What if my child isn't ready?

You can find many people online telling you all sorts of things your child "should" be able to do to be "ready" to start music lessons. But what are you supposed to do when your child isn't "ready"

I believe that children of any age and any skill level can benefit from lessons, so know that most of those lists are talking about what skills they need to quickly gain skills and progress easily through music lessons. The plus side is that most of these skills are actually helpful for life in general and, conversely, music lessons can help teach them.

If you're child isn't ready for lessons yet, it's OK. As they get older, they will eventually pick up the skills needed. No one child is the same as the next. It could also be that they weren't ready for lessons of that length or lessons teaching that skill.

Lessons can be shortened. The songs learned can be simplified. The skills being taught can be modified. And if after making these changes with their teacher, lessons are still too much of a challenge, it's OK to take a year off. Every child is different and some need more time before they can succeed at private lessons, and that is OK.

In the next blog, I'll post about some fun games you can play to help encourage musical growth at home.