Four Ways to Get the Most Out of Music Lessons

These guidelines will help you to have a successful, rewarding experience learning an instrument. These are practical tips that we have discovered from years of teaching and our experiences with teaching hundreds of students each year.

1. Start at the Right Age
Adults can start any instrument at any time. An adult's success is based on how willing he/she is to commit to practicing. We teach many beginner students in their 60's and 70's.

For children, starting at the right age is a key element to the success of their lessons. Some people will tell you 'the sooner the better' but this attitude can actually backfire and be a negative. If a child is put into lessons too soon, they may feel overwhelmed and frustrated and want to stop lessons. The last thing you want to do is turn a child off of music just because they had one unpleasant experience which could have being prevented.

Group class can be the answer. Sometimes if a child waits a year to start lessons his/her progress can be much faster. Children who are older than the suggested earliest starting age usually do very well. The following are guidelines we have found to be successful in determining how young a child can start taking music lessons:

3 - 4 Year olds
If a preschooler has a keen desire and wants to start music, a group preschool music class will give him/her a good foundation in music basics which will be helpful in later private lessons. At this age, private lessons generally do not work, as the child has not yet experienced the formal learning environment of kindergarten or school and learns more effectively through the game-oriented preschool environment.

Piano/Keyboard
At our School, five years old is the youngest age that we start children in private piano lessons. At this age they have begun to develop longer attention spans and can retain material with ease.

Violin
We accept violin students from the age of five. Some teachers will start children as young as three, but experience has shown us the most productive learning occurs when the beginner is five or older.

Guitar – Acoustic, Electric & Bass
Eight years old is the earliest we recommend for guitar lessons. Guitar playing requires a fair amount of pressure on the fingertips from pressing on the strings. Children under eight generally have small hands and may find playing uncomfortable. Bass guitar students generally are ten years old and older.

Flute, Clarinet & Saxophone
Due to lung capacity (and, in the case of the saxophone, the size of the instrument), we recommend that most woodwind beginners are nine and older.

2. Take Lessons in a Professional Teaching Environment
Learning music is not just a matter of having a qualified teacher, but also having an environment that is focused on music education. In a professional school environment, a student cannot be distracted by television, pets, ringing phones, siblings or anything else. With only half to one hour of lesson time per week, a professional school environment can produce better results since the only focus at that time is learning music. Students in a school environment are also motivated by hearing peers who are at different levels and by being exposed to a variety of musical instruments. In a music school, the lessons are not just a hobby or side-line for the teacher but a responsibility which is taken very seriously.

3. Make Practicing Easier
As with anything, improving in music takes practice. One of the main problems with music lessons is the drudgery of practicing and the fight between parents and students to practice every day. Here are some ways to make practicing easier:

Time
Set the same time every day to practice so it becomes part of a routine or habit. This works particularly well for children. Generally the earlier in the day the practicing can occur, the less reminding is required by parents to get the child to practice.

Repetition
We use this method quite often when setting practice schedules for beginners. For a young child twenty or thirty minutes may seem an eternity. Instead of setting a time frame, we use repetition. For example, practice the piece four times everyday and this scale five times a day. Children then do not pay attention to the amount of time they are practicing their instrument, but know if they are on repetition number three then they are almost finished.

Rewards
This works very well for both children and adult students. Some adults reward themselves with a cappuccino after a successful week of practicing. Parents can encourage children to practice by granting them occasional rewards for successful practicing. In our School, we reward young children for a successful week of practicing with stars and stickers on their work. Praise tends to be the most coveted award – there is simply no substitute for a pat on the back for a job well done. Sometimes we all have a week with little practicing. In that case, there is always next week.

4. Have Fun!
Music should be something that you enjoy for a lifetime. So, try not to put unrealistic expectations on yourself or children to learn too quickly. Everyone learns at a different pace and the key is to be able to enjoy the journey.