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Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

thewalrus.ca

151–160 of 260 posts

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#151

I've been teaching beginning guitar lessons for about seven years. Guitar is a little different in that, outside of classical guitar, there's very little traditional pedagogy, but from experience I think these things are generally true about most instruments. 1. When you start learning you sound terrible... for a long time. It's very difficult to stay motivated when you can hear your problems. 2. It's very difficult…

I've found it surprisingly low effort to get good enough at guitar and, in fact, piano, that you can start to see social rewards, i.e. people actually want you to play, at least a little. Meanwhile I put in more hours and had far more formal instruction at a woodwind than either of those combined and... yeah, nobody wanted to hear that shit, it sounds awful (cringe-inducing, even) unless you're excellent . Years of e…

I can't find the quote, but I reminded of something from an early electronic music pioneer.

They talked about how electronic music would lower the barrier to making music, and remove all that tedious time spent on the mechanics of playing an instrument, allowing people to focus on the music itself.

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#152

My mom made me and both of my brothers take 9 years of piano lessons. Today, not one of us plays - I don't think any of us even has a keyboard in our houses. The reason for this is simply that we were never allowed to play the kind of music we liked . Which was, of course, rock. Or blues, or country. Or, really, anything with a beat. Nope; it was all classical all the time. And piano lessons were the only time we wer…

I was forced to take classical piano for 6 years starting at age 8. Hated it. Begged my parents to let me quit. They wouldn't. Then we moved across the country and they said "Ok, you can quit piano." In my new town I struck up a conversation on the school bus with two kids, one played bass and the other played drums. Said they would get together in the drummer's basement and "jam". "What's this 'jamming' you speak of…

I don’t understand the conclusion. Why are you glad that your parents forced you for 6 years, if this had basically nothing to do with your later-found joy for music? Couldn’t the same invitation have happened if you just tried piano for a couple months and remembered your one jazz tune?

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#153

Don't you think most kids would also choose to quit maths or history or any other boring subject at school too? This article skirts around the fact that I think is the reason kids quit 90+% of the time: the kids just don't want to do it but their parents are forcing them. How many young kids actually, genuinely want to play a violin/flute/clarinet? I'd wager very, very few. I don't think it is the teaching method at…

It's not a black and white thing. They are ways to make learning maths or even the oboe a little less boring. Enough so that kids don't get outright repulsed. But that requires a particular charismatic type of teacher that are probably rare (and very pricey).

Imo it's the same problem at the root: for hard pursuits like teaching or playing music, it's very very hard to get good at it unless you are passionate. Most jobs today are repulsive, instead of attractive, which further deepens the problem.

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#154

My mom made me and both of my brothers take 9 years of piano lessons. Today, not one of us plays - I don't think any of us even has a keyboard in our houses. The reason for this is simply that we were never allowed to play the kind of music we liked . Which was, of course, rock. Or blues, or country. Or, really, anything with a beat. Nope; it was all classical all the time. And piano lessons were the only time we wer…

As a kid (7-8) I was forced to play acoustic guitar for several years. I didnt like any of the music (or much music at all) that I played, and ended up quitting.

Later on when I discovered rock and metal music I asked my parents for an electric guitar but they refused, saying I had to play the acoustic I had first and then I could ‘progress’ to electric. I was easily discouraged then so I gave up the idea.

I didnt end up getting an electric guitar and starting to play music seriously until after university when I had a job and could afford it easily myself. Now I play almost every day, learning new things, writing my own little pieces, and jamming with friends. Music is now one of the most fulfilling things in my life, and I believe one of my biggest regrets will be waiting so long to get started after I knew what I wanted!

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#156

It’s about - matching content to interests. I took classical guitar, my guitar teacher realized I was really into blues (way into very capable rock guitar), so I learned classical for the theory and enjoyment of pieces e2e, and blues for a significantly growing interest as a “rock kid.” The more solid electric guitar I learned, the more I realized the classical background was making me good, and it played back and fo…

> I don’t know if high school bands are still out there with all the tech now? They are. I don't know about numbers but kids getting together and singing with a guitar, bass, drums and maybe a keyboard still happens.

I often hear the neighbors’ kids playing when walking around the neighborhood. It warms my heart!

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#157

My mom made me and both of my brothers take 9 years of piano lessons. Today, not one of us plays - I don't think any of us even has a keyboard in our houses. The reason for this is simply that we were never allowed to play the kind of music we liked . Which was, of course, rock. Or blues, or country. Or, really, anything with a beat. Nope; it was all classical all the time. And piano lessons were the only time we wer…

I wonder why parents do this. Parental cargo cutting? Cheap baby sitting?

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#158

My mom made me and both of my brothers take 9 years of piano lessons. Today, not one of us plays - I don't think any of us even has a keyboard in our houses. The reason for this is simply that we were never allowed to play the kind of music we liked . Which was, of course, rock. Or blues, or country. Or, really, anything with a beat. Nope; it was all classical all the time. And piano lessons were the only time we wer…

Sorry to be an ass but it doesn't sound to me like you had any talent in music.

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#159
post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was forced to take classical piano for 6 years starting at age 8. Hated it. Begged my parents to let me quit. They wouldn't. Then we moved across the country and they said "Ok, you can quit piano." In my new town I struck up a conversation on the school bus with two kids, one played bass and the other played drums. Said they would get together in the drummer's basement and "jam". "What's this 'jamming' you speak of…

I don’t understand the conclusion. Why are you glad that your parents forced you for 6 years, if this had basically nothing to do with your later-found joy for music? Couldn’t the same invitation have happened if you just tried piano for a couple months and remembered your one jazz tune?

The conclusion is forcing did nothing happy. But when wanted you won't stop.

Re: Kids and music lessons: why do many promising players quit early?

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree: TABS == good, sheet music == bad. (For beginners, anyway.)

A lot of people fluent in sheet music don't appreciate how incomprehensible and information-dense it really is. If you just want to play a song, it's the wrong way to go.

I can sight read tab to a pretty high level, e.g. I was able to sight read my way through most of Capricho Árabe at first glance if that means anything to anyone. I just started teaching myself classical guitar in August and I've completely fallen in love, it's all I listen to and I practise hours per day.

But I am now teaching myself standard notation because I am running up against the limit of tab. I keep having to go back and forth between someone actually playing the piece and the tab so I can get the rhythm, and sometimes I'll find I internalise a rhythm incorrectly and then one day when I'm listening to the piece played by a pro it clicks and I realise I've been playing it wrong this whole time.

There are sites like https://www.classtab.org/ which try to add this rhythmic information to tab, but I don't think it works all that well.

Honestly at this point I wish I'd started with standard notation, or at least learnt both at the same time.

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