Practicing can be a slog. Sometimes. Other times it’s kind of fun, like when you finally get a piece under your fingers or level up to something new or start a song you really enjoy. Some people find it relaxing, a way to take their minds off of everything else. Most people enjoy getting better. Everyone finds it occasionally frustrating. Certain personalities love working toward a performance. But what it rarely is…is quick. Progress is incremental; one thing needs to be in place before the next can be added to it. There is no way around it. It is best measured in years.
So why spend all that time or, even more difficult, make your child spend that time? There are so many activities to try, so many things to squeeze into a day, a month, a year. So many battles to fight. Why tackle something as lengthy as learning to play an instrument?
There is an obvious answer and perhaps a less obvious one. The obvious one is that it’s great to be able to make music. You can do it all your life, it produces all kinds of wonderful sparks in your brain, and it impresses your friends. The less obvious one is that it teaches our children (and us) to be patient with ourselves and with the learning process. The discipline and art of coming back to something again and again has tremendous value. Slow improvement over time. Letting concepts sink in, allowing fingers to become more nimble, building musicality one crescendo at a time.
It can be strange for children to experience an activity that takes so long. That they have to sit down to every day, even when they don’t feel like it, even if they’re struggling with something (especially if they’re struggling with something), even when they’ve already practiced yesterday. It’s a slow path, usually fraught at least occasionally with shouting and tears and resistance. But at the end of it lies a talent and a joy that few have but many wish they did. And the player’s satisfaction in knowing they have earned it. —Linda