In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some basic tactics we often recommend to parents when it comes to motivating their children to practice their musical instruments. While this may feel like a chore for some kids, there are many approaches you can take as a parent to avoid this and showcase the benefits and enjoyment of learning an instrument.
At Austin Music Academy, we're proud to offer not only music lessons for a variety of instruments, but even our Junior Program that helps prepare young children for eventual private music lessons, cultivating creativity and helping children realize their love for music. In addition to programs like these, what are some other tactics you can take to help foster your child's musical enjoyment and encourage them to practice their instruments on their own? Here are several themes.
While the goal of learning an instrument isn't to frustrate your child, it absolutely is to help challenge their brains and creativity. Sometimes challenges are necessary to help your child want to learn more, push harder and discover new borders of their abilities.
A great way to do this is by creating small yet challenging goals for your children on their own time. For example, if they're first starting out with the piano, you can encourage them to play a piece to a certain point in the song themselves before they ask you for help. This will help them work towards great achievements on their own and get your child more invested in what they're doing. You can even create games that revolve around these goals, such as rewarding them with stars or prizes when they reach certain milestones.
Not only should your child have as much control as possible over the instrument they're learning, but they should also have heavy input into the kinds of music they want to learn. By allowing your child to listen to certain genres or artists that they enjoy, this will help them get excited about practicing and ultimately learning how to play these songs.
Additionally, playing along with their favorite bands can be an excellent source of motivation for practice! Letting your child act as the lead instrument in a band is not only fun, but it can help them learn how to play more creatively and in different styles.
As your child advances in their instrument, they inevitably face new challenges and obstacles along the way. These may include learning different techniques, reading sheet music or even learning how to play an entirely new song.
For each of these milestones, be sure to praise your child for what they've accomplished and provide them with positive feedback on how much progress they're making! For example, if your child learns a challenging new piece on the piano or guitar, be sure to congratulate them by playing that song together in front of the whole family. This way they'll earn public recognition for their hard work and can feel proud of what they've achieved.
For more on how to help motivate your children when it comes to learning an instrument, or to learn about any of our music lessons, voice lessons or other quality programs, speak to the pros at Austin Music Academy today.
