I’ve seen over the years that the children whose parents are engaged and following along in the lesson do better than most of the other students whose parents kind of not paying attention. In my lessons the parents sit in on the lesson and I don’t mind if they encourage once in a while with, “great job, Johnny!”.

We need to give our children a positive, confident image to live up to. It’s hard enough being a child today with all the surrounding world situations and the rise in bullying over the years. Our kids need all the support, love and guidance they can get and we are the closest to them and around them the most. And just remember they may be taking care of you one day.

I encourage parents to ask their children, “What’s your favorite song to play and ask them to play it?” or maybe ask them to learn a song you like. It also helps connect us better as parent and child. I’ve had students who play for their grandparents and it could even be a Zoom online performance. That’s so awesome. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to play any instrument whether it’s guitar, piano, or if you’re learning to sing, doing voice lessons so set up a reward.

I can certainly be guilty of expecting too much of my 10 year old even though she seems 18, all of our kids are way ahead of where we were at the same age. We think they should every day play for 20 minutes without us having to prompt them. We should suggest to them to go play for 15 min. They may act like they don’t like it but the bigger message is that we care about what they are doing. Less tv, social media, games or whatever the instant gratification activity is.

How much are they actually using their brain with those activities. When you put the guitar in your hands or sit behind a piano, your brain now has a lot to process. It takes concentration, organization, repeating a part many times and many other skills are learned.

Music lessons for our kids are one the most powerful transforming activities kids can do. And we can be part of their growth. right with them, side by side. I’ve even had parents learn an instrument too to be able to play music with their kids.