Here is a question many parents probably ask themselves when they enroll their children in music lessons: How important is my involvement and how do I do it successfully? The younger the child, the more parental involvement is necessary. Learning to play a musical instrument is much like learning a language or even, perhaps, like learning a sport. If a child goes down to a baseball field on a sunny afternoon once or twice a week and throws the ball around, the child will have fun. But the child will not refine and improve motor skills to be a competent baseball player without constant practice, hard work, parental guidance, encouragement, and unfortunately, some bad days that are no fun at all. A scenario like this one is not metaphorically perfect but you get the idea. Those of us who love music and value the ways in which it enriches our lives want our children to have a positive experience, if not a profound one, during the process of learning a musical instrument. We want our children to experience pride and success en route to developing their abilities to express themselves artistically. So it is up to parents to take care of all the peripheral details to ensure their child continues to grow through their musical experience. To this end, here are some practical ways to help your child at home. More detail and rigor is necessary early on for the younger child (ages 5-10).

During lessons:
1) Attend all the lessons.
2) Sit close to your child, keep a journal, and take notes.
3) Don’t wait until the end of class to clarify confusion.
4) Observe hand positions and posture to reinforce properly at home.
5) Listen to the language the teacher uses for instruction and become familiar with it for use at home.
6) Keep track of everything the child did well and praise them for it afterwards: “That finger exercise really improved after you played it the third time!”

At home:
1) Establish “Music Time” at home at least 4 times a week but strive for 6!
2) Create a comfortable space with all that is necessary (tuner, music stand, chair, etc.) for successful practice.
2) Keep a journal (perhaps the opposite page from the notes taken in class).
3) Try to create a little routine (left hand warm-up, right hand warm-up, new songs, review, etc…)
4) The more consistent this becomes the less battles you’ll have in the future. It becomes something you just do. Somedays will be great, some not so great.
5) Help in a passive way and only use positive language. Notice what is good and ask your child what could be better.
6) Keep a sense of humor handy to diffuse tension.
7) Praise your child for working hard and trying.
Keep a list of games that are fun for when excitement or the novelty of a new song dwindles.
9) Be specific with instructions: “Let’s play that group of notes four times slowly and then we can move on.”
10) Communicate successes with your child’s teacher.
11) Ask your teacher for more advice.

The more music making at home the better!

Repeating musical phrases, groups of notes, entire songs is extremely valuable in developing precise skills on any instrument. I often use soccer analogies to convince students of the value of repetition: if you practice corner kicks, passes, penalty shots, etc., you become a better soccer player. The question for parents is, “whether convinced or not, how do i get my child to perform repetitions?”

The answer: jump through hoops. Sit down with your child, pick a group of notes, and think of whatever you can to make repetitions fun, engaging, and challenging. Here are some ideas and games.

1) have your child play the song and identify a part that was easy and a part that was not
2) pick a few notes from the challenging part (as few as two!) and have your child play them correctly
3) ask new questions to redirect your child’s attention every few repetitions: how many notes are we playing? how many notes are on string one? which note should sound the loudest? what is your pinky doing? when do you cross strings? can you miss the note on purpose? can you play the note on purpose? can you sing what you are playing? and on and on…
4) now let your child pick a note or two before or after the group already practiced
5) repeat step 3
6) after a little while you should have a larger chunk of music that your child is working on and chances are that your child will find this process engaging. however, it is possible that your child’s attention may start to dwindle. Bring in the cavalry:
7) games (serious parental hoop jumping):
a) every time you play it through well (specify no buzzes, no pauses, rhythm, etc…) i’ll draw a part of a picture and you get to what i’m drawing. you win when you guess the picture. this is a classroom favorite.
b) every time you play it through i will invent funny words to sing with it.
c) every time you play it through you get a tally, ten tallies equals a sticker, box of raisins (i know, but some kids go for this), an extra cookie, a quarter, extra ten minutes of playing before bed, etc…
d) every time you play it through, i’ll stack these blocks. you win when they come crashing down.
e) every time you play it through, i’ll stand on my head, juggle three flaming bowling pins with my toes, and sing the national anthem….
when everything is going well and you’ve reached your time goal or when games no longer staves off waning focus, pack it up for the day with great praise for your child’s accomplishments and remind your child that you look forward to more playing time tomorrow or the next time.
9) it’s not over, yet. spend the next day (or better, later on the same day) reviewing the same group of notes or musical phrases before picking new material to work on. review is crucial.

