Category Archives: For Parents

For Parents, Piano Lessons for Children

How to Help a Child with Piano Practice

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Clearly my last post about parents and their responsibilities to their children’s music education, particularly piano lessons, hit a nerve. This blog is only a couple of weeks old, and that post has received hundreds of views from some 20 countries, including Russia, Bulgaria, Singapore, Thailand, Portugal, Australia, and Estonia. The issue, it seems, is universal.

In that article, I talked about the realities of learning to play the piano, including the requirements for practice, responsible parental support, and some of the rewards and benefits. Today, I’m going to get a bit more specific and helpful and give parents some ideas on how you can help a small child with practice. If you’re a teacher, please feel free to link to this article.

The key takeaway here is that by communicating with teachers and listening, even parents who know nothing about music can help their children learn piano and develop good practice habits.

Practice Makes … Permanent

We all know that practicing is key to learning to play the piano. But here’s what most of us don’t know: there are good ways to practice and bad ways to practice, and if you aren’t practicing correctly, you may as well not be practicing at all. If you practice incorrectly, you will learn incorrectly. But learning effective practice techniques is a difficult task, especially for young children who haven’t yet learned to identify mistakes, let alone find effective ways to fix them.

The main point parents and music students need to understand is that effective practice does not mean doing the same thing over and over again. In fact, mindless repetition can be detrimental if the student simply repeats (and hence learns) mistakes.

How to Help a Child Practice the Piano

The quality of practice is so important that some teachers abandon time-based minimums for daily practice, and instead advocate setting practice goals that are centered around achieving certain technical or musical results.

Ironically, while the basics of good practice seem difficult for children (and sometimes, for their parents, as well), good practice habits actually make learning piano much easier, much less frustrating, and much more fun. By helping children establish good practice habits as early in their musical education as possible, parents will be putting a music student on the road to learning an instrument the most effective way possible. Bad practice habits leading to frustration and, often, quitting lessons.

Parents of young beginners should be sure that they understand the teacher’s practice instructions, because most second and third graders will forget what they are supposed to do between the end of the lesson and the beginning of the next practice. Most teachers write practice instructions in an assignment book. Even so, young children will need help to remember which tasks need to be be practiced. it also helps if they practice as soon as possible after the lesson: This helps them remember what they (supposedly) learned.

Goal-Centered Practice Strategies

Goal-centered practice instructions give more guidance than a simple mandate to “practice for a half an hour every day.” However, for parents to help, they have to be attentive not only to the fact that the child is sitting at the piano, but to what, exactly, is being practiced and how. Often, children will simply bang away happily for a few minutes on a song they “made up” or a chord progression their best friend taught them. Parents need to practice “mindful listening” as much as their children need to do engage in “mindful practice.”

Some samples of goal-centered practice instructions might include:

  • “Practice this scale until you can play it with your eyes closed.”
  • “Play each line of the song until you can play it with no mistakes.”
  • “Practice the right hand until you can play it with no mistakes. Then practice the left hand. then put them together.”
  • “Practice the song until you can play it with the metronome ticking at 100 bears per minute.”
  • “Count out loud.”

A parent who listens in on lessons should be aware of what the teacher is stressing. I have probably said the words “Count out loud” one million times, and I’ve written it in assignment books close to that many times, too. Even a non-musical parent can help a child enormously by going over the practice instructions point by point and saying: “Your teacher wrote that you should be counting out loud, but I didn’t hear any counting. Can you show me?” Or: Didn’t you play that scale with your eyes closed in your lesson? Show me.” Or: “Did you practice that line of the song so you can play it with no mistakes? Show me.”

One sure give-away that poor practice is taking place is easy to spot. Most children will start at the beginning of a song and play through to the end, with intermittent stops and starts, occasionally correcting mistakes. They then go back to the beginning and repeat the process, generally with the exact same mistakes. Any reputable piano teacher teaches children to break a piece of music into small parts, and to correct mistakes before moving on. A child who is playing a mistake-ridden piece from beginning to end over and over again either has a poor teacher or is not following instructions.

Finally, parents should be sure that any written homework is completed before the next lesson.

Communicating with Music Teachers About Practice Issues

A parent can also help by communicating with the teacher. If the teacher does not include practice suggestions or goals in the assignment book, a parent shouldn’t be afraid to ask for suggestions. Similarly, the parent should also discuss any practice issues with the teacher. For example:

  • “Johnny seem to just rush through each piece and then he wants to turn the page and do something else.”
  • “Suzie thinks she is playing the piece correctly, but I can hear that something’s not right with the rhythm. She never counts. I don’t know how to help her.”
  • “I know you told her to use the metronome, but she says she doesn’t understand how to use it.”

