We had our baby last week. As soon as he came out, we looked at his face, his hands, his feet, his little nose. We counted his fingers and toes. We marveled at how perfect and amazing and small and wonderful he is. We were (and still are) absolutely smitten.
Then we started. We started examining those fingers – would they be fingers that play the piano? Or guitar? Rock and roll? Classical? Blues? Jazz? We wondered if they would catch a ball professionally (I hoped for The Braves, his dad hoped for The Phillies). Or build the next Taj Mahal. Or paint the next Guernica. Or sculpt the next David. Not even a day old and we had expectations and hopes.
As parents, we want the best for our children. We want them to do amazing things and become amazing people. We pile our hopes and dreams upon them. These hopes and dreams, while positive, can put a certain pressure on our kids.
What does this have to do with In Home Music Lessons Orlando? Well, sometimes parents are hoping that in home music lessons will be the key to getting their child into a great college or getting a scholarship. And for some students it is. As teachers, we love teaching those students In Home Music Lessons Orlando. We enjoy watching future professional musicians flourish under our tutelage. It is always amazing to see a student with real potential of continuing with music professionally and it’s also gratifying to watch a student go into the world and succeed with what you taught them.
However, In Home Music Lessons Orlando can be wonderful even if a child is not going to be the next piano prodigy. Sometimes laying off the pressure to be the best allows a child to have fun, learn to enjoy music lessons, learn to enjoy music. For most children music lessons should be fun and educational, but not a high pressure situation. Success for most children is music literacy, music appreciation, a lifelong skill of playing and instrument, and the success of learning something new.
Too much pressure can make lessons a chore which means practicing becomes a chore and lessons and music stop being fun and enjoyable. Feeling like every activity a child is in has to be something they excel at can be very overwhelming to our children. Not everything a child does needs to be something he or she puts on a resume or college application.
So much of what our children encounter in life can be stressful.  Music lessons and practicing music, when the pressure of needing to perform at a certain level is lifted, can become a stress relief. My husband uses playing guitar as a way to decompress. Other musicians, I know return to familiar and loved pieces as a way to alleviate the stress of their lives. By creating a low stress environment where enjoyment and fun are prioritized along with learning and progressing through music, students learn that not only are music lessons not stressful, they are actually a way to de-stress! One way teachers make lessons fun is by using music that students are interested in. While many students need to start with simpler tunes found in a beginning method book, our teachers often quickly begin incorporating music that students like and listen to on a regular basis outside of In Home Music Lessons Orlando. When music lessons start to feel like a chore, our teachers have ideas about how to shake things up and make sure that not only are students learning, but are also having fun.
The hard part for parents is learning to step back, watch, and let music lessons just be for fun and learning, not for resume building. I’m not sure I’ll always be able to look at my little guy’s hands and not imagine them doing great things, but right now I can just marvel at how they can grasp my finger and I can enjoy them as they are.