Private Lessons for Preschoolers?

A parent wrote to me asking about whether it was appropriate to get her preschooler involved in private lessons and whether I knew anything about the Suzuki method. Here's my response, which I thought would interest many parents of preschoolers...

Unfortunately, I don't know a ton about Suzuki. My first reaction to it when I heard about it in college was distrust. I learned to read music at the same time that I learned to play piano when I was 7 years old, and I do think there's a bit of limitation in allowing a child to learn solely by rote. However, I have been told that children DO learn to read music through the Suzuki method...just not right at the beginning. And after my Music Together training and a couple of years of teaching experience, I do see the wisdom in having children be able to make music right from the beginning and not have to depend on being able to interpret odd marks on a piece of paper at first. That's too much pressure for lots of kids! Developmentally, it's really not appropriate to expect a child to do something as intellectual abstract as *reading music* until they're ready to read words. My own experience was also limited in that I was dependent on written music for a very long time, because I was not given the opportunity or encouragement to create my own music or improvise with accompaniment until college.

I think the most important issue is that parents not get so worried about giving their children a head start on their musical learning that they push kids into a formal lesson environment too early. As long as music is FUN for the child, they will learn. Going into a formal sit-down-and-pay-attention-this-is-work-not-fun kind of a situation can really squelch a child's desire to take lessons ever again. The fear, the pressure...those are things we DON'T wanted associated with music-making!

Making music a part of your daily routine, singing at home, attending live music concerts, doing some community singing (fun music classes or church or community events), and giving your child the opportunity to explore various instruments, is going to provide all the stimulation and experimentation opportunities your child needs until he is school-aged and gets used to sitting still and listening. OR, until you find a private music teacher who is able to "keep the fun" in the lesson setting. Look for someone with early childhood musical training and experience.