A good teacher will have some strategies to deal with such problems, and can address these issues in lessons.

As a parent, you are part of the triangle of your child’s music education: The other sides of the triangle are the teacher and the student. As your child gets older and independent, they may not need or want your help with their lessons. But in the first year or two, children who have active parental involvement typically learn more than those who are left to flounder on their own.

For Parents, Piano Lessons for Children

What Instrument Should Your Child Play?

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School is starting up, and depending on your school and district, your child may be given the choice of playing an instrument, usually in third, fourth, or fifth grade.

I well remember when the band director at my elementary school came in to our classrooms with a demonstration of all the marvelous instruments that would be available for us to play. I remember the boys’ eyes lighting up at the drum sets (and the attendant let-down a few days later when they were all given little book-sized woodblocks to beat on). I remember the shiny wind instruments and the gleaming strings. I even remember Mr. Richmond’s name, even though this was $%^# years ago and I never took a single class with him.

Because, very unfortunately, my parents said no (one of the few academic mistakes I think they made): They thought piano was enough, and I already had other extracurricular activities on my schedule. But of course, hindsight is 20-20.

The fact is that in the early years, participation in band and orchestra is a pretty low-impact involvement on family schedules and finances. In the very early stages, school music directors giving group lessons don’t expect a whole lot of practice from students. Of course, the virtuous cycle of practice and reward kicks in immediately — students get out of it what they put in — but it’s still a low impact introduction.The students get their rental instruments, and squeak and squawk their way through a few ear-splitting recitals. Those who take to it eventually move on to private lessons, start practicing for real, and audition for all-district and all-state ensembles. Some switch to another instrument, or join a rock band. Some major in music. 

And those who don’t continue turn their rental instruments, sit back in the audience, and watch their friends continue. So there’s no downside to having your child try an instrument: The instrument cost is minimal (rentals), the teaching is done at school, and the time commitment, at first, is negligible. If you are at all conflicted about taking on another activity or trying out music, school group lessons are a great way to go. 

The upsides are numerous. I won’t belabor that point here (because I’m pulling together an article with links to formal studies about the benefits of music education: participation in a team creative activity, commitment, developing practice and learning habits, and side benefits like, oh, less drug abuse, greater math scores, and better overall academic achievement). 

So for now, suffice it to say: no downsides, lots of upsides. So the question: Which instrument?

Instruments are so wonderfully different from each other. My partner is writing a book on ukulele right now, and while I don’t mind listening to the uke, the thing feels like an alien monstrosity in my hands (even a so called baritone uke). I have to squeeze my big self into its little frets, and it feels all cramped over and high pitched. Give me a cello, a bass: Something that sends an expanding sound outwards and speaks from the gut. I have the same response to piccolos versus tenor saxes.

Other people are exactly the opposite: My just-post-college room-mate, for example, has become a leading piccolo recording artist. Lucky her, because it’s a heck of a lot easier (and cheaper) to travel with a piccolo (or a uke) than a tuba (or a double bass)! Not to mention a piano.

Instruments speak to people: They use the  body differently, and they speak in different voices, they speak from the gut or the heartstrings or the voice box. I can imagine myself playing a cello or viola but not the violin, and the idea of having to hold my breath and control it to put the voice in a wind instrument feels uncomfortable to me. Yet I can understand the appeal of that: What a blessing to use the breath that fueled your body to fuel the voice of an instrument!

And how about drums: The endless, amazing  varied sounds of the world’s thousands of percussion instruments: hand-drums, claves, marimbas, thumb pianos, cymbals, tambourines (and yes, we’re talking about little kids here, so the appeal of BANG BANG BANG).

We ALL respond to instruments differently.

I’d try to stay away from gender stereotypes (Some of my five year old piano students are quite convinced that no boy ever plays the violin). It is, however, important to note that kids have different talents, skills, and physical abilities. The smallest kid in the class may not be able to reach the end note on a trombone, and a little boy who desperately wants to fit in with  bigger tougher peers may find more success and satisfaction with a trumpet or sax than with a violin or a piccolo. Some kids have trouble holding down strings on instruments or the fine motor motion of moving their fingers on small instruments.

