[HANASHIR:13506] Re: Learning Instruments

[Adrian Durlester <adrian...>]

Another thought on this subject:

Let's avoid the temptation to become "soccer moms (or dads)" or "stage
parents" in the rush to propel our children into musical skills. Nurture,
yes. Urge, no. I find the "strike while the iron is hot" philosophy just a
little bit scary when we're talking about such young children. Reminds me of
pregnant women discussing how to make sure their unborn kid gets into the
right prep school.

I am grateful that my talent was recognized and natured at a young age, but
I also recognize what I gave up in my childhood because of that. In this day
and age, when the pressures on kids are even worse, I think we need to be
even more cautious about pushing our children to learn an instrument. Yes,
there are always exceptions-there are those rare prodigies, and it would be
a shame to not begin to harness that natural talent at a very young age.
But, as much as parents hate to admit it, every child is not a prodigy.

Give your children a sense of rhythm, a sense of what music is and what they
can do with it. Give them a taste-but don't force feed them.

Adrian

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
shamash(dot)org] On
Behalf Of Moss5533 (at) aol(dot)com
Sent: Monday, February 10, 2003 3:04 PM
To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
Subject: [HANASHIR:13503] Re: Learning Instruments


Rosalie,

As the mother of 4, all interested in music and 2 of whom are music majors,
I think the most important thing is to "strike while the iron is hot."
Desire is key.  Once you are sure a true desire is there, if it isn't
nurtured, it can wither.  Whatever instrument is decided upon, I'd rent
first to be sure the interest lasts before buying.  The advice I heard
repeatly through the years is that piano can start when the child can read.
The Suzuki violin method begins some students as young as 3 1/2 (with
parents who are willing to practice with them).  Two of my sons sang from
the moment they could talk (and seldom stopped).  They began violin in 2nd
grade at school and the next year one switched to cello.  I don't remember
how old they started piano.  (You can rent scaled down instruments even as
small as 1/8!)  A few of their friends who started strings even younger were
ahead of them for many years but the main thing is their desire to play.  I
would also have the child make a commitment for a certain length of time
since kids interests can be pretty fickle and it takes a lot of practice to
achieve results.  

Hope that helps,
Fran Moss