Good music lessons - an essay

Let's start with the parents:
Zoltan Kodaly already noted that musical education begins 9 months before the mother gives birth.
But mothers who have not had the benefit of prenatal musical support can also break the chain. It's important that parents, grandparents and other dedicated places sing and make music with the children a lot. Therefore, in addition to the early music programs offered by music schools, it is also important that there is a lot of music-making at home. This does not have to be at a high level; rhythmic games with a spoon and fork can have a big impact.

And of course sing, sing, sing. They don't have to be composed songs. Why not just spontaneously sing puns instead of speaking them?
Small children generally like to move and sing along spontaneously. You just have to let them do it and hope for tolerant neighbors.

When the children grow up, it turns out that very few children are gifted everywhere and that the parents have to decide together with the child in which area the child should receive special support. This should correspond to the child's inclinations and abilities. It is difficult, but not impossible, if both music and sport are to be promoted, because both areas can only really be successfully cultivated with a high level of commitment. Good time management and setting priorities are required here. To date, the theory has been that support in as many areas as possible is desirable. However, most children are very overloaded with such challenges. In addition, they often have to spend two to three hours a day dealing with electronic media. Is it any wonder that child psychologists are so fully booked?

When the time comes for a child to learn an instrument, it is extremely important that their environment praises their musical activity and motivates them to improve more and more in this activity. Sports clubs have long understood this and offer training sessions several times a week. It goes without saying that parents are expected to fully support their children's activities. If the music schools broaden their horizons to include sports clubs, it becomes absolutely clear that a 30-minute one-to-one lesson per week will not suffice anywhere. Individual solutions are required. One pupil will be motivated if she can play in an ensemble; a good piano pupil would be better supported with a second or even third weekly piano lesson. It should not be forgotten, however, that the goals of training in a sports club can usually be better achieved in music with targeted practice at home, provided that the student actually practices. It is important that daily goals (including time frames) are achieved both when practicing and when doing homework at school. Time off school should be planned as often as possible. This should also include windows of idle time or outdoor play.

As the five-day week at school is usually strictly timetabled, and various leisure activities should also have their place, it certainly makes sense not to cram the weekends in as well.

Back to musical activities: The benefits of Curriculum 21 are debatable. However, one of the focal points of this curriculum is that pupils (SuS) do not primarily acquire knowledge, but that they develop skills. Applied to music, this means that pupils develop as experts in the field of music. In other words, they do not learn to play a piece to a certain extent, but rather they learn - ideally from guided self-awareness - why they play the piece they have worked on in precisely this way. This helps the intrinsic motivation to expand their musical abilities. It goes without saying that the teacher should be rather cautious with actual corrections. Instead, they should discuss why a passage might sound better this way than the other way.

As their progress on the instrument increases, the music schools, but also the parents (and obligated persons!) should give the pupils the opportunity to perform in various concerts. Joining an orchestra or wind band is a great advantage.