Tips For Encouraging Your Child To Learn Music

May 8, 2023 by Marjorie R. Rogers, MA (English), Certified Consultant

They say that music is the universal language of humanity. It is the one dialect everyone knows, understands, and cherishes. That’s the beauty of it! So, if you find your kid taking an interest in it or they speak of a music class at school, it is important that you motivate them to try learning it with all their heart. Whether it is getting familiar with a musical instrument or trying their hand at vocals, a child needs to embrace music for everything that it is. 

Children, by nature, have short attention spans. From a young age, you’ll notice them doing a task one second and a completely different one the next. Nowadays, there are so many distractions around them, like smartphones. However, we live in a country where music has deep roots in history and culture. Particularly if you call Boulder, Colorado, your home, you live in the city where the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and the Colorado Music Festival are two sensational and long-lasting musical traditions. 

Therefore, you must help pass the musical baton to the next generation. Still, in case you are wondering how you can reignite your kid’s fading interest in music, here are a few tips that are bound to help:

1. Show them how practice can be fun

At your kid’s age, nothing is interesting unless it is fun. The definition of “fun” may vary from one child to the other, so you’ll need to know what your little one considers interesting. Is there a theme, animal, or game they really like? Try incorporating that into the practice session. If you need extra help, you can get that with music lessons and classes for children and adults, in the Boulder area. These sessions are designed specifically to make practice more exciting for kids. While at home, try making music practice a family affair where everyone comes together to sing and dance as your child practices. Also, if the instrument your kid plays is small, get them to jump and dance around a bit too. 

2. Make a big deal of the smallest achievement

Once again, depending on your kid’s age, you can make every little accomplishment into a celebration they can remember. You must ensure they forget the times when they were down and only focus on when they did something good. Try making a creative chart where they can place stickers for each milestone or have blocks they can move up each time. Clap and cheer on every accomplishment your little one make because they will remember every instance where this happens. Moreover, while memory may fade, having it in writing and displayed somewhere, they can see will help spur them on even when they are having a bad day. 

3. Let them see for themselves what a gift music is

According to a famous proverb, music is a language that speaks even when words fail. As an adult, we know this to be true, but for a child to learn this at an early age can be game-changing. Achieving this may take some time, but it is well worth all the effort. You must show your kid how special music is, how people around the world cherish it, and the joy it can bring. Do this in a way that impacts your kid. For instance, you can get them together with their friends or cousins and take them to a live performance. You can play music videos at home from some of the legends in the music industry. Also, you can experiment with new genres to show your kid the diversity and depth of music. 

4. Learn where their interest lies

There are a lot of well-known tunes that have become standards for particular instruments, yet some kids might find them uninteresting. Offering your child sheet music from a favorite musician or a well-known song will encourage them to practice their instrument since, as kids get older, they begin to acquire their own musical tastes. You might also arrange a trip to your neighborhood music store, where you can look through the sheet music and let them choose a tune they enjoy. All this lets you understand what kind of music your child appreciates and wants to learn more passionately. 

5. Don’t be too harsh about it

Sometimes, musical practice can become troublesome and irritating for you. This is usually when you go too tough about it and make it a mandatory task for the kid to practice music every day. What you need to know is that this pressure will drive them away rather than bring them close to music. Relax, unwind, and enjoy the music with your kid while letting them do the same. It’s all about making practice fun, and it stops being so when you turn it into something that needs to be done forcefully. When it comes to children, the carrot always works better than the stick. 

6. Enroll them and participate in their performances

While making practice fun is all well and good, letting the kid showcase their talents for a crowd is also essential. The monotony of only practicing also contributes to fading interest among children, no matter how fun you make it. The best way to change this is by encouraging them to perform whenever there is an opportunity. Talk to the respective teachers at the kid’s school and keep tabs on any events happening locally. Wherever you feel like there is an appropriate stage for your little one, make sure you not only enlist them, but also get them ready and then be in the crowd to cheer them on as they perform. 

7. Motivate your kid through gifts

Nothing interests a kid more than the rewards they get for things they do. When it comes to music practice, there are several gifts that you can give them. You can either reward the kid with new instruments or a variety of other tools, like upgrading their practice space in various ways. And while you are at it, make sure that whatever instrument they practice, you get it cleaned and maintained so that it’s in perfect working order all the time. 

Conclusion

Helping your kid understand, cherish and learn the universal language of music is one of the best gifts you can give them. Comprehending the art of playing an instrument or vocals when they are young can keep the child in a pleasant mood while also facilitating their cognitive as well as physical development. With a little effort in this area, you can make a huge difference in the life of your little one.