Music Lessons For Your Child

 

So your child has expressed an interest in learning an instrument, or maybe you feel he/she is ready to start. Now the question is, which instrument should your child learn to play?
Whilst traditionally the keyboard and the violin are the favorite ‘starter’ instruments for young children, owed perhaps to the fact that there are more established pedagogical materials and methods available in the market, there are really a lot of options to consider as an avenue of musical development for the young child.
An important consideration is the monetary investment for this instrument – a piano can cost between $2000 and upwards.  The quarter size violin, however, costs only $70- $300. Though not as impressive an instrument, the mouth organ (or harmonica) can be a wonderful and simple instrument a child can play.  Some kids I know have done well taking up drums (jazz drum sets).
Recently I heard a beautiful performance on the Chinese Yang-qing by a 7 year-old boy. The options are limitless, but one needs to choose wisely for an instrument that befits the physiology of the child, and whose timbre is pleasing to this child.  The cello, for instance, while a lovely instrument with wonderful repertoire, is not particularly suited to a child of small frame.
What is often omitted is the fact that musical development may also take the form of dance (tap, ballet, jazz etc).  What about vocal training? One of the most accessible and natural instruments that everyone possesses is our VOICE.  All these pursuits require the ears to truly listen to the music, express the music, and put in the hours of practice to perfect the delivery, and all require the artistic interpretation that gives it the artistry.
Personally I have always found more joy when participating in ensembles – band, orchestra, chamber music, where the group effort and interaction give me much more satisfaction than playing solo.  The piano, for all its glory, offers limited opportunities for ensemble participation.  Think about it, only one pianist, if at all, is needed in any orchestra!  The voice, on the other hand, can participate in choirs, a Capella groups, rock or jazz band, karaoke etc.
Below is a basic checklist to help you decide if your child is ready for formal music lessons
•    Is her physiology ready -  eg.  Are the fingers strong enough to depress the keys on the piano without losing the hand shape and still make a nice tone
•    Is she  able to focus on a single task for more than 10 minutes
•    Is she  able to sit in the proper posture and coordinate her left and right hands
•    Is she able to relate to the music in terms of the rhythmic and melodic profiles
•    Does she enjoy ‘making music’

Parents also have to consider if they are prepared to put in their fair share of sitting with their child to practice. They need to assess their goals and expectations for their child’s musical education so that it is a life-long love for music that is developed.

 

Chiat Goh is the Founding Director and Educator Mentor of Kindermusik Asia

 

 

 

*Next week- Choosing the right music teacher for your child

 

 

All About The Beat

In all Kindermusik classes, there is always emphasis on hearing, feeling, moving and even “seeing” a steady beat. It may seem very elementary but it is essentially the cornerstone of music.

More importantly, steady beat plays a huge importance in our speech, movement, thoughts and verbal organisation. From a baby’s first hesitant steps, he slowly finds his pace and soon starts to walk steadily and confidently. Our preschoolers who have a strong sense of beat would be able to use the scissors more skillfully. Ever watch a basketball game? The steady dribble of the ball before it is tossed smack into the basket require an acute sense of beat and timing. A master chef needs to have a command of steady beat in his knife skills. Even writers rely on a sense of steady beat and rhythm in their prose to produce a good read.

Because it is such a fundamental element, parents and teachers often do not give sufficient attention to the development of this very important underlying skill – a strong sense of beat. The consequence of insufficient steady beat experiences in early years can result in poor physical coordination, halting speech (in some cases, stutters),
and even weakness in thought flow. Would you have imagined that something so apparently a strictly musical characteristic can have such bearing on so many areas of our functioning?!

Here are some simple and fun activities that you can do with your child at home to
reinforce the concept sense of steady beat.

1. Movement- Turn on the music and pretend to be a marching band. March, stomp or jump to the music.
For younger babies, put them on your lap and bounce to a steady beat or dance with them around the room to the steady beat of the music.

2. Instrument play- Use the instruments from your home materials or make your own. An old pot and spoon will make a very fun ( and loud!) drum. Practice keeping a steady beat along with the music.

3. Reading- Nursery rhymes are a great way to introduce steady beat. Clap or tap along as you recite your child’s favourite rhymes.

 

 

Chiat Goh is the Founding Director and Educator Mentor of Kindermusik Asia

Your Child’s Musical Development

 

It always brings a smile to my face when I see young children spontaneously burst into a song or dance. A child’s musical development can be broken down into many areas- beat / rhythm / pitch / tonality/ timbre accuity, expressive responses, concept awareness and application, basic form and structural understanding, musical memory, musical literacy and technical proficiency, the latter ones applicable to children above 4.

