At around age 5 or 6, most children will have acquired enough mental maturity and physical dexterity to be able to begin one-on-one music lessons. This is a great time to get them started learning an instrument in a structured and more formal environment. Here are some tips for starting private music lessons for your child.
1) Take advantage of a free trial lesson (if offered)
Whether your decide to go with a local music school or a private music teacher, they will often offer a free introductory/trial lesson for potential students. This is an opportunity for the parents and the child to get to know the teacher, ask questions, and see if you are a good fit. It’s also a chance for the teacher to let you know whether your child is ready and capable of beginning private lessons at this time.
2) Choosing a teacher
While it’s important that a teacher has certain minimum qualifications at their instrument and experience in teaching, don’t get too caught up in these things. What is even more important to look for is whether your child and the teacher are able to connect on a personal level. A good bond between teacher and student can be a strong predictor of a child’s enthusiasm for playing and their long-term success with their instrument.
That said, it is certainly important that a child’s first teacher has a good understanding and is able to teach correct technique from the outset. Learning the wrong technique (or not paying enough attention to it) can lead to the formation of bad playing habits that might be difficult to break later on.
3) Follow your child’s progress
Once your child has started private lessons, watch and get feedback on their progress. Are they practicing more or less regularly at home? Do they readily sit down to practice or do they constantly need to be forced to do it? What does the teacher say about their playing during lessons?
Here are the three most common scenarios that students generally fall into and what you should do in each one.
Scenario #1:
The child is showing enthusiasm for playing, good natural ability for music, and is practicing more or less regularly at home.
This is the idea situation to be in. In such cases, the teacher’s job is also made a lot easier as they don’t feel they need to force music upon the child, and everybody is happy. If you are in this scenario (which is not uncommon in my experience), your child is definitely on the right track!
Scenario #2:
The child is showing good natural ability for music but has little enthusiasm for playing and has to constantly be forced to practice at home.
This is one of the more unfortunate and frustrating scenarios, as a child has a talent that they are simply not interested in developing. In such cases, it might be worth it for the parents and/or teacher to set up some sort of reward system to try to encourage the child to practice. If this doesn’t work, it might be wise to ask a child if they think they would enjoy another instrument more. If they say yes, set up a trial lesson of that instrument and see if they take to it. If the result is the same, you might need to face the simple fact that music is just not something they like (despite having a natural talent for it) and perhaps have them try another activity instead.
Scenario #3:
The child is not showing much natural ability, has little enthusiasm for playing, and has to constantly be forced to practice at home.
This might seem like a gloomy situation to be in, but keep in mind that even children that don’t show much natural talent for music can still benefit significantly for music lessons if they stick to playing. Their lack of enthusiasm might also be due to them having chosen the wrong instrument, so give them a chance to try another one before deciding to stop lessons altogether. If this doesn’t work, then perhaps your best bet is to have them try another activity altogether.