Just looking for a little parental advice from all you wise people here at FT.

At the beginning of the school year last September, I asked my 6 year old son if he would be interested in taking piano lessons. He loves music and loves to listen to me play the piano.

Although I play, I am self-taught. I can read music, but I don't have the knowledge of music theory necessary to teach him in the way I would like to see him taught.

Anyway, he has been taking lessons for 8 months now and certainly seems to have the knack. He is doing very well. The one fly in the ointment is that he is vehemently against practising. His teacher recommends 10 minutes/day for a child his age. That doesn't seem excessive to me.

I must state for the record that I am not a parent who feels is is wrong to force a child to do some things. Children are not going to volunteer to do everything expected of them and doing things you don't want to do is a part of life that I think is good to learn early on.

What I don't want to do is sour him altogether on the piano lessons. I really feel he has talent and will probably be thankful in the long run that he has been taught. Maybe he'll even reach a stage where he'll WANT to practise? (I can dream )

What would you recommend?

I'd say certainly a nudge more than a 'push'. If he has the music appreciation already, he'll likely figure it all out what he likes. It's weird. So many of my friends' kids really liked music. It took a drum set to get them really involved. From there they learned rhythm. Then they started looking at the whole orchestra. And then off they went! Strings or reeds or woodwinds or brass - they learned the whole overall picture. (That probably doesn't answer anything you asked ....)

Wait a year or two and see what happens. Six years of age is a bit young except for the Mozart's out there. Having a piano already in your house is a big plus because he can experiment at his own pace.

Thanks for the advice and observations guys. I guess it kind of ruffles my feathers a bit that I didn't have the opportunity for lessons and he seems to take them for granted.

At this point he says he enjoys his lessons and when I ask him "How was your lesson today?" he says "Great." It just seems a waste to be paying for the lessons when he is so reluctant to practice. But on further reflection, I'll probably continue sending him because he is advancing in spite of