WHY A NEW APPROACH?

The Need for an Alternative: From Fantasy to Reality
• Joey’s First Concert
• A Musical Sleepover
• Danny and Lisa
• The Abyss

Tales of Woe

Traditional Lessons

Myths
• Musicians/ Non-Musicians
• Tone Deaf/ a Tin Ear/ Carrying a Tune
• Note-reading
• The “Empty Vessel” Theory/The Lazy Child

The Need for an Alternative: From Fantasy to Reality

Danny and Lisa

Danny and Lisa have a seven-year-old son named Ben. Though not engaged in making music themselves, they feel that it’s important to expose children to music early. They know that it’s a wonderful thing to have music in your life, and believe that learning to play an instrument will give Ben a sense of accomplishment and self-esteem. It’s good for discipline and focus, and has lots of other benefits, according to all the research. And it’s wholesome to develop one’s artistic side – helps round out the person. Danny and Lisa are also aware that conscientious parents who can afford lessons do this for their children. 

As a child, Lisa took piano lessons. Everyone said she showed promise, but after a couple of years she got busy with other things and stopped playing. Danny always thought it would be fun to play an instrument, but his father was eager for him to do lots of sports, so there was no time for music.

Danny and Lisa have a considerable number of CD’s, classical and folk mostly, and once in awhile they bring Ben to a concert. There is a piano at home and Ben’s parents wish he would show some interest. Like other parents, Danny and Lisa fantasize that their offspring might have hidden musical talent. Unlikely, but … what if? They don’t feel capable of nurturing Ben’s musical development. In any case, they are sure that their son would benefit from something beyond what they can provide for him. Now they are researching various types of music lessons.

Ben has said that he wants to play the piano; a week later it’s the drums. After watching a program about jazz, he played a pretend trumpet for a few days.  This is confusing for Danny and Lisa who feel they’d like Ben to have some say in deciding which instrument to study, but are afraid to commit to lessons on a whim. The other option is to choose from what’s out there – mostly violin or piano taught various ways. These conscientious parents find the decision-making process frustrating. After talking with several parents of Ben’s friends, they finally decide to go with the trumpet. Though they are not convinced, it seems worth a try.

Playing the Blues
From the beginning, something just doesn’t feel right. Mr. Braun is such a nice man and a good teacher. He has a gentle manner with young children and Ben really likes him. It just seems as though Ben isn’t ready for this. Is it the wrong instrument? Danny and Lisa have no idea. They’ve put so much thought into this lesson thing and listened to lots of good advice – everyone said it sounded as though Ben had some talent and should be studying an instrument. But now it’s as though the spark has gone out of him. Ben doesn’t understand why he has to do certain things a certain way when he was having so much fun experimenting in his own way. Danny and Lisa are more confused than ever.

Conclusion: Ben needed more time to do what he loved – playing at making music, exploring different instruments but not seriously studying them, doing something for as long as he felt like it and stopping whenever he felt like doing something else. This has nothing to do with a child being lazy, spoiled or undisciplined – It is about a child not being ready to learn specific skills in a particular order on one instrument. Ben’s musical needs, which he himself was so good at knowing, are now going unmet, and the sooner his well-meaning parents abandon this experiment, the better.