Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparks
Great point, Hack&Lube. I think there are a lot of parents out there that feel like music lessons are things that kids should just do, without the parents having much passion for it themselves.
I actually had to beg my parents for music lessons. I think the reason for that was the fact that my parents (particularly my mom) were so into music themselves. There was always music on and my parents really enjoyed listening to it. Enjoying it was just the natural thing to do. I was apparently hooked by the time I was 2 or 3. Certainly as far back as I can remember.
Anyway, to the original poster - are you sure that parents are enrolling their kids in music lessons less often? I can't think of any factors that would make current parents of young children less likely to enroll them in music lessons. In fact, parents seem to be more interested and involved in their kids' extra-curricular activities than they used to be, or so I've been told. (Although I admit I can't back that claim up either).
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I don't have any actual stats to back that up at the moment, but from talking to fellow teachers in this city and in other cities (many of whom have been in the business for 40-50 years) it seems like the number of parents getting their kids into classical instruments at an early age is declining; and also that more are quitting earlier.
I believe that is due to a factor Hack&Lube touched on, that kids are no longer exposed to listening to Classical music at a young age, and don't understand or appreciate anything that isn't hard rock and the like anymore. This isn't the children's faults by any means, but just parents who perhaps weren't exposed to classical music themselves as a child and therefore see no reason or importance to ensure there child gets it.
This is a simply observation that could be way off base, but something that seems to become more apparent with the more people I talk to who are finding the same thing.
But I disagree with those who say you need to see that your child has a passion for something, before you get them into it. A lot of 8-10 year old kids think of nothing but getting home from school and playing video games or the like. You need to expose your child to something and make them try it, before they'll discover whether their love for it exists or not. Otherwise you end up with kids who don't discover and act on their love for music until they're 14, at which point their lives are busy and schedules hectic, and combined with the late start, they never end up going anywhere.