Help Your Child Fall In Love With The Violin
When your kid starts violin lessons, it’s important that you make him enjoy it fully, if you want them to keep pursuing music.
With this article I’m going to help you make your child fall in love playing the violin.
Their Choice
A kid needs to see music as their choice. Of course, you can make them attend music lessons, but what makes them grow is what they do with that lessons. Even if they practice daily and get to a high proficiency level, if you are forcing it on them, they will quit as soon as they see an opening.
What’s the cure of this? Make it their choice. Make them want to go to lessons. Make them want to practice.
To be clear, this is not about manipulating them, it’s about making them see the beauty of music. Once they do, they will choose it. The easiest way to start? Make it a game.
A Game
Practicing violin can get boring, especially at the beginning. Although you shouldn’t make it all about rewards and exterior motivators, it helps to make it fun.
Every piece of music can be like a new adventure, something they haven’t experienced before. If you have the time, talk to the teacher, sit in a class with your son, and learn some pieces of music with them, so you can turn it into a game. You may play a measure each in turns, play call and response, or play different parts on top of eachother. You may play as fast as you can, or as slow, or as quietly, etc. Make it fun, while focusing on musical and performance-related skills.
Music Making
You should give the child space for music-making. Apart from their lessons, they have to feel free to explore the possibilities. That sense of freedom can be exhilarating for them.
A way to make them want to play on their own is to “lift some permissions” or let them do things that they are not usually allowed to.
The perfect real-world example of this comes from the teenager phenomenon Billie Eilish. When she was a little girl, her parents allowed her and her brother to stay up late every day, with the only condition that they had to use that time to create music. The result? She ended up being the youngest artist to receive a Grammy award, and her brother produces all her records. It all started because, like every child in the world, they didn’t want to go to bed early. It can be that easy to foster creative enthusiasm in your child, so keep it in mind.
Listen at Home
The easiest way to help your child is to build a musical environment around them. Have music always on, of every style and genre. Keep them submerged in music and they will soak it up. Without effort, they will gain a deep understanding of how music works, just by continuous exposure.
You can read about the Mozart Effect online, but regardless of the validity of its claims, listening to music for as much as they can is immensely beneficial.
And give them some control over what to listen to. The whole family should be a part of it as harmoniously as possible. Don’t try to force them what you think is “proper” music, they have to learn that music is something with which to express themselves freely (even the choice of music is a mark of self-expression). As a side benefit, you will get to know your child much more if you pay attention to those choices.
If you give them freedom, they will respond by committing themselves to music. They will blossom musically, and they will even become a more healthy, smarter individual, and also a better team player.
Find an adequate teacher and help them grow in every aspect of their life. Take a look at our list of qualified teachers and book a lesson today!