Why do young people lose interest in music lessons? This is a good question!  Most of my students at some time will tell me about the boring lessons they had if relevant with non creative teaching methods, where reading, reading is all that gets emphasized. That’s another issue. The question I get asked most often is how do we put together a band?

I will attempt to answer this, as all decent teachers should, and not just pass it off by saying “you have to pay your dues”(I refer to this in my article, music education, have we got it right?)

Our young students do NOT learn a musical instrument too sit in their bedrooms and play along with the greats on their DVD players. No they learn an instrument to play with other people.

So here are my tips and guidelines for those music students of any age.

After having played professionally for many years, I have learnt a thing or two.

First of all make sure your students know why they are learning a musical instrument. It should not be “because mummy and daddy want me too”. They and you must develop a love of the music they intend to play.

Begin by teaching them that respect and acceptance of other peoples abilities is very important. They must learn to admire their friend’s talents, and want to play with them, and at that same time be able to accept other people’s limitations, this is the key for keeping a band together!

The students need to be put in touch with others they would like to play with. You help with this by contacting other teachers.

Once this is done organize a get to know you evening, involve the other teachers in this.

Arrange the venue and decide Practice is once/week at a decided time.

Decide on a musical style, and choose two songs that the kids have to learn as best they can before next week. This can be done in lesson time if need be.

Teach them the importance of learning their part’s and instill in them a sense of not letting fellow band members down.Theres nothing more frustrating when a band member turns up to rehearsal not knowing their part’s.

So hopefully at rehearsal they will have learnt their parts…probably not, this is where tolerance of each other comes in.

If they can’t quite master their parts don’t get angry with them, just simply give them more time or choose simpler pieces to play.

At rehearsal night don’t expect too much too soon. Work on the pieces and don’t be afraid to give a piece a miss if it just doesn’t  work’

Teach the kids there is NO NEED to play at full volume, and remind them amp’s don’t go to eleven.

Full volume can come later, and when someone says stop, DO IT!

Then listen to what the band member has to say.

So in summary teach that keeping a band together is about ACCEPTANCE and TOLERANCE. Teach that preparation is crucial. Teach that discipline is king turn up on time too rehearsal.

Schedule a set practice time and make sure they all know what is going to be expected of them next week.

Thank you for reading, Stephen Thorne 3/10/2010.

Kids personalized CDs have become popular source of entertainment and education for children. At the same time they are the stimulating agent to generate genuine interest for music in the kids. But, toddlers are naturally fickle-minded and tend to fluctuate with their interest as they come in contact with different situations around them.

Hence, getting proper platform for the children to learn music is not enough, they need constant inspiration and support to develop a long lasting interest for music. Some of the most effective ways of nurturing kids’ interest in songs are discussed.

Strategically Developed Pre-School Curriculum

The pre-schoolers are more inclined toward any activity that gives them a comfortable environment. Hence, it is crucial that the curriculum for the pre-school children should be developed in a way that can support their innate creativity. The songs and rhymes in the syllabus should be selected carefully so that they can provoke interest of the kids in music. Personalized kids music is a better option because they are customized by skilled composer to hold the attention of children in songs.

Teaching Music in Groups

Children enjoy company of their peers and they learn quicker and better when they are surrounded by other children during their music lessons. The pre-schools should encourage the children to develop friendship with others and get along with them to share their unspoken pleasure of learning music together. Children should be taught through kids personalized CDs, which are specially customized and developed to stimulate children’s natural interest in learning and playing music.

Music Education in a Playful Environment

The activity that kids enjoy most during their pre-school days is playing together. Hence, the games are the bet way how one can generate children’s interest in any specific activity. Even when it comes to music, if the lessons are taught in a playful and cheerful environment, they become more enjoyable for the kids and they develop interest in learning it. That’s why the schools could select personalized kids music that the children would sing along with doing actions related to the songs.

Learning Music Through an Interesting Medium

Often, it has been found that kids lose interest in music lessons due to reasons that they can’t explain. But experts are of the view that kids’ interest for learning music is influenced by the way they learn it. Therefore, the learning process is what the children enjoy. These days, kids personalized CDs are available in the market. The CDs can help the pre-school children easily know and learn different genres of songs. They can work better for generating interest of toddlers in their tender age.

A Musical Environment at Home is Crucial

All the training on music apart, it is the surrounding of the kids that makes a lot of difference to their taste of music. Often, parents leave the responsibility of their children’s music education on the teachers. But they shouldn’t forget that a perfect environment at home is essential to encourage their children’s interest in music. To a large extent, it is up to you to give your child the best platform to nurture his/her talent in music.

