Here’s how parents can play an important tole while their kids are learning to play a musical instrument.
Top reasons why parents want their children to learn to play musical instruments
Here are the top reasons why parents make their children learn to play musical instruments.
Having a parent who can play a musical instrument can be an advantage, as the child is also most likely to play an instrument. However, there are a lot of parents who have never played an instrument before but are keen that their children learn to play a musical instrument.
And here are the most common reasons for that:
- Playing music is a constructive hobby for children rather than being glued to the television (watching reality shows) or playing video games
- Learning to play a musical instrument is part of holistic education, similar to why a child should learn a foreign language. Its a useful skill to have.
- Playing music helps kid channelize their emotions in a healthy manner.
- It helps kid learn to focus and concentrate better
- There are several benefits of learning music (learning to play a musical instrument)
Hunter Hayes, who is known for his multi-instrumental abilities, in addition to his hit songs, had the privilege of taking guitar lessons from his mother.
The musician, who played every instrument on his self-titled debut album, credits his mother with teaching him how to play the one he uses the most — his guitar.
That’s correct! His mom was his first guitar teacher.
“My mom, one summer, decided, ‘You know what? How about I go and get a guitar and learn to play so that when you do your acoustic gigs … I can accompany you,’” Hayes recalled. However, Hayes’ mother, Lynette Hayes, soon realised that her student was about to become her teacher.
“After a couple of lessons, he was better at it than I was, so I just said, ‘You just do your thing, and I’ll just do the Mom thing,’” she says. “And I never played guitar again.”
Not that his parents weren’t still supportive. The ‘Tattoo’ singer says his parents always encouraged him, not only when he showed musical proficiency at a young age (Hayes performed for then-President Bill Clinton when he was only seven years old), but also when he endured painful bullying in school.
“Fortunately for me I had incredible parents,” he says. I had an incredible support system, musicians around me, and that showed me that there was hope — that there was maybe something else I could look forward to.”
So if you have a parent who can play the guitar, ask him/her to teach you the basics. In case you don’t, there’s no need to get disappointed. There are several ways to learn to play the guitar, provided you really want to learn.
Role of Parents
As a parent, your role is more than just paying for the lessons.
As a parent, if you think this way then you are indeed wasting your money. You will have to make sure that your kids practice regularly, otherwise, everybody’s efforts will be wasted.
Talk to your kids regularly and find out what they feel about their lessons. With your feedback, the teacher can alter the lessons accordingly to make it more enjoyable to your kids.
Is your child not making much progress, maybe it’s time to change the teacher.
If you child has been practicing regularly and both of you have been committed enough then you may take a call to change the teacher. But be sure that this is indeed the case before you take that decision; most of the time the effort and dedication from the student is lacking.
Value the teacher’s time, the teacher will have other commitments.
The teachers are normally paid only for the lessons they provide, if you expect the teacher to spend extra time with your child, you need to pay for it.
If you want your child to appear for some competition, then you have to pay for the extra time the teacher will be spending with your child for the preparation.
You also need to ensure that you do not get into the practice of leaving your child at the teacher’s studio after the lesson is over, just because you have some other things to be done.
Why Do Parents Have a Short Musical Attention Span, and What To Do About It?
Most parents tend to have a shorter musical attention span, despite the fact that they loved music n their younger days. Here’s how to make time for music again so that you can love music the way you used to.
Long before mp3 music came into existence, several youngsters would buy albums, have their favorite music collection, and had their ears on the latest in the music world. Somewhere, over the years, most of them lost touch with music altogether.
Over the years, most adults find it difficult to make time for music, and with so many things going in their heads, they find it quite a chore to sit down and listen to music.
And believe us, you’re not alone battling this problem (Kids, jobs, responsibilities can take its toll)!
Most struggle to immerse themselves in music and enjoy the listening experience. Here’s what you can do about it; if you’ve got young kids, it might be easier than you think, to start listening to good music again.
- Resist the urge to move to another song after just listening for a few seconds, hear it through and pay attention to the lyrics. You will be surprised to know that most songs are good, its just that, over the years, you’ve become impatient listening to music.
- While sitting on the laptop ding some work, try to play some music in the background, you should start liking some.
- Like a particular song? Queue it up for your next workout session, or listen to it while commuting or doing the chores at home.
- Have young kids at home, you should take every opportunity to listen to music with them. Go to a music concert with your little one, spend some time going through some good children’s music (and its lyrics), rather than going out for shopping over the weekend
- All the while, remind yourself to listen closely to the music, to the lyrics. And don’t just play those same songs that you would listen to in your younger days.
There has to be place for Music in every family. And if it has been missing from yours, its definitely worth building it from scratch and building it back up.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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