Photography by carf.

I often wonder what the best way is to teach my little brother, age 10, music.

The boy goes to piano classes, and he’s actually quite talented, being able to read music quite fleuntly and playing all major and minor chords with ease after little more than a year of training.

During this time, I did find ways to contribute and help him on his journey, and there are a few tricks you may find useful yourself.

1. Gift them music.

I bought my brother a colorful storybook of The Magic Flute by Mozart, which included a CD that comprised the most popular pieces from the opera (like this one we’ve covered). He immediately took interest in operas and spent a good week hooked on his iPod with his frightful arias and powerful quintets.

Gift them music, even if it’s just an iTunes gift card.

2. Install the listening habit.

This is really hard. But it goes hand in hand with the previous tip: By giving music you’ll entice them to listen to music on their on. In fact, a trip to a good, peaceful CD store can work wonders on his or her curiosity.

3. Pick an instrument together, showing full range.

I think when it comes to choosing an instrument, you need to weigh in the child’s preferences with a good pinch of your own opinion. I say this because kids often like to go for electric guitars and drums, not because they like the instrument or know whether they’ll enjoy playing it, but due to obvious reasons like the media.

Still, don’t force them to learn anything, nor let them go wild, because they might just loose interest after a month.

4. Practice together at least once weekly.

As a musician myself, I could help my brother in places liek practice routine and technique. I’m not a great pianist, but the rules of slicign music up for practicing apply everywhere.

Sitting with a kid and motivating it while actively coaching is important if done right: Don’t condemn, criticize or try to know better. The teacher is there for that.

5. Engage with the teacher.

I found that some of the best tips of how to improve my brother’s piano skills came from his teacher. Since I had some basic knowledge of how things worked in the music teaching world, I tried to ask him what I could do on my part. Useful tips included timetables, a practice diary and actively searching for pieces my brother wanted to play (like Happy Birthday and Silent Night).

I think that, under the line, the most important thing you can do is to support your child’s musical endeavors by building it into the daily routine, making it a larger chunk of your kid’s hobby. But: Don’t try to intervene too much, or you might end up messing around with the teacher’s plan. Bad thing.

Just find ways to motivate kids and the rest will come naturally: After all, everyone loves music if they can see progress!

Post from: The Good Musician

But many parents go about in a very wrong way. After 10 years of playing experience, I can tell what should’ve been better in my kiddy days. Points to consider when introducing your child to music:

1. Implement the 5 Pillars of Good Musicians

Don’t just make him or her play an instrument. Show them the different aspects of music, build on the 5 pillars and explain to them how it’s these core principles that can make him the next [insert favorite musician here].

2. Listen to Music with your kid

Making music is like writing. Most good authors read tons more than they actually write. Similarly, grab a bunch of classical, jazz and modern CDs, throw in some of your child’s favorite artists and sit together and just listen.
You don’t have to be experts, but just talk about the music, what you like about it, what instruments are in there, likes and dislikes, try to explain why you like or dislike something. Exposure is key.

3. Choose an instrument wisely

Your child wants to play the guitar? Well, that’s great. But you should take a trip to the music store and look at different options. From the previous excercise you would have discovered what music your child likes and what instruments are prevalent in those styles.

So explore the options: A guitar can be a classical one, a jazz/tock guitar, a western guitar, or even a bass guitar. Orchestras have many instruments you might have never heard of, explore the options. This has two benefits: Picking a rare instrument drives up the market value of your child, and secondly, it’s simply more interesting than the “usual” guitar/piano/violin kid.

4. Practice with them

It’s important to track your child’s progress. Keeping a music homework diary is a good habit. Don’t let them practice on their own in the beginning, sit with them and encourage them strongly, but always drill them to practice slowly and with a fixed goal in mind. We will talk more about practicing techniques in other posts.

5. Stand up for better music education

Find out about the theory instruction in your school. Many schools make students pick an instrument for big band or orchestra, and rotate after a year. This is very, very bad. Your child will never really indulge in music that way. Enforce more theory lessons, solo lessons and make your child go it’s own way. Participating in school music is good, but only a tiny fraction of what your child should be doing. Solo talent is far more important and will benefit your child much more than letting it play in a big band, where the level of expertise is only as high as the weakest member.

For more tips on being a Musician, practicing, and pushing your children’s musical talent, stay tuned by subscribing today!

Post from: The Good Musician