Apart from developing interest in learning and playing music, it’s important to encourage your child to be creative in music. Once, they feel the joy of music they will develop interest in it. However, when it comes to pre-school children a strategic learning process is crucial to provoke music interest of the kids.

Now let us see where you can find the best music program to keep the music interest of a teenager alive and strong. Then we shall compare the advantages of hiring a private music teacher with those of having many teachers at a music school.

To have an influence on your teenager as parents, first understand that this is the age when kids are fascinated by the outside world and they are more influenced by their friends than by you. The right way in this case is gently directing and guiding them. You need to make full use of the child’s new environment, right now!

If your child’s friends or classmates are learning music as well, this is a big plus. Being in the company of fellow learners is great!

But of course it’s highly unlikely that your kid’s classmates will want to take up music education as an extracurricular activity because it needs years of dedication. But if your child joins a music school, all the benefits come on a platter. There your teenager will have a lot of friends pursuing the same goal – music. The benefits of learning along with “musical” friends and visiting the music school two-three times a week are wonderful. Here your child will develop interests that are totally different from those of other children. The children at music school interact at a higher level – a “musical” level. They learn from each other and keep improving upon their skills and talents. Thus, it is at music schools that your child will get the best music program and sustain and develop his/her interest in music.

Moreover, since there are several levels of music lessons at music schools, grouping of the students is easy and they will be with the same group most of the time. The little world within the music school is greatly beneficial and no private teacher can possibly emulate this setting and claim that his/her program is the best music program.

As your child grows older into a teenager, and you clearly see that he/she is losing interest in music, it is probably too late to enroll him/her in music schools. It is hence vital to begin music education in music schools or academies at a young age and offer the child the best music program possible.

When I was interviewing parents and talking to them about methods of music education and where they can find the best music program, I was surprised to know that some of them had never heard of special music institutes existing in Canada and the US! They only knew of private music teachers.

When I explain to parents what music schools and academies are, some of them ponder and ask whether these music institutes have only pros and no cons at all. Of course not, I tell them. There are cons as well that you should know. Firstly, music institutes are particular about the age of the students. The students’ age must be within the limits set by each existing program. Secondly, and most significantly, the tuition fees are quite high; far higher than those of private music teachers. But of course the higher fees translate into the best music program that gives an absolutely comprehensive music education! Teachers, students and parents are all delighted with the rewards of the child’s efforts.

If parents created the necessary environment for their child to develop musical abilities, then they’ve done a good job. But don’t start celebrating the victory just yet the journey towards success has only just begun. Don’t believe those who tell you that musical education is very difficult for children. I guess, in some respect they are correct and it will be difficult if you don’t know how to create, develop and maintain the child’s music interest.

Interest in music does not just appear. Its origin stems from a number of events and circumstances. Parents need to create events and circumstances that will encourage the child to want to take up music.

After creating the environment for your child’s music interest that child will soon be asking you to help him and you know that is an important milestone in their musical development.

If your child keeps asking you to buy him a violin, take him to a music teacher that teaches violin. Don’t take him to a pianist just because they are a good friend of yours and you’ve heard good things about him/her. Also if you wanted to learn to play piano as a child and your dream did not come true, this is not a good reason for your child to start playing piano just to fulfill your dream.

I hope you understand that if your child asks you for a violin, you give it to him. If it is a saxophone, you give him a saxophone, if it is a guitar, you give him a guitar. To make a long story short, give children what they ask for.  This will insure their music interest will continue to blossom. Sometimes children have difficulty choosing one instrument over another. In this case they need your help.  This doesn’t mean asking the teacher for help, they need your help. In order to help them there are five conditions that must be met: you must have a basic knowledge about choosing a musical instrument, you must be patient and attentive and you need to act in a timely manner.

When parents get involved and help a child choose an instrument they will remember it and will appreciate it for the rest of his life, I am planning to write in my next book in the near future. Why is it so important to let the child pick the instrument of their choice? Statistics show that most children who have a music interest and start taking music lessons quit within a year and a half and in 50% of the cases the reason for quitting is a poor choice in musical instruments.

When parents go against the child’s wishes because they think the child is too young to decide on their own, and make a choice for them, it is like playing the lottery. So, if your choice happens to be the right one, your child will succeed and they will play the instrument of your choice with pleasure.  If not, then you will have problems.

Some of the common issues are complaints from the teacher, forcing the child to study, unpleasant lectures, and so on. As a rule there may come a time when your son or daughter says “enough”. It may happen either at the very beginning or in the middle of music classes. Wouldn’t it be better if you made an effort to support and maintain your child’s music interest right from the start? Your child will thank you later.