Any good parent would want to leave his or her children with a gift they can enjoy for the rest of their lives. Music is one of these gifts, which is why parents are always encouraged to enroll their kids for music lessons.
However, there’s no reason why you cannot take this journey with your children. It would make the experience much more worthwhile by allowing you to bond while both enjoying this lifelong gift. Besides, successful music lessons for kids require significant input from parents too, so why not just be a part of the whole experience if you can?
Here are 6 reasons from Lara Levitan why you should take music lessons with your child:
- You’ll draw inspiration from each other
Kids are known to quickly starting viewing music lessons as a chore once the initial excitement wears off. In contrast, any fun activity that involves their parents is always fun and they’re unlikely to lose their drive.
“Watching [my son’s] love for music grow reminded me of my love for music, and I saw opportunities for us to play together in the future,” said parent Preya Tarsney, whose son Jeevun has been studying piano for two years.
Conversely, your kid will love seeing you play, and benefit from knowing that everyone struggles with learning something new— even mom or dad. Via Piano Power
For a parent who’s never had music lessons, just knowing your little one is looking up to you will give you the motivation you need to keep getting better at it.
- You’ll develop a greater sense of accountability
When you start taking music lessons with your child, you immediately become a team. It also gives you the advantage of knowing how much effort your child needs to put into it to improve, because your right there with her or him.
It’s like having a workout buddy; you’re more likely to complete the task (in this case, practicing) if it’s shared. And your child, like it or not, is likely to keep tabs on your practicing.
“We do practice together at times, and motivate each other,” said parent Andrea Monek, whose daughter Amelia has been in music lessons for three years. “If Amelia had not started taking piano, I may have never started either.” Via Piano Power
- You can help each other when things get tough
Music lessons inevitably hit difficult phases, but being a team, you’ll be able to go through them together. Like any activity done by two, you’ll be able to support each other when either of you have weaknesses to overcome.
Not only will you bond over shared recital jitters, but you’ll also increase each other’s confidence. Imagine being a seven-year-old about to play the piano for the first time in front of a group of strangers. Now imagine that seven-year-old knowing her mom or dad is in the same boat.
Your kid might even improve your performance, as was the case for Tarsney. When she played with her son at one recital, he gently reminded her to come in at the first chorus when she forgot.
“I thanked him afterward for being a good partner and love that he wanted to play with me,” she said. Via Piano Power
- You’ll speak the same language
One of the challenges that non-musical parents face as their kids grow as musicians is that they do not know much of the stuff their kids are learning. Not so when you take music lessons with your kids.
If you find yourself amazed by Clementi’s sonatinas or Pachelbel’s fugues, you’ll have your kid to nerd out with.
“I like that Jeevun is taking note of Bach versus Mozart versus pop music and differentiating. Who knew I would be having such discussions with my child?” Tarsney said. “There are often stories behind music that we explore and research together– it is a fun project for us.” Via Piano Power
- It will benefit both your brains
Music lessons offer significant benefits for adult brains just as much as they do for kids’ brains.
It’s been established that playing music is good for your brain, and that children who take music lessons reap mental benefits that last into adulthood. But even adults taking music lessons for the first time are reshaping their brains for the better.
Jennifer Bugos, an assistant professor of music education at the University of South Florida, Tampa, told National Geographic: “Musical training seems to have a beneficial impact at whatever age you start. It contains all the components of a cognitive training program that sometimes are overlooked, and just as we work out our bodies, we should work out our minds.” Via Piano Power
In addition to all these benefits, learning music with your child also offers you a great way to unwind, something any parent will appreciate.
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— LIFE (@LIFE) June 18, 2016
Parents that have taken music lessons are more accurate at detecting distress in a baby’s cries than parents without musical training.
— Psychological Facts (@TheFactsBook) June 24, 2016
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