02 Aug Staying in Tune: Tips for Supporting Your Kid’s Musical Career

How do you keep your kids interested in music lessons? If you have big dreams of fostering your young learner’s future music career, take a look at how to guide students toward a more full experience with the musical instruments they choose.

Here are some tips for keeping students engaged and interested as they progress toward better mastery of a particular instrument.

Keep Instruments in Tune

This might seem like a detail, but without the right support and technical guidance, it’s easy for students to get discouraged and give up.

Instruments that are not properly tuned don’t sound good – and too often, students can’t make the distinction between whether it’s them or their instruments that are “a little off.”

For string instruments, electronic tuners have helped us come a long way toward taking the labor-intensive process out of tuning. On the other hand, think about a piano – pianos, as large complex instruments, that require specific maintenance and that includes tuning. Otherwise, your student is starting off at a distinct disadvantage.

Have the Right Tools on Hand

You wouldn’t expect a professional to play well on the violin without a properly rosined bow. So why would you expect that of a student?

In fact, having the right tools on hand is probably even more important for a student – it helps them establish good habits, and prepares them for the journey that they have to take while learning the instrument. Having the right tools and the right practice space is extremely important to keep students engaged and energized, and happily learning their way toward music mastery.

Get the Right Size of Instruments

Another way to boost your child’s musical learning is to take advantage of student models or other shapes and sizes of instruments that fit their growing bodies. On another note, it’s also good idea to allow students to survey several instruments initially, so that they can pick their favorite one. Familiarity and comfort are key in music learning. The right instrument can make all the difference.

Get Adequate Lessons

Sure, anyone who can play an instrument can teach that instrument – but sometimes they’re not that great of a teacher. For parents who really want to jump-start a child’s musical career, it’s not really enough to just find someone who has technical mastery. You want lessons to be structured and meaningful – you want instructors to be tested and experienced in the art of teaching. A bigger investment in higher quality of music lessons can also pay off over time as the student is fully supported and prepared to learn.

Ask Rochester Conservatory about our music instruction and how it helps prepare young minds for a lifetime of beautiful music.