Musical taste is another issue: When kids are small, this is a difficult factor to weigh, but the fact is that there are more jazz saxophone players than jazz violists, that it’s easier to score a position playing in an orchestra as a violist than as a flutist, and a clarinetist can not only play both sides of the jazz classical divide; she can play saxophone, too. A violist doesn’t have that many chances to solo because of the limitations of the repertoire; a violinist may or may not — depending on the competition. A string bass player doesn’t get to play in the football marching band (which keeps a lot of kids in music through their high school years) and a bassoonist and an oboist are going to have trouble finding a place in a rock and roll group.

At the same time, the decision you make today isn’t written in stone: Many musical children try several instruments. If your child is simply assigned one (because the school needs a bassoon player), they can always change later. In fact, the exposure to multiple instruments is a good thing, and can be a real asset down the road if you child becomes serious about music, either as a session musician or a music teacher.

And this point is also worth making: if your child hates music lesson, try to find out if it’s because of the instrument. Some kids just aren’t meant to play some instruments. It’s like choosing friends: The fact that your child and the neighbor’s kid don’t get along doesn’t mean that your kid doesn’t like to make friends; it simply might mean he doesn’t like that kid. Same may be true for the bassoon. 

So talk with the school music teacher about demands — physical, coordination, practice-related — of each instrument. Let your kid experiment. PLAY some music for them: If they think they want to play violin, play them a violin sonata or a bluegrass tune; if they are leaning toward clarinet, play a clarinet quintet or a great jazz player. And then let your child be your guide.  

Coming up next:  Should your kid play more than one instrument? (With a focus on piano. Well, I admit it, I do have a bit of a bias on this blog.)   

For Parents, Piano Lessons for Children

Conversations With my Students

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A few choice  words from my students…. Feel free to add some of your own!

Me: “So did you learn any goofy songs at summer camp?”
Student: “No, mostly they had sailboats in them. My mom knows the words.”

Me: “So, what’s new and interesting this week?”
Student:  “Grandma has spiders on her legs and crinkly elbows.”

Me: “So what’s new this week?”
Student: “Mom got a new pooper scooper.”

Me: “That was interesting…. You had some creative rhythms in there that I don’t think the composer ever considered.”
Student: “You mean it was a train wreck.”

Me: “That was pretty stinky.” (said to a student with whom I have a long-standing relationship that can handle this!)
Student: “I thought it sounded pretty good…. until it didn’t.”

Me: “So, how do you think that went?”
Student: “Pretty good.”
Me: “Yeah? It’s written in 3/4 time, but you played it in 4/4. And you forgot all the sharps in the key of A major. And you skipped these three lines entirely.”
Student: “But it was still pretty good, right?”

Me: “So, what’s new?”
Student: “After piano, I’m going over to my uncle’s house to play with my band.”
Me: “Really? Who’s in your band?”
Student: “Me and my uncle.”

Me: “That was great. Your finger position was so good that even if I were standing all the way over there in the kitchen, I would be able to tell how good your hand position was just by listening to you.”
Student: “I think piano teachers are a different kind of human.”

For Parents, Piano Lessons for Children, Practice and Skills

Learning an Instrument: The Importance of a Practice Routine

Learning a musical instrument is unlike almost any other endeavor a young child attempts. Virtually no other activity requires the same kind of weekly private instruction, the intense individual effort that must continue over a period of several years, and, most of all, the daily practice that is so essential to learning to play piano, guitar, violin, or any other instrument.

Quite simply, music education requires practice. And not just sitting down at the instrument for five minutes. Playing a few notes and declaring yourself done doesn’t do it.

Importance of Practice Routine in Learning to Play an Instrument

While music teachers may differ on the specifics depending on the student, the age, the level, the instrument, and the teaching philosophy, teachers almost universally agree that practice should be part of a regular, preferably daily routine. Last-minute cramming works about as well in music education as it does with any other subject, which is to say, not at all. It is better to practice in routine small chunks than in sporadic, intense, long outbursts. The brain simply processes musical information better that way.

In a day and age when every family seems busier than the family next door, finding time to practice in between soccer, homework, and play dates is admittedly difficult. It’s even more difficult if parents don’t have their own personal experience with, or are ambivalent about, music education and the sustained daily effort it requires.

To be effective, practice has to be viewed as a primary activity, like doing homework, eating lunch, or going to school. Parents need to understand that daily practice is not an easy habit. (And any parent who thinks practice is, or should be, easy, should take a hard look at his or her own exercise habits. Practicing every day is just as difficult as keeping New Year’s resolutions to go to the gym).