Hand out prizes and hugs!

KinderGuitar would like to introduce our new teacher, Karl Evangelista. Karl recently completed an extensive training course to become a licensed and certified KinderGuitar teacher and is beginning to form his studio in the East Bay area. If you have friends interested in having their children start KinderGuitar please see our Certified Teachers page for contact information!

I have been working on a challenging piece with my son and surprisingly, he is doing most of the working (there is a prize after this one). We spent most of our time working on the notes in the song arranged from low pitch to high pitch so that he would become acquainted with the way the song was built. This was his first foray into scales. We learned a fragment of a scale and by the time we sat down the second day, he could play it well. The first part of the song had most of the scale that we had practiced while the end of the first musical idea had the same scale in reverse. Instead of going over each note for him to piece it together, I told him where the scale reversed course (started moving from high pitch to low pitch). This little instruction was clear enough. He knew the scale from low pitch to high pitch so well that he simply manipulated the group of notes to reverse and was able to not only play the difficult phrase but at some level now understands how the phrase was built and he has correlated the musical change to a physical movement.

In addition to working on songs with your child one note at a time, find fragments that are three or four notes long and play them until they are clear, fluid, and beautiful. What is the composer trying to communicate through these notes? Have your child manipulate the different notes in the fragment by changing the volume on certain notes, by omitting certain notes, by repeating certain notes to ultimately experience experimentation, etc… After each reconstruction or deconstruction, ask your child whether or not he/she likes what they’ve done. Your child’s understanding of the musical content will increase dramatically, awareness of likes and dislikes will become more focused, and musical memory will improve.

A wonderful and very young student recently performed for the first time in our winter concert. Before the concert we worked really hard to make everything feel easy. There were many moments of frustration and lack of focus but also many, many moments of great music-making that were fun. After having worked so hard during the few weeks preceding the recital, my student had improved dramatically. I could tell when he was up on stage that he was prepared and eager to share the songs he had worked on. He had seen Pepe Romero perform the week before and even imitated Pepe’s bow after his pieces.

We practiced in many different ways but in the end it really boils down to careful and thoughtful repetition. We shifted focus often during a practice session. For example, after warming up with some finger activities. We would play each song slowly once. Then we spent 5-10 minutes on each song varying our goals before a final few performance rehearsals. Here are some ideas to use with your child when practicing new songs or reviewing old ones:

1) Focus on NOT buzzing and keep track of how few buzzes are produced. Try to identify and eliminate the specific buzz-producing pinches.
2) Direct your child’s aural attention to what happens after plucking a note.
3) Play the freeze game (parent says ‘freeze’, child stops mid-piece, parent says ‘unfreeze’, child continues from where he/she left off).
4) If you’re a guitarist have student do one hand while you hunch over and do the other hand’s movements on the same guitar.
5) Clap in rhythm while child plays to emphasize the structure of the pulse.
6) Focus on endings. Are they quiet, too loud, pretty?
7) Focus on metaphorical breathing at the end of a musical phrase or idea.
Smile while playing the entire song.
9) Have your child play the entire song with closed eyes or in the dark.
10) Direct your child’s attention to the left hand while playing entire song. Then ask for feedback: Were you on the fingertips? Were their any uncooperative fingers? Did it look smooth?
11) Direct your child’s attention to the right hand while playing entire song. Then ask for feedback: Did it move? Did it bounce?