At Kindermusik, we work with a child’s needs instead of pushing for early instrumental competence. The Kindermusik child, hopefully, will also manifest more TOTAL BODY involvement musically, and responds with his auditory senses more acutely to his environment. He might also be a little more inquisitive and find it a natural thing to explore, musically or otherwise, and not take things told to him as the only way. He is also likely to be using more vocabulary to express himself, and in that manner, show (musical) expressiveness through his speech.

Many parents ask “what signs should I be looking out for in my child?”. I think the first “assessment” would be their musical interest : is he responding to music by singing along, dancing, bouncing or showing joy? Depending on your child’s age, a corresponding musical milestone can be expected. The American Music Educators National Conference (MENC)’s website spells out specific milestones one can reasonably expect from the various ages between infant to kindergarteners : http://www.menc.org/resources/view/the-school-music-program-a-new-vision

My belief is that music radiates benefits into many other areas of intelligence and developments. Every child is musical and ideally, all children should have musical training. If not, they are missing out, just as one would assume language to be an integral part of education. Howard Gardner in his Multiple Intelligence theory, puts Musical Intelligence as one of the 7 originally identified intelligences, on par with linguistic intelligence and mathematical-logical intelligence. Increasingly educators are recognizing the importance that Musical Intelligence contributes to an individual’s overall ability.

 

 

Chiat Goh is the Founding Director and Educator Mentor of Kindermusik Asia

 

 

 

 

Process Over Performance

Recently I was asked for my opinion if children were becoming more musically accomplished due to the fact that they seem to be starting formal instrumental classes at an earlier age.

Music isn’t just about being able to read notes and play a tune on an instrument, even if one is able to do so, that alone does not make an accomplished musician. I truly feel that the process of making music is as , or even more important than performing music. We aim to develop a musical child who will have musical conviction, not just one who learns by rote. We want to bring the joy of music to children through the PROCESS of making music, rather than making them “victims” of PERFORMANCE. By involving parents in the fun of music making, we hope to promote music as part of the family’s common interest and a glue for
bonding. Music should be shared, enjoyed and participated, be it in the form of singing, listening, moving or jamming. It takes a healthy and confident attitude towards music making to do so. Sadly, in today’ s world, music is perceived as another academic subject, where exam and performance goals dictate the motivation.

As Greg Anderson once said ” Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.”

 

 

 

Chiat Goh is the Founding Director and Educator Mentor of Kindermusik Asia

Is My Child Ready For Music Lessons?

I have often been asked, “When will my child be ready for music lessons?” The truth is, there is no “official” age when a child is ready . I personally believe that a child’s individual physiology, his intellectual and emotional maturity has to be ready to tackle the challenge of learning a musical instrument.

In my time, most children started instrumental learning at age 6 or 7, unless the child was particularly prodigious. I started at age 9 and because of my late start, I fast tracked the ABRSM and completed Grade 8 when I was 16. Today, many children start at ages 3 or 4 but can hardly make it through Grade 1 at age 6. That’s taking at least 3 years trying to accomplish what a child who started at age 6 could do in a year.

Staring a young child before he is ready can be detrimental. The lack of physiological readiness is inevitably associated with bad technical habits. If they do not have the intellectual capacity to read musical notations competently, they are likely to depend totally on playing by ear, which, over time can become a hindrance to their motivation to read music. When a child is confronted with too many challenges, they will lose the interest and motivation.  Another important point to note, the younger the child is when starting lessons, the more involved the parent has to be. Parents will have to make time to attend lessons  and to help out with daily practice time.

My repeated advice is therefore to let a program like Kindermusik arouse the musical interest, and lay the very important foundations of beat and rhythmic sense,pitch sense(melodic), the ability to audiate music (hear music in their head), feel the phrases, dynamics, tempo changes etc in the body.
At around 4,  they would have been disposed to some music literacy and have gained confidence in reading and composing music. They would have the hand-hand coordination needed to read and play music nailed down, and only then, put them to the gruelling challenges of instrumental learning.  There is a huge difference between the child who just plucks out a few melodies on the piano, and the child who delivers beautiful music that moves us.  I hope it is the latter that we nurture.

Chiat Goh is the Founding Director and Educator Mentor of Kindermusik Asia