There are several reasons why a young student doesn’t practice in a way their parent wishes they would. Many of these reasons don’t have anything to do with the student’s interest in learning to play music. Some of these include practice environment, daily schedule, quality of the instrument, and burn-out just to name a few. I’m going to address these issues in this on-going article. Quality of Instrument
This first issue that contributes to not practicing, and is often overlooked by parents, is the condition of the student’s instrument. This came to mind today as I was teaching a drum lesson and couldn’t understand why the student wasn’t holding down the hi-hat pedal very well. Later in the lesson he explained that his hi-hat pedal at home was broken and didn’t hold the cymbals together when he pressed the pedal. This meant he wasn’t in the habit of having to hold down the pedal during his practice time and was therefore not developing that technique.
I’ve often heard of students who have an entry-level guitar that simply won’t stay in tune. Lesser expensive guitars often don’t have strong enough tuning keys to hold the correct tension that keeps the instrument in tune. Or the drummer who hasn’t replaced or tuned the drumheads on his drum set in such a long time that it no longer sounds pleasant. And then there’s the piano that Grandma gave us that hasn’t been tuned since it was moved into the house.
All of these issues are a huge factor as to whether a student wants to play or not. If the instrument doesn’t sound correct, or is broken such that it won’t function in the way their teacher suggests, then the student isn’t motivated to play it. You don’t have to be a musician to understand that playing any musical instrument that doesn’t sound pleasing is de-motivating regardless of the musician’s desire to play it. And then what is misinterpreted as loss of interest is really lack of fulfillment.
This is a difficult issue to address for a parent who isn’t a musician. Here are some suggestions that can help. Start by periodically asking the student if they enjoy playing their instrument. (This is not to be confused with “Do you enjoy playing music?” That’s different.) Does it sound good to them? Does it work like the teacher shows in lessons? Is there anything broken that needs to be fixed? Have any of the parts gone missing? If any of these issues pose a problem, ask their teacher to suggest a solution. It could be anything from a simple adjustment to a needed repair.
Remember, your child wants to learn to play music. Don’t misinterpret lack of fulfillment on the part of the instrument as loss of interest. And keep in mind that the most important goal is to make sure the instrument is making music, not noise.
