Parents Play the Most Central, Yet Vulnerable Roles in Children’s Music Education

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} The three basic parties who takepart in children’s music education are the child, the teacher (or teachers) andthe parents. To best understand how the youngmusician will regard music lessons, we must ask: “How should parents plan forthe musical education of their children and what they know about it?” As a rule, there are two mainthings to consider: the choice and cost of the instrument, auxiliary materialsand lessons; and the search for a good teacher. After that, the preparation forthe child’s musical training is largely complete. However, buying theinstrument and paying for lessons are not the most complex part of music education,although many parents think so and believe that the rest is up to the teacherand the child, who is obliged to frequent music lessons on a regular basis anddo the homework. In fact, to parents, it all seems very easy! “Did you do yourhomework today? Have you practiced that piece enough? Have you learned thefingers in an etude? Come on, play the piece you had to memorize!” Here’s the simple truth: The reasonsbehind one’s success in music education as well as the loss of interest creepin absolutely imperceptibly, and often during quite a long period of time. First, then, let’s discuss whathappens when a child loses interest. Again, parents are the most integral and important parts ofthe equation when it comes to their children’s success or loss of interest inmusical education. When a child gets bored with his or her lessons, theparents, who by that point are exhausted by battles with the child to practiceand often feel financially pinched from the costs of the instrument and thelessons, must then face the difficult decision of whether to terminate thelessons. While preparing the materials formy book, Voices of our Children , Italked to parents and teachers and asked them what they considered to be theprime reason behind the child’s loss of interest. Can you guess who a whopping80 percent considered to be at fault? The child! It was he/she who did not want to continue the education! What’s more important is that afterterminating the lessons, very few parents asked themselves why their child lost interest. Let’s look the perspective of eachparticipant in this scenario: The child . He is happy! His “tortures” have finally ended. He no longer has tohear unpleasant things about his careless attitude toward music lessons. No onewill ever force him to learn music against his will! Now he is free fromtiresome lessons and can spend time doing things he likes! The teacher . Not every teacher, especially not those who often lose students, willsearch for the real reasons behind a child’s loss of interest in music lessons.It is easier for some teachers to accuse or blame the student than to admit to theirown mistakes. In this case, what does the teacherdo? He quickly forgets about former students and places an ad to get new ones –he has to earn a living. It’s just a job.    Parents. Believe it or not, but I think that when the child quits musicaltraining, the parents suffer the most – not only because they have invested inthis venture materially, but because along with the termination of musiceducation they must part with their own dreams, hopes, and an opportunity todiscover and develop their child’s true talent that might not have been obvious. Now, when the child quits musiclessons, he can quickly redirect his attention to new interests. The teacher,who has lost the student, can compensate for his loss by finding a replacement.But the parents do suffer the most – they cannot “move on” – they cannot replaceown child with another! Therefore, to avoid this problembefore it hits home, I strongly believe parents should prepare for theirchildren’s music education ahead of time. Theyshould know beforehand whatawaits them in the future, and should beready for possible hardships . http:// www.quintecco.com                          

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