Listening to music is a wonderful experience. It can touch people in so many ways, and some of the most impactful moments with music come at a young age. However, making music can make even more of a difference. By playing music themselves, your kids can learn to develop their creative instincts and work with others. If you can get your kids involved in music, it can help children in their lives in a multitude of ways!
According to parents.com, if you encourage kids to pursue music of any kind, you also help them in improving their academic performance, develop physical and social skills, and boosting their self-esteem. It is also a great way of introducing them to other cultures. Music will help your kids become more well-rounded and give them a skill they can hone for furthering their education or a career!
These are Five Ways to Get Your Kids Involved in Music:
1. Private Lessons
Learning an instrument is best done with guidance from a seasoned player. They can teach your child fundamentals and make sure they’re perfected before moving onto more difficult lessons. A teacher can also provide meaningful feedback that helps your child see how much they’re progressing, as well as what they could improve on.
They should also have a knack for teaching, being able to work with students from different backgrounds. Your child should be comfortable around this teacher and be taught in a way that suits their learning style. Consult with other students and their parents to better know a teacher’s style.
Private lessons are a great way to introduce your kids to music! This also comes with a lot of benefits. Pbs.org informs us that kids who learn about music or learn a musical instrument do not just benefit in a musical sense! They also develop language skills, increased IQ, perform better in school, and achieve better testing scores over kids who aren’t involved in music. These are just a few benefits that can happen if you enroll your kids in music as soon as you can!
2. School Band
Joining the school band is another way for kids to learn all about the joys of making music. If they’re in a beginner band class, they’ll be around other students who are new to playing their instrument or music in general. It will also help them learn about playing with others and how important it is to support one another.
It can also help them make friends. If you were in the band in school, you hopefully remember all the great friendships you formed through your fellow aspiring musicians. It could help your kids come out of their shell a bit.
3. Starting a Band
Getting a group of friends together and playing some rock songs is a story as old as time. Okay, it’s more recent than that, but it’s a great way to get your kids excited about music. If they’re showing an interest in starting a band, encourage them as much as you can.
Your kids will need to have the right gear, but it shouldn’t be anything too elaborate if they’re starting. Take them to a guitar store and ask about good models for beginners. Then, let them round up other musically inclined kids to jam, hopefully at a reasonable volume in the basement or garage. It might not be good at first, but creative collaboration is worth celebrating.
4. Play Them Your Favorite Music
Your kids are more like you than they might care to admit. They’ll develop an affinity for some of the things you play. Some of this will be based on familiarity, but it can also be just pure appreciation. Think about how much of your favorite music is influenced by stuff your parents played.
Do not go too far with this, however. If you’re trying too hard to make your kids enjoy something, they’re likely to resent you. Play music at home and in the car and let them take it from there. See if they ask questions or if they show a general interest in something. It could be the start of an awakening for them, and you could be the catalyst for them discovering the power of music.
5. Encourage Them
In the beginning, your child is likely to be aware of their limitations. If they idolized certain musicians or bands, they might be wondering why they do not sound anywhere as good as them. It could cause them not to want to practice or to give up entirely.
Encourage them by complimenting the work they’re putting in and improvements you’ve noticed. Remind them to keep up with practice, but understand that there might be times when they have too much on their plate. With positive reinforcement, your kids will know that you are rooting for them and can be encouraged to stick with it.
Understand the difference between encouraging your kids and pressuring them. They should see music as something to enjoy, not something to stress out over. Try these five tips and see how much it helps your kids to develop a love for music.
Do let us know in the comments how you develop your kids’ musicality. And if they are already gifted, what do you do to encourage them. We are looking forward to your valuable inputs!
It was interesting when you said that positive reinforcement can allow your kids to know that you are rooting for them. As you said, you can encourage them by complimenting their work. My husband and I are interested in enrolling our son in a drummer lesson. We want to make sure that he would agree and love to learn to play drums before we finalize everything. We will do all your tips so we can convince him. Thanks!
Yes encouragement goes a long way in boosting their confidence. And as you said positive reinforcement helps them know they are appreciated. Thank you for reading the article and commenting. Hope your son loves his drum lessons 🙂