Perseverance, practice routines and parent support. At the beginning of the school year, hundreds of thousands of school children around the country will choose which instrument they want to play in their band and take it home for the first time. It’s exciting, to say the least, and possibly the beginning of a life-long journey towards a love of music, learning new things and moulding a growth mindset. That said, learning an instrument requires skills and traits that children may not have experienced yet. That’s the beauty of instrumental music instruction, especially as part of school band program. It’s important to understand that there will not be as much immediate gratification as your child is used to… and that’s okay! Our children live in an immediate gratification world. Everything is at their fingertips — they press a button, and something happens immediately. If our children pick up an instrument for the first time and can’t make a sound, they are liable to stigmatise themselves as “non-talented” or incapable of becoming successful at music — and want to quit immediately. But that’s not the truth. It’s important to understand that there will not be as much immediate gratification as your child is used to… and that’s okay! Intelligence is not the primary predictor of success. It is the ability to persevere in hardship, persist and learn after failure, and have a resilient spirit in the face of obstacles. If we can help our children stay focused on creating beautiful sounds on a musical instrument (even when that goal is farther away than they would like it to be), they will develop grit that will serve them well throughout their life.
So please, don’t let your child quit too soon. All children are capable of enjoying a successful music experience with a little support. I encourage you to spend 5-15 minutes a day helping your child create a practice routine. By doing this they will be far less likely to become frustrated and quit before they can truly connect with their instrument. There will be some hard days, but there will be far more amazing moments and beautiful music making down the road after what may seem like some initial frustration. Stay tuned to this blog for more for more in-depth tips on creating practice routines and staying motivated as the year progresses, and be sure to follow The Music Guy on Facebook. We also have a private parents' Facebook group where you can connect with other parents and carers of students in our band programs who are all in the same boat. Happy music making! Peter Earl, aka The Music Guy
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
April 2023
Categories |