I have a question for all you musicians with kids or who teach kids. I have
asked this of many people, including therapists, and I'd love to hear your
ideas.
My 9 year old son started taking violin lessons a little over 2 years ago,
and decided he really didn't want to play any more as of today. This
decision was not really a surprise, as I knew he was developing real
ambivalence over the last several months. I kept encouraging him to play
during this time, and he took a break from lessons & playing for part of the
summer. He has talent, a good ear, and is very bright, even if I do say so
myself ;-) Like all kids, he has never really liked to practice, but was
very enthusiastic about playing, and until recently he loved to perform for
anyone who would stand still long enough for him to play a couple of tunes.
It seems the fun has now gone out of it. There's a certain lack of support
for his playing from his father, from whom I'm divorced, but I'm not sure
how much that plays into it.
My question is, where is the line between pushing the kid to practice and
keep at something in order to learn the discipline (even fun things require
some hard work) and knowing when it's really time to quit? The decision is
already made here; I'm not going to push him to play and potentially make
him hate it. Obviously, every kid and every situation is different, but I'd
love to hear your experiences and thoughts.
Thanks-
Susan Schneider
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