Tag Archives: questions

Blog, Parents Discussion

Hard Questions

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In this rubric of Discussions we will be posting questions from parents,

some of current students, others from parents of students who graduated long time ago and already dealing with similar issues with their own children. All questions are made anonymous, try your best not to guess who asked them:)
Please, feel free to post your comments, advises and suggestions. You can also send us your own questions, we promise to change names and keep your confidentiality!

Q.

Hi, Anna,
In the past few months, while my son’s desire to play piano has remained high, his focus on practicing well has diminished (even when he’s practicing the required number of hours).   Maybe it’s due to age and other interests gaining his attention.  Despite trying to provide more structure (or even less structure), he has lost motivation to practice with focus.  He’s even started to be dishonest about how much he’s actually practiced.
When I speak to him about this, he says he wants to play to the level/expectation of your teachings, but his actions are not revealing this.  Have you experienced this before?  While I don’t want to give up on what he says he wants, I also don’t want to waste your time (and my money) if he’s not going to follow through appropriately. And, I don’t want him to feel pressure of not progressing, particularly in a studio like yours.  Any thoughts?

A.

Hi, Jennifer,
This is very common, it’s the age, your son is reaching the “terrible teens”. The best way I know is a very hard way, I can’t say I accomplished it fully when my own son was growing up. First of all, it’s important to adjust to your son’s process of gradually leaving his childhood and in the next few years becoming his own man. Which means he will be less and less receptive to basic rules and statements like “do because you must”; “be truthful because it’s right”, and so on. You already taught him these basics, now he is

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Blog, Hunter Mill Music Studio, Parents Discussion

My child is ready to start lessons…or is she? (Topic 2, Part 1. What is involved?)

There are many people involved in your child’s music study! It isn’t only about her, there are you, parents, her siblings, and of course her future teacher.

Let’s start with some tips of how you can determine if your child is ready NOW, or if she needs some additional time and preparation. And if giving her additional time to mature turns out to be a good idea, then what you can do to make that time fruitful in preparation for her future music study.

There are some signs of readiness which you can see yourself without going for a consultation with professional musician:

  • Is she interested? If she said so, very good, but it isn’t enough. Does she stop playing a game or doing a puzzle when you turn on music? Does she react to the mood of what she hears? Does she ask questions about it? Do her the questions show emotional

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My child is ready to start lessons…or is she? (Topic 1, Part 4. What is involved?)

Prepare to change and adjust. It’s very important to keep up with your child’s progress and not let him stagnate.

You are looking at a starting just the way most people do: take piano lessons once per week for 30 minutes.  You think you can make a commitment to the driving, keeping up with assignments, and help him at home. Initial requirements are not so overwhelming, you need to establish daily routine of practicing for about 30-45 minutes. The total time can be split into two sessions of 15-25 minutes each, not too bad. It’s very important to keep positive attitude, at the same time be very firm that no day goes without practicing. You teacher will guide you through creative approaches

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Blog, Parents Discussion

My child is ready to start lessons…or is she? (Topic 1, Part 5. What is involved?)

In this post we continue looking through some factors which are involved in the initial decision to start music lessons

  • Are we as a family ready to make room for it? Again, this is a bit more involved than what you may see from a first quick look.

Of course, piano is the bulkiest choice and requires most adjustment. But in considering space for your child music study there are other things as well to keep in mind.  Where she practices needs to be a place which simultaniously gives her privacy and audience. Open space in a two-story family room may be intimidating because the entire household will hear her every mistake and her every stuggle.

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Blog, Hunter Mill Music Studio, Parents Discussion

My child is ready to start lessons…or is she? (Topic 1, Part 3. What is involved?)

In this post we continue looking through some factors which are involved in the initial decision to start music lessons

  • Do we as a family have money for it? it isn’t as simple if you consider the 10-12 years span! No matter how you go about budgeting this project, it will in the end cost your family many 1,000’s of dollars.

Continue reading My child is ready to start lessons…or is she? (Topic 1, Part 3. What is involved?) →

Blog, Parents Discussion

My child is ready to start lessons…or is she? (Topic 1, Part 1. What is involved?)

What is involved? In determining whether it’s time to start lessons now or wait a bit more parents need to consider many factors and also many people!

This topic will also have several posts, so keep scrolling to find what interests you most

Where to start? With understanding and accepting that learning a musical instrument is a project which will span at least 10-12 years. Start with accepting the fact that at this point no one will honestly be able to tell you if your child has anymore potencial than average. You will not know until at least mid-way through if music will fall for your child into a category of casual interest, or a hobby, or a passion. And that is about 5-6 years, 100’s of hours, and 1,000’s of dollars from now!  

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Blog, Hunter Mill Music Studio, Parents Discussion

My child is ready to start lessons…or is she?

This is a seemingly simple question, yet the one which needs to be approached with some understanding of what is involved and what are the common pitfalls.

This topic will have several posts, each tackling different aspects of the question. So, keep scrolling for more!

You want your child to learn the beauty and joy of music and be successful, right? This isn’t an “sample things to see what works for you” kind of decision, is it? It better be more serious than that because we can tell you right off that “sampling” music like you can sample sports and other activities will almost inevitably lead to your child failing it. There is simply too much envolved, playing an instrument is too complex a task to hope for a child to never bolt or say; “it’s too hard!”; “I can’t do it!”; or even  “I HATE piano!”

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Must start lessons NOW!!!!

So, your child is 5 years old, she is very bright, can already read and count.

She loves music, dances with some rhythms, sings along with songs on radio and when watching cartoons. You hear and read about how piano lessons improve kids’ ability for abstract thinking, problem-solving skills, help with math and overall improve their IQ.  Everyone around has their kids (even younger than your daughter, oh, my goodness, did we miss the cut-off point?!?!?) enrolled in some kind of music program, mostly piano. Your child is going to be a kindergartener this year…  a KINDERGARTENER already!!! Is it too late? is it just right? what do we do?!?

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