I really, really love how you have done this with your family! I enjoy music so much and wish everyone would be introduced to it early on in their lives!
This!!! All of this. I started Suzuki violin at age 3, switched to cello at 7, and am now studying at conservatory. If I had my way about practicing as a kid, I wouldn't be here now, and I'm so glad my parents made me keep studying. It was my choice to continue after high school, and I will never regret the decision. Do I always like practicing? Definitely not, and no musician I have ever met does. We make kids do math even if they don't like it, so why not music?
Really interesting article, thank you. I trained pretty seriously as an opera singer but never really mastered piano (hence the fundamentals of harmony really) and it held me back. I often wonder if I should have been pushed on the instrument I didn't really like or not.
I have a few questions: 1) how old are your children? 2) when did they start and do you have strong opinions about the ideal age? 3) did they get to choose their instruments and to what extent? 4) is there any reading you'd recommend on children learning music?
Hi Claudia. My kids all started around 5-6 years of age. They're now 9, 12, and 15. I knew some kids who started with Suzuki method violin at age 2-3, but that seems awfully early for formal learning, in my opinion. They had some input about their instrument of choice, but we were limited by available teachers, e.g. no cello in the area, and it had to be something we'd enjoy listening to daily, e.g. no drums! My oldest now wants to switch from violin to piano, which I'm fine with, since he has achieved a high level of competency in violin. I wish I'd branched out more as a kid with my musical education. I read in "Range" by David Epstein that often the best musicians are the one who play multiple instruments. That's a great book overall, but I don't have any other music-specific recommendations at the moment.
I love this! I plan to share with my husband who is a musician, he’ll greatly appreciate how you described the importance of practice. And I like how you highlighted how it can connect us with people of all ages. It really does teach discipline like you said but how you worded it (as well as your mom) makes it easy to explain to someone who isn’t musically inclined like myself. I hope my son and my husband will
have this in their lives as a special way of bonding as they grow in their relationship together. He already associates his daddy with music and sometimes will grab his ukulele when he sees him or hears him playing in the other room.
I really, really love how you have done this with your family! I enjoy music so much and wish everyone would be introduced to it early on in their lives!
This!!! All of this. I started Suzuki violin at age 3, switched to cello at 7, and am now studying at conservatory. If I had my way about practicing as a kid, I wouldn't be here now, and I'm so glad my parents made me keep studying. It was my choice to continue after high school, and I will never regret the decision. Do I always like practicing? Definitely not, and no musician I have ever met does. We make kids do math even if they don't like it, so why not music?
Really interesting article, thank you. I trained pretty seriously as an opera singer but never really mastered piano (hence the fundamentals of harmony really) and it held me back. I often wonder if I should have been pushed on the instrument I didn't really like or not.
I have a few questions: 1) how old are your children? 2) when did they start and do you have strong opinions about the ideal age? 3) did they get to choose their instruments and to what extent? 4) is there any reading you'd recommend on children learning music?
😊
Hi Claudia. My kids all started around 5-6 years of age. They're now 9, 12, and 15. I knew some kids who started with Suzuki method violin at age 2-3, but that seems awfully early for formal learning, in my opinion. They had some input about their instrument of choice, but we were limited by available teachers, e.g. no cello in the area, and it had to be something we'd enjoy listening to daily, e.g. no drums! My oldest now wants to switch from violin to piano, which I'm fine with, since he has achieved a high level of competency in violin. I wish I'd branched out more as a kid with my musical education. I read in "Range" by David Epstein that often the best musicians are the one who play multiple instruments. That's a great book overall, but I don't have any other music-specific recommendations at the moment.
Thank you! Good luck with the journey.
I love this! I plan to share with my husband who is a musician, he’ll greatly appreciate how you described the importance of practice. And I like how you highlighted how it can connect us with people of all ages. It really does teach discipline like you said but how you worded it (as well as your mom) makes it easy to explain to someone who isn’t musically inclined like myself. I hope my son and my husband will
have this in their lives as a special way of bonding as they grow in their relationship together. He already associates his daddy with music and sometimes will grab his ukulele when he sees him or hears him playing in the other room.