There is so much to learn for children who start an instrument: poise, attitude, respect, patience, and what work really is. Engage your children with creativity when practicing and eventually they will develop good practice habits. Children have the ability to work hard and deserve recognition when they improve as a result of it. So, go get ice cream!

My children, 6 and 2, spend a good portion of their day playing music, hearing me practice, pounding at the piano, strumming the various stringed instruments (guitars, a few cuatros that I brought from Venezuela, odd instruments my older son occasionally makes with strings and chairs), shaking maracas (and in my two year old’s case, using the maracas to beat the guitar). We also listen to a lot of music throughout the day and listen to various styles: guitar music, piazzolla, nusrat fateh ali khan, orchestral music, piano music, beatles, unbearable music, instrumental music from south america, etc… I sing songs to both my children whenever it’s my turn to put them to bed (and my wife does, too). They have their favorites but I try to introduce new songs whenever I get a chance to learn one. It is hard to escape music making in this environment.

Nevertheless, my oldest son often prefers to daydream about robots and “giant metal men” than have guitar time and happily puts up a fuss. But we do it anyway. We often have a lot of fun going over activities and parts of the songs he’s learning. We also have some pretty frustrating moments, too. In the end, though, it is important to remain kind and realistic about what it means to practice. It is sometimes challenging, sometimes joyous, sometimes happy, sometimes sad. And it helps to have a musical environment to support you when things get difficult. Also, keeping in mind the long term goals or imagining the effect of what many, many years of consistent and caring guidance will have on your child’s musical experience helps, too!

Playing time should consist of a variety of activities. Depending on the amount of time spent playing each day or each week, young students and their parents should mutually agree to prepare for the upcoming lesson and to spend some time refining playing and improving skills. The positive correlation between increased time spent on the instrument and increased skill is not a myth. However, time spent on the instrument is easily wasted. Structure playing time around several of the following activities:

Right Hand and Left Hand Finger Activities – For the right hand, use string-crossing patterns or for more advanced students pick a right hand study. For the left hand, a movement requiring an anchor finger should suffice (anchor finger 1 down, then play a pattern like 13131 leaving finger 1 anchored/pinched for the duration of the pattern). For advanced students, longer patterns involving scales or slurs help to develop strength and accuracy in the left hand.

Favorite Song Review – Students (and parents) should always have a developing list of songs and activities to pick from every time they sit down to play their instruments. The more detailed the better: name of song, when it was first started, how long until memorized, tallies for successful run-throughs, time goals, etc. Having practice charts or notebooks also provide students with a diary of their accomplishments, trials, and history. Taking notes (parents) during lessons and during playing (questions that pop up) is also conducive to better results.

Learning New Songs – This process requires diligence. Learning a song with mistakes means playing with mistakes. Sitting down to learn a song can sometimes be overwhelming, though. Most often, an overwhelmed student falls into the “just play it through with the music a bunch of times” mentality. This method is not efficient and often leads to frustration. A method that leads to success, and one that I often use in lessons, is to learn ONLY two or three notes well (quality vs. quantity). The sooner (and younger) students form the habit of learning this way the better. Remember to keep this process engaging and interesting by asking questions that challenge the student’s perception of the newly learned material (two or three notes!). Students should be able to give precise answers to questions like: Which fingers are used? What is the string pattern for the notes? Do all notes sound clear? Does it sound beautiful? Any recognizable patterns? Do other songs use the same notes? Can you play it with your eyes closed? Can you play it looking at your right hand? Left? Etc…

Then, when the student has eliminated all doubt by questioning (with parents helping) the way they execute the newly learned notes, play a game to try and build on this success. Tallies are good motivators: play notes clearly, you get a point, produce a buzz or thump (parent sets challenge), parent gets point, first to five wins. Playing for pennies: student gets 5 pennies and a parent (or stuffed animal) gets five pennies. Play a group of notes well (try to specify goal), student gets a penny from parent, student plays poorly, parent gets a penny from the student. Game ends when student has all pennies. Onto the next round of pennies… Praise all successes!

