Tips for Parents

You want your children to love music! You want them to be curious about it and enjoy it! But maybe you don’t know where to start? What should you do? Here are some tips and resources!

The most important thing you can do is expose your child to good music—a lot. And don’t just stick with one genre. Have fun exploring a variety of styles! Classical, sacred, country, pop music, folk music, and instrumental easy listening can all help wire your child’s brain for music. Whether you like Spotify, Pandora, YouTube or good ol’ fashioned CDs, make a conscious effort to have your children listen to music frequently!

(Are your kids still in love with Frozen? Get them hooked on classical music with this awesome mix of “Let It Go” and Vivaldi’s “Winter” by the Totally Awesome Piano Guys!)

The best introductory instrument for a child is a piano or keyboard. Do you already have a piano but you think it needs some tuning or repair? My favorite tuners and technicians are Case Brothers of Spartanburg. Check them out!

Don’t have an instrument at all and have no room for a piano? Hop over to Amazon or another favorite online retailer and pick out a 61-key or 76-key keyboard. IMPORTANT: Make sure you get one with “Touch Sensitive” or "Touch Response" keys. This means that the sound gets louder or softer in response to your hand pressure, which is much more like a real piano. This allows you to make your piece sound truly alive and musical instead of computer-generated.  

Are you kind of musical and think you could help a child get started but don’t know how to guide them? There are two great books I recommend. This book is terrific for youngsters ages 7 and under. It is very self-explanatory and has very easy note patterns and songs, plus fun games and worksheets. You can easily get a child started!

This book is a great tool for students ages 8 and up. Again, it’s pretty straightforward and you can help your child explore it. It's a good refresher for you as an adult as well! There are companion theory and technique books in this series if you feel adventurous, but even just this book alone is a handy resource. 

You can also download some free printable flashcards and do flashcard games with your kids to help them learn the notes. There are a ton of other free note games online, so do some googling!

And, of course, if you're interested in formal lessons Raquelle does have space available! Drop Raquelle an e-mail and we'll be in touch!

Thanks for stopping by! 

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