Music Instead of Video Games

    My hats are many; wife, sister, friend, cook, harpist but most importantly, I'm a mom.  I'm also a music teacher.  There is an interesting perspective that forms when one is a mom and also a teacher.  One feels for the parents who are trying to find time in their busy schedules to fit in the music lessons not necessarily provided by the schools.  It's much easier to just skip that afternoon or evening trip back out to the music school in exchange for a little down time. 

    For kids, its also easier to let the music fall to the way side.  Video games rule supreme in most households; from X-box to the latest PSP.  After a while, as a mom, you might think, 'Why fight it?'

    There are plenty of reasons to replace video games with music.  Let's be practical and realistic.  Video games do lend to hand eye coordination.  The object of the game is to shoot, steal or battle some opposing force.  Now, take music from singing rap lyrics and dancing to a pre-made tape to intense study of harp, guitar, piano, violin the argument for hand eye coordination is remarkable.  The goal is also much better.  In place of moving your character from town to town, students are encouraged to play, perform and even mimic music that they like.  

    So how do you do it?  How do you get kids to choose music over video games?  There in the answer is in the students themselves.  If you have a good music teacher, he or she will take what your child is interested in and use it to encourage and further the study of your child.  The best music teachers I know, or any teacher for that matter, will take the favorite styles of their students and teach them to play those styles, thus making practicing a time of joy and not of drudgery.  

    Every parent knows that kids tastes in clothes, music and fads change weekly.  That is to the advantage of the good music teacher.  In teaching a child lead/interest lead program, many music genres are covered effortlessly.  With deeper examination of a particular style, many students will cross over into other styles of music simply because their favorites musicians were inspired by the same style.  Sting, a bass player gone superstar of rock and jazz said he loves to listen to Baroque music, Ray Charles was inspired by Gospel music from his southern roots.  

    If you have a cookie cutter teacher who immediately hands you a beginner book the minute you walk through the door without even considering the learning style or interests of your child, consider voicing your opinion to this person.  Most music teachers in America are plagued with fewer students who genuinely hold aspirations and more whose students see them as afternoon babysitters.  To have a parents who encourages exploration in music is truly a revelation.

    As for the down time you as the parent were looking for in the afternoon or evening after a busy day, head over to the local coffee shop and get a nice tea to go.  Then, sit in on your child's lessons.  You may just find that what comes from your child's lesson is something truly to be proud of.

Michele is mom to one video game-a-holic and one budding pianist.  She teaches harp, piano and drums in Waterford, Orion and Ann Arbor, Michigan.      

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