3 Ways to Encourage Your Musically Inclined Child*

Are you a parent of a musically inclined child? This one is for you!

Encouraging my daughter’s skill building and hobbies has always felt like part of my job as a parent. It was something I never felt my parents did for me, everything always felt like effort on their part. And I definitely felt like I suffered for this. We live in an age when it’s so easy for kids just to pick up a game console or a tablet and while away the hours. And while I’m not against screen time in the slightest, I don’t want that to be all my daughter does. Thankfully, she has a lot of other interests, ballet, sport, skateboarding and music.

Music is something she’s been interested in since she was small. An ex boyfriend bought her a small guitar so they could play together, she also taught herself the keyboard during lockdown. Her favourite class at school is still music and I pay for her to take violin lessons. She enjoys it and it’s a great hobby even if it never turns into a career. But it can be hard to feel like you’re doing everything to help them reach their potential.

So here are three ways to help encourage your musically inclined child;

Support Their Instrument Choice

My daughter has always wanted to learn violin. Unfortunately due to COVID she was only offered the chance to do it this year. When I told family that I was paying for her lessons they all said “oh no, not the violin” and then mimed some nails on the blackboard. And don’t get me wrong, when she first started, it was relentless. But she wanted to learn and that want as a parent, should be supported. We’re now nearly a whole year in and she’s so proud of how far she’s come! I love she is learning a new skill and enjoying it. Not everyone is going to be good at their instrument over night. Just remember, it helps nurture perseverance and determination which are life long skills. Be positive, even if you head is killing you! That’s what paracetamol is for (from experience, it works a treat!)

Find Fun Ways to Learn at Home

I know, I know, we’re all over home schooling. But if you want to encourage your musically inclined child, it’s important to find fun ways to include some learning. Especially if they’re taking lessons as learning about music is part of that.

Melodic Decoder is a fun series that helps children learn about music theory. While yes, they’re technically work books, my daughter views them more as puzzle books because they’re put together to be fun and enjoyable. I love that it’s an on going story. It’s not just page after page of puzzles, there are bits to read as you piece it together. Both my daughter and I are a fan of mystery games like this. Anything that includes decoding puzzles and solving mysteries. This is my favourite way to learn and it went down a treat when I was home schooling. I think these would be fantastic for anyone who has decided to permanently home school their child, or to support a child’s musical education.

There are four interactive detective stories that follow Amadeus Wolfgang, the Melodic Decoder. These go from grade one to grade four. The books follow the ABRSM 2020 syllabus which is the most recent edition;

Pitch
Rhythm
Keys and Scales
Tonic Triads
Terms and Signs
Intervals
Music in Context

According to my daughter these are all terms she recognises already from her violin lessons so if your child is studying an instrument these will be intrinsic. The website also offers additional resources such as printable board games, activity sheets and fabulous Amadeus Explains videos that explain some of the concepts in under a minute!

And don’t worry, you don’t need to know about musical theory yourself as the answers are in the back!

Show an Interest

Showing an interesting in your kids hobbies and skills is so important. Learning a skill like playing an instrument is a big deal and takes a lot of commitment. Kids should be praised for that. And I find that praise and interest is the ultimate way to encourage them. As a child my parents showed little interest in my hobbies. I know they were probably busy and my mum had a “whatever makes you happy” attitude as long as she didn’t have to commit to much, but it’s often why I gave up. My daughter has stuck at everything so far. Ballet for five years, violin, sports teams she’s joined. And I do think the fact I’ve also been invested and along for the ride has been a factor in this. She’s felt that encouragement even on the days she finds tough and she knows she has my support.

Navigating encouragement and praise as a parent has been a learning curve for me! It’s not always easy but I hope I’m setting my daughter up with some good skills that will last her a lifetime. And she feels her musical inclination has been supported.