How to give your child a lifelong interest in music

With the fall season well under way and the "back to school" frenzy slightly abated, a lot of parents are thinking about their children's musical education: When, and whether, to start kids on music lessons? And which instrument? How early is too early, and how do you get them to practice?

You may not be obsessed with getting your youngster to the center stage of Carnegie Hall — indeed, we hope you are not! — but musical literacy is a wonderful goal for every child. And you never know when early exposure to music may uncover a vein of talent that leads on to a real gold strike.

Books can be, and have been, written on the subject of launching a child's musical education. We don't have that scope here, but we can give you some points to get you started.

1. First of all, make good music a part of your whole family's life. Even if you don't sing or play an instrument, you can play music in the home and take the family to the occasional concert. This doesn't have to cost a lot of money: KING-FM broadcasts for free (98.1 on your FM dial, or streaming over the Internet via www.king.org). Many concerts are free, too, or at least free to children, from recitals and chamber events in local churches to free-kids-with-paid-adult-admission tickets to many professional events (such as Seattle's Gallery Concerts, www.galleryconcerts.org). Kids love what they know — as parents realize when they read that beloved bedtime story for the zillionth time.

2. Every child is different, and only you can tell when your child is ready for music lessons. Some are ready at 3; others are ready at 10.

Generally, string and piano students tend to start earlier, and wind-instrument players are more likely to start a little later. Think about your child's attention span: Can she sit still and concentrate for extended periods? Does he love to climb up on a piano bench and "play" it? Are your children fascinated by music when they have the opportunity to hear it? Do they tell you they want to play an instrument? Sometimes a single musical event will "flip a switch" in a child's fertile mind.

The remarkable oboist Alex Klein, who grew up in a small Brazilian town with limited musical possibilities, attended an orchestra concert as a little kid and heard the oboe; he pointed to the instrument and said, "I want to play that one," and was motivated enough to travel a seven-hour bus ride to his lessons.

3. Make a careful match of your child and the instrument. If you have a piano available, that's an obvious choice; your youngster will learn a lot about music by playing chords and learning two different clefs (bass and treble), and the piano is good both as a solo and ensemble/accompanying instrument. But not all kids love the available instrument (including Uncle Harry's old trombone or that clarinet someone left lying around in the attic). One of our children started out on one instrument and soon said, "I just don't like it," and it turned out that another instrument was the answer.

Consider your own tastes, too: If you can't stand the sound of the saxophone, or the thought of student-level violin playing is like chalk squeaking on the blackboard, parents can suggest instruments that they already know they like. Remember also that the instrument has to be appropriate to the size of your child; the contrabassoon is not a great starter instrument for a 5-year-old.

4. Find a great teacher. How? Word-of-mouth is one way; ask everybody you know who is involved with music, "Who's a great teacher for beginning cello?" or "Whose violin students are doing really well?" School band and orchestra teachers usually have a pretty good list of teachers who work well with kids.

Many fine teachers are members of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), and there is excellent information about finding teachers on their Web site: www.mtna.org (click on "Resources" and then on "choosing a music teacher"). Also check out the chapters of the MTNA in your city; the Seattle one (www.seattlemta.net) has a helpful link to teacher referrals. Very young students are the specialty of the Suzuki program (www.suzukiassociation.org), which starts youngsters as early as 3 or 4 years old.

5. Finally: support your child's efforts and make sure he practices. If I had a nickel for every nonmusical adult who has told me, "I wish my parents hadn't let me give up on music lessons," I'd have a whole lot of nickels.

Set up dedicated practice times for your youngsters, and make sure you hold them to it. The teacher's recommendation and your child's age (and your own good sense) will decide how much practice time is necessary to achieve continued progress.

An imaginative, experienced teacher will have suggestions about how to make practice fun. Analogies to other endeavors, whether it's learning a video game or becoming a good soccer player, will remind your kids that it's worthwhile putting in effort to improve — and a valuable life lesson, too.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com