Children need to be reminded and encouraged to practice their instruments, just as they need to be reminded to brush their teeth or do their homework. One effective solution that works for some families (but certainly not for everyone) is for the child to practice in the morning before school. Just as with exercise, this gets the job done and out of the way. If there is time for more practice later in the day, great. If not, at least the minimum practice requirements have been met.

 

How Much Practice Should a Music Student Do?

The amount of practice required to progress depends on three things: the level and age of the student, the student’s ambitions, and the instrument.

The level and age of the student are the first issues. Often teachers will suggest a time of 15 to 20 minutes of daily practice for very young beginners, 30 minutes for school-age elementary students, 45 minutes for middle-school intermediates, and an hour or more for advancing students.

The student’s ambition is another factor. Is the student planning to major in music? Where? If a student’s ambitions soar toward institutions such as Juilliard, then several hours of daily practice will be required at the high-school level simply to prepare music for the audition. If the student is thinking about majoring in music education at “Typical University,” competence is required, but not virtuosity; the practice required to get in will be commensurately less. Teachers should ensure that any stated goals are in line with actual practice time. Students often have no idea of how high the bar is for professional performance or advanced study. Watching a few YouTube videos of talented students of similar ages to your students may be a hard dose of reality, but it’s important for an ambitious student to know that the competition is not lazy Larry down the street; it’s a focused student who is playing concert music at age 11.

Finally, each instrument is different. For example, piano practice times tend to be longer than practice times for other instruments, in part because the repertoire and demands of the instrument are so vast. Also, it is physically possible for pianists to play for longer than it is for trumpet players (whose embouchures cannot survive a six-hour practice session) or vocalists (who can damage their voices). Still, any instrument can be over-practiced to the point of injury. Regardless of the instrument, at the first sign of muscle strain, tremors, aches, or stabbing pain, talk to a teacher.

In addition to time and routine, two other elements contribute to successful practice: A comfortable practice space that encourages practice and a mindful approach to practice that effectively and reliably solves technical and musical problems.

For Parents, Piano Lessons for Children

The Truth About Piano Lessons

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A piano teacher looks at what it takes to succeed in music, how parents can help, and why they should care.

To piano teachers: This post is copyrighted. Please do not reprint the whole thing on your blog. Feel free to reprint the first paragraph and then link to it here. You also have permission to print it and hand it out, as long as my name and the blog address are visible. Thank you for respecting my copyright.

Dear Piano Parents:

If it seems like you’re always battling to schedule your kids’ activities, you’re not alone: The soccer coach wants to know if you’re doing traveling team, the Little League coach is scheduling practices, the dance teacher is putting her classes together. And you’re wondering about piano lessons for little Johnny or Suzie.

You want to know how much Johnny will be expected to practice. You want to know if Suzie can just “try it out” and see if it’s “fun.” You need to know what kind of instrument I expect you to have. You want to know if you can come whenever it’s convenient, and whether I’ll be flexible regarding hockey games, ski Fridays, school dances, ice-skating parties, holidays, and play dates. You want to know if I’m “reasonable” by which I think you mean: Can I change my schedule to suit yours, and am I a stickler for daily practice because Suzie has so much else on her plate and  “things are crazy around here.”

It doesn’t usually occur to you to ask what you can do as a parent to help your child with music lessons, but that’s something you’re going to have to know, too.

I’m in a difficult position as a piano teacher because I’m afraid of telling you the whole truth. I’m afraid because the unvarnished truth may not what you are probably going to want to hear. And when people don’t like what they hear, they tend to bail out. You may go to another teacher (which is fine: Everyone deserves a compatible teacher). But I’m afraid you may bail on music lessons all together.

Because the truth about learning to play the piano scares people. That’s the last thing I want to do.

Benefits of Music Education

We all know the benefits of music education: the improved test scores, the correlation with less drug and alcohol abuse, the benefits of learning to be part of an ensemble and stick with a challenge. Music is one of the most powerful expressive forms we have in our lives. How powerful? Playing music (not just listening to it) is used to treat neurological problems, to heal people who have had strokes, to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Musician’s brains — as measured by MRIs — actually work differently than the brains of non-musicians. We (musicians) develop pathways that you (non-musicians) don’t, which help us make other connections. The ability to play an instrument, particularly a complex instrument like piano, has been linked to less dementia in old age, better cognitive skills, and faster healing from traumatic brain injuries. (Source)

Not to mention the sheer joy of it. How many adults do you know who say “I wish my mother hadn’t let me quit.” You may be one of them.

