as soon as possible. Three, four, or five-year-olds can begin on small-sized violins and cellos, if a trained teacher is available. The technique is more complicated and takes longer to master than the kinds of learning required for wind instruments.

The trick is to keep the learning enjoyable. This is where parents play the crucial part. At school the music teacher may be inspiring or a drudge, but the chances are the teacher will meet with students only once a week. Children will be expected to do some practicing at home in between meetings, and they need parental support and guidance.

The are a few basic rules you can follow to make the work at home successful:

1. Pick a Practice Time

Pick a time - either with your child or from your own knowledge of her or his daily schedule and the time when he is most alert - when practicing will be done. This time should be built into the child's day as a matter of course, like brushing his teeth or washing the dishes.

The length of time spent practicing is necessarily short at the beginning. Your child will run out of breath puffing into her flute, or get tired holding up the violin, or his lips will ache from making motor noises into the trumpet mouthpiece. The important thing is the regularity of practice, not so much the amount of time the child spends. Remind him that in sports the coaches call practice every day after school. Muscles need to be developed and concentration expanded.