The Ultimate Guide for Parents of 1st and 2nd Graders
Are music lessons for kids a good option for your child? If so, what’s the best way to learn to play during kid music lessons?
We offer classes as young as 1st grade. Ukulele, Guitar, Piano, and Violin. All instruments available online and most schools offer some or all of these at school if in-person classes are available – when you enroll, please check your school’s offerings to be sure
Learning an instrument can be fun and rewarding but there are some very real considerations when deciding if kid’s music lessons are a good fit for you and your child.
- Can your child sit for the lesson time and concentrate? One of the biggest obstacles for education of any kind is simply “time on task.” Developing the ability to sit and focus for long enough often takes time. This can be a positive experience for your young child. If they are taking their kid music lessons online, a strategy to consider is for you to learn along with your child. Children learn to focus most naturally when there is motivation to do so. As much as we would like to believe music is its own motivation, this is something that develops in time. If you consider sitting with your child – not in an authoritative way but more as a co-learner – you may find that you develop a special bond, a time that is yours together. Music lessons can become a time of enjoyment between both of you.
- Here’s the kicker: No matter how excited your child is initially, there comes a point in time when your son or daughter simply doesn’t feel like practicing. To be encouraging, let your child know you’re his or her biggest fan, especially early on when your child may feel frustrated or discouraged. Listen to your child at home as often as you can and make encouraging remarks about their progress. Also, make sure to ask them how their lessons went. Take a genuine interest in your child’s musical journey. Your son or daughter will be excited to play for you and show off new skills!
ONLINE LESSONS:
Is your device lesson-friendly? If you are looking to get the best out of the lesson time you may use a tripod or flexible “goose neck” device to assist in camera angles. Even more creative is adding an extra device. You can set up an iPhone holder to be the camera for finger angles and use a tablet for communicating with your teacher.
You don’t need to know how to play a musical instrument to practice with your child. What’s most important is that you’re sitting with your child while they’re practicing and showing them that they have help. Just sitting next to them while they play shows that you support them and you are there for them no matter how well they’re doing. You can also ask them to teach you what they learned so that you can learn alongside them and help reinforce their lessons. It can be fun for your child and you to learn how to play music together.
And if you do know how to play an instrument, you can play the accompaniment music in the lesson book while your child is practicing. Or, on piano, you can divide up the work with your child playing the right hand and you playing the left hand. Then switch! For guitar, you can play chords and your child can play the melody. Then Switch!
After a while, as your child grows, they won’t need your help as much. And you’ll be missing the days that you got to be their music buddy and play with them. So while in the beginning, it may take a few tricks and games to get your child to sit still, you’ll see their love of music blossom because of it.
Your child may be the independent sort and if so, they may desire to take the lesson alone. This is perfectly acceptable but we ask that you monitor the session in-case there is assistance needed to keep the lesson on track.
Here are a few links for devices that may be helpful for online piano lessons – they are maneuverable so the teacher can ask to see a student’s hands for playing or face for teaching. Read our blog that talks about the best tools to use during kid music lessons (What you Need).