So if I scare you (and your child) away, I’m doing you a disservice on many levels.

Learning Piano and Modern Parenting Trends: Not an Easy Fit

The problem is that learning to play piano isn’t easy, and what it requires flies in the face of current parenting trends. You know the trends I’m talking about: The ones that have you driving  500 miles a week to ball games, play dates and the like. I had a student once who showed up for piano wearing his karate uniform, after eating dinner in a moving car. After piano lessons, he was headed for night skiing. No wonder this little 6 year old vomited at the piano. I felt nauseated just listening to his schedule.

Look, the truth is that your kid can’t be a black belt in karate and a ski racer and a soccer player and a pianist and an “A” student and a dancer and in the school play. Kids want to try everything, parents panic if they think they are missing the next new thing. You can go broad or you can go deep; that’s your choice. But you need to know that learning to play piano takes place in the deep end of the ocean.

The Process (and Practice) of Learning to Play Piano

Playing piano also takes a kind of concentration children are rarely exposed to anymore. If you’re one of those parents who wants to protect your child from frustration, you have got to come to terms with the demands of what I call “the big black beast.” Learning to play the piano is all about overcoming frustration. It’s about thinking through problems, breaking them down, solving them one step at a time, figuring things out, finding creative new ways to approach a challenge, putting the pieces back together and trying again and again and again. Piano lessons are life lessons. There’s a reason music students score higher in math. But music isn’t easy.

You’re not going to want to hear the truth because it takes a lot more effort to get your kid to practice than it does to get her to brush her teeth, and YOU are going to have to put that effort in every day for the next four years before she even has a chance of playing “Fur Elise” or “The Entertainer.” Even the most enthusiastic student is not going to want to practice every day (and yes, every day is recommended). Or practice enough. Or practice correctly. If you’re the kind of parent who calls your kid “buddy” and “pal” and “girlfriend” and thinks that regular practice is some kind of punishment that is enforced by the “bad guy” parent, you could be in for a rough road as far as piano is concerned.

You may think that Suzie has talent and will follow in the footsteps of Uncle George, who just sat down at the piano one day and started playing jazz standards. But I can guarantee that’s not how it happened for Uncle George, and it’s not going to happen that way for Suzie, either. Family myth notwithstanding, Uncle George had solitary time with the instrument, whether formally instructed or not, whether playing by ear or by notes. He wrestled with the big black beast — same as your child is going to have to do.

You want to know if Suzie can just “try it out” and the answer is sure: It’s your money, and I can’t stop you from taking a few lessons and quitting. But I can promise that if you’re not committed going in, you’re not going to stick around. Suzie might enjoy her lessons, but at home, she’s going to have to put her thinking cap on and wrestle with note reading and trying to remember where Middle C is and how to count and which finger is number 1 and which finger is number 2.  Sure, some kids find this early part fun, and if they do, you’re in luck. But I’ll be honest: Many don’t.

What You Can Do To Help A Child Learn Music

And do you have idea how long a half an hour’s practice time is for a 7 year old? It’s like dog years — an eternity. You may have to help, and ideally, this means paying attention during a young child’s lesson, taking notes, listening to how I tell them to practice and then making sure that they do it. It may even mean learning to read a few notes yourself (Yes, you can, and yes I will teach you, but you may have to work at it. Not every adult gets it on the first try. You need to be willing to brush off YOUR thinking cap, too). You don’t have to learn to actually play the piano, but I do expect you do be able to read a book aimed at a second-grader and figure out enough music reading so you can help them between lessons.

And then there’s the whole buying a piano thing. Teachers do differ, so you’ll need to listen carefully to their reasoning. But the more pleasurable an instrument is to play, the more a child will want to play it. They DO hear and feel the difference, and it does affect their learning, technique, and musical sensitivity.

Good News About Music Lessons

It sounds daunting, doesn’t it? Why not just cross it off the list and move on to soccer? Because a) You don’t want your adult child joining the chorus of people blaming their parents for letting them quit music and b) Because it’s good for them in so many ways: creativity, self-expression, working with others, mental health, good work habits, problem solving, cognitive development, neurological health, and the simple appreciation of art and beauty. (I’ll be writing more articles on the benefits of music education and links to studies showing these benefits in the upcoming weeks, so check back here.)

