I’ve talked about the benefits of music before. It can be great for them and for you.
What’s better than seeing your children build life skills and confidence while you enjoy the music around you. Yes, I hear you saying that you don’t want to hear the racket when they’re practicing as they go from horrible to just okay.
But what is even worse is when they get frustrated and quit because you didn’t set them up for a successful learning experience.
And when they do get good, you really do get to enjoy the experience of hearing them practice and perform as your home fills with beautiful music.
So lets dive into what kids’ music lessons are about and how to get the best result…
Tips To Know Before Enrolling Kids In NYC Music Schools
Signing kids up for music classes can be exciting. However, parents often struggle, thinking, “When is the right time to put my kids into music lessons?” or “What instruments should they choose from?”
Different instruments have different age requirements. Even if there are restrictions on instrument choices, the love for enjoying music can happen at any age.
Singing lessons can be taken at any age. Their teacher will work with your child to sharpen their voice and talents. Ultimately it is up to you and your child when is the best time to start. Some kids begin when school programs or activities (like talent competitions) come available. Other times it comes from seeing a particularly inspiring performance such as on American Idol or America’s Got Talent.
So when really should my kid begin taking lessons?
Most experts agree that when a child begins to show interest in singing, that it doesn’t hurt to sign them up for singing classes. They will work one-on-one with a coach who can teach them how to sing. These coaches are also experts at training the voice and exercising the various notes.
Music may follow a child past the infant years and into the young child years. These are the early years when children are eager to learn anything and everything. The piano tends to be a great choice for parents and kids who are picking an instrument to learn. The keys can be wide and large, which make them easy for kids to press. The hand variations can also make playing it simple and fairly easy.
As a baby, many moms will engage their child in some kind of movement class. These classes will feature a teacher and a slew of class members. There will be other babies, some toddlers and lots of eager parents in the mix. The class is designed to expose infants early to the sights and sounds of instruments. The teacher will play them and parents and babies will sing and dance. It can be an excellent bonding experience, and a great way to develop early musical skills.
When a child wants to take drum lessons, they may need to be an older age. That is because playing the drums is hard work and can take a toll on the wrists and arms. Following the instructions of an instructor to learn the notes and rules to playing, will take an older child who can sit still and follow directions.
Taking guitar lessons is also noted for older kids. While a young child may have an interest in banging around with the strings, most kids are ready to learn at an older age. Holding the guitar is hard on the arms and fingers for kids and trying to put chords together and stretch the fingers can make it a bit frustrating. A child who is older may have the stamina and patience to follow through and learn.
Taking music classes in NYC can begin as early as a baby. These lessons can continue and take a child right into their adult years. Learning various instruments is a great way to become more musically educated. When a child learns an instrument at a young age, it can influence them later on in life when they are older.
Are you sitting on the fence about music lessons? Did you miss out in your childhood years? Maybe now’s the time to kindle the interest for your kids. Or maybe take up an instrument yourself.
You’re never too young or too old to enjoy playing music. And now could be the right time for you.
From a teacher perspective I find the biggest challenge is to let go of any expectations that I have with the student (difficult when the student is your own kid, but possible). Sometimes we are faced with a very gifted individual who has all the potential but none of the desire to push forward. Maybe its a lack of connection with the teacher, the instrument, or something totally not to do with the music at all, merely the “real world” gets in the way and steals focus. Whatever it is, I find it important to keep my self ready for the students that need me to be.
Great insight. It can be a challenge to get everything aligned. But when you do great progress happens.
I like how you suggested having older kids take guitar lessons. My son has in-home music lessons and wants to start guitar lessons. Thanks for the tips for managing your children’s music lessons.
Sutton:
Anytime your kids are excited to do something it is great to be able to support that. With interest coming from them they’re also more likely to practice and stick with it. Enjoy!
Mike
Thanks for sharing the tips.Agree with you.I’m currently working on the f# minor nocturne! they’re beautiful pieces.Don’t get me wrong, you have to be strong and confident to be successful in just about anything you do – but with music, there’s a deeper emotional component to your failures and successes. If you fail a chemistry test, it’s because you either didn’t study enough, or just aren’t that good at chemistry (the latter of which is totally understandable). But if you fail at music, it can say something about your character. It could be because you didn’t practice enough – but, more terrifyingly, it could be because you aren’t resilient enough. Mastering chemistry requires diligence and smarts, but mastering a piano piece requires diligence and smarts, plus creativity, plus the immense capacity to both overcome emotional hurdles, and, simultaneously, to use that emotional component to bring the music alive.
Before I started taking piano, I had always imagined the Conservatory students to have it so good – I mean, for their homework, they get to play guitar, or jam on their saxophone, or sing songs! What fun! Compared to sitting in lab for four hours studying the optical properties of minerals, or discussing Lucretian theories of democracy and politics, I would play piano any day.
But after almost three years of piano at Orpheus Academy, I understand just how naïve this is. Playing music for credit is not “easy” or “fun” or “magical” or “lucky.” Mostly, it’s really freakin’ hard. It requires you to pick apart your piece, play every little segment over and over, dissect it, tinker with it, cry over it, feel completely lame about it, then get over yourself and start practicing again. You have to be precise and diligent, creative and robotic. And then – after all of this – you have to re-discover the emotional beauty in the piece, and use it in your performance.
Well said. It’s amazing what goes into playing a piece of music beautifully. Like an iceberg, most people never truly understand what happens below the surface. All the hard work, pain and suffering, to delivery something noteworthy.