Ways To Help Your Child Grow As A Music Student

Very often, a parents' involvement will drastically change the experience of their child's music lessons. Here are a couple of ideas to help your child reach their maximum potential in their musical studies!

1. Communicate: Communication is key to understanding what your child is doing in their lesson. Especially for young children, the parent is going to be the one to help them at home if questions arise, so it's important to know what's going on. Just a simple hello at the end of every lesson shows that you care and means a lot to the instructor!

2. Help/motivate: This really goes for parents of younger children. The first few lessons and those accompanying weeks of home practice are crucial in setting the tone for good practice habits. A child that is about 4-8 years old may lack the maturity to be a disciplined student at home so parents need to help and motivate their kids to practice, even if it's just a little bit each day. Building this consistency will pay off in the long run! In addition, consult with your instructor and look at your child's lesson books to see if you can help them with their notes, hand position, etc.

3. Clubs/after school activities: It's important for children to have play dates, sports, extra academic help, etc. outside of school and music lessons are definitely one of those activities. I have noticed an increasing amount of young students unable to practice adequately enough because they're over-scheduled. If your child doesn't have at least 3-4 days to practice for half an hour, they may not learn as efficiently as they would under more relaxed circumstances.

4. Go to concerts: Young students, I find, usually don't know enough about music to have specific tastes, so expose them to some! Live music is a great motivator and can easily cultivate a child's love for playing!