And let me give you some (more) good news.

Just about any kid can learn to play the piano. Some may take to it more easily than others; some may race ahead; some may lag behind. Some may read quickly, others may be aurally gifted, or able to move their fingers quickly and naturally. But it really does boil down to practice. Don’t give your kid the easy out of saying “Well of course Annie is playing better than you; she’s very talented.” In the long run, talent helps, but it’s not about talent: It’s about DOING IT And yes, there have been studies on this, too.

I’m not asking for miracles here: Most kids who practice in a focused way for 1/2 an hour most days of the week will learn to play well enough to enjoy participating in music in a meaningful way. It may, however, take 4 to 8 years, depending on goals, talent, and practice habits, before a student turns into a musician. When it happens, it’s like watching the tulips bloom in spring.

The bottom line: by giving your child music lessons, you are giving them a lifelong gift.

Music IS joyful, it isn’t always fun. Learn to know the difference — then teach your children well.

For Parents, Piano Lessons for Children, Summer Music Lessons

Summer Music Lessons? Yea or Nay?

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School is letting out, summer camps are doing their final clean-ups before opening day, beaches are open, grills are fired up… and exhausted parents are collapsing from a year of driving kids to soccer, piano, karate, birthday parties, and the endless list of other activities.

No one, just this minute, wants to think about summer music lessons. Except that pesky music teacher.

Summer vacations are a controversial topic among educators, whether they teach math or music.  Education Week’s Leadertalk blog calls summer vacation “a major obstacle in U.S. education,” pointing out that it “harms low income students as well as other students in other economic groups if they are not engaged during this time period.”

Kids from upper-income families, of course, lose less because their summers are filled with enrichment activities, whether it’s non-academic volunteer work, new skills learned in summer camps, and experiences at art camp, music camp, sports camp, or travel programs. Kids from economically-disadvantaged families remain disadvantaged, rarely having access to the shiny opportunities available to their better-heeled peers. As a result, reading levels drop, math scores plummet, and hard-learned skills, such as how to read notes and count rhythms, erode. September is a month of repetition and frustration. The Green Day song, “Wake Me Up When September Ends” might resonate with kids — but believe me, it resonates with teachers. too.

The erosion is especially true with music lessons, perhaps because the skill of learning an instrument is so multi-dimensional, involving reading, hearing, feeling, moving, repeating given motions, and responding emotionally, intellectually, and physically.  

Summer Breaks Equal Erosion of Skills, Frustration 

From my own studio, I can give the example of a child who was moving along quite well in her first year, then stopped for the summer. The next  year, we had to backtrack and it took her until February to get back to where she had been the previous June. Fortunately, this little girl has a happy disposition, and doesn’t seem to be easily frustrated; a less even-tempered child might have given up at the prospect of, essentially, being “left back” and having to repeat more than half a year’s worth of work.

Of course, kids do all kinds of things during the summer: I admit that I myself never took summer music lessons, being otherwise busy with figure skating camp and sleep-away summer camp. But I did practice. The problem is that most kids can’t sustain a regular practice schedule on their own. They can’t self-correct, they need both guidance and motivation, and they need someone to pull them back on track when they forget how to read notes or rhythms. For most kids, practicing without adult supervision throughout a summer a) isn’t going to happen and b) even if it does, the end result will be having to deal with a tangle of well-practiced mistakes in the fall. The resulting frustration can easily lead to a change of attitude, and maybe even quitting lessons.

My own studio policy is flexible in the summer, but I do strongly encourage at least bi-weekly lessons if kids are in town. Most are, for at least part of the summer, and bi-weekly lessons, with maybe some popular songs and “fun” stuff thrown in,  help kids maintain their skills so that in the fall they can at least pick up where they left off. I find that a summer change of pace is a good idea for many students: One year, we made CDs, which was a rewarding project. Some teachers offer group or ensembles or “summer music camps” to keep things light and fun.

A final point: learning music has many academic benefits, but it is more than a path to better math scores. It is a creative expression and an art form, and it’s supposed to be fun. Indeed, summer should be a time to explore MORE about music, to play with it, kick back and relax, to enjoy it, experiment a little, and to take the time to reinforce and enjoy the skills a student has learned during the year. Unlike schoolwork, what we envision when we teach children music is that it is something they will enjoy and use to express themselves; something that will enrich and augment their lives. Music is about enjoyment and recreation: Why, then, give it up in the summer?