While coaching in class and at home with my own children, I have been working on emphasizing effort. It takes courage to try something new in front of a teacher and in front of peers and classmates. And, it takes courage to try something that is likely to fail on the first try. However, […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