Clapping, Listening, and Singing – Clapping, singing, and listening should never go underrated. Clap the rhythm of a part of the song. Listen to the song being learned several times. Listen to the rhythm, listen to volume/loudness changes, listen to the endings, and listen to the silence between notes if possible. Also, try singing along with the notes just learned. A simple “la” is fine but if there are words it can be more fun. Write words if the song doesn’t have any.

Creating Songs – Pick a song. Experiment with note substitution. What happens if we leave out all of these notes? What happens if we play this note instead of this one? Reassemble the notes of the song in a few ways and then write out any interesting or appealing groups of notes (in string/fret code if necessary). This is FUN!

In our classes we progress through a series of melodies, musical activities, and parts (accompanying voices). We use an easily decipherable code to aid musically illiterate parents guide and play with their children at home. Today, I taught a part of a German folk song to two seven year olds and broke it down in the following way:

1) play rhythm only on one string (child can pick a specific string but I try to steer them to the string where the majority of the melodic notes are ultimately played)

2) play rhythm only but include the string crossing

2) sing the melody (or the part) in rhythm (create words if there are no words)

3) muffle strings with the left hand (or by sliding a sock under the strings next to the bridge) and play the rhythm (with or without string crossing) while singing the melody

4) find all pitches in the group of notes that are being practiced, arrange from low pitch to high pitch, and practice as a scale (forward and backward, sock removed)

5) review the rhythm and add one pitch at a time

6) sing and play

There should never be a rush to the next step. Move on when it feels right and sounds good.

A few days ago, a particularly talented student played through three songs beautifully. Over the course of the last several months, she has tackled challenging pieces and has improved dramatically from lesson to lesson. She is very determined to play guitar and she has a strong desire to play music. I told her that learning an instrument was a lot like climbing a very high mountain and that instead of taking a step at a time, it seemed like she had a helicopter to the top. I think she got the metaphor because of her smile. For parents of young musicians, the mountain metaphor is a good one. Note: although I enjoy a good hike, my mountain climbing is purely imaginary; experienced vicariously through my wife’s ascents of Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, etc., and through a story I read to my children about the road to Lhasa. Nevertheless, peaks, as I understand them, are elusive, concealed in fog and clouds. With perseverance, intelligence, questioning, and some gentle guidance the peaks come into view. Sometimes, as my student’s parent chimed in, you have to stop and enjoy the view. Sometimes we tumble backwards and have to consult maps. Sometimes we have to go back to base camp and evaluate a new way to the top, etc… I could keep going.

The metaphor of the long haul is valuable for parents but for very young children it is not as useful though it is nice to share. Most parents have the perspective to see the learning curve and what a long term commitment could yield. Small children are zen creatures, living in the now, and living in the now for parents is sometimes as elusive as that mountain top when you’re cleaning, making dinner, and carting the siblings to their various sports and lessons. This is one of the reasons why it is challenging to sit patiently with your child while they explore every note on the guitar except the one you ask them to play. Suspend the future and past, provide specific activities and small goals to ensure success, offer praise for achieving and more importantly, for trying, and take another small step with your child tomorrow.

Approaching practice time is as much a psychological commitment as it is a time commitment for both parents and children. In order to strengthen the psychological aspect of the commitment, students must have success or they must at least perceive success. To this effect, approach music (or anything requiring consistency to master) from its simplest task. Simple means not complex or compound. For young children, select a group of notes (three? four?) where there is no doubt as to what the right hand must do, what the left hand must do, and what the final group of notes must sound like. Then segregate each part: play the right hand alone as many times as it takes to master the movements (with positive recognition for each successful repetition through a visual marker like a tally or sticker), play the left hand with careful attention to finger positioning (positive recognition as usual), then play hands together. If playing hands together remains difficult after several attempts, go back to what the student did best and then move on to a new group of notes or end play time on a positive note. The student should end play time with a sense of accomplishment, supported by visual reminders (stickers, tallies, etc.) of success and by praise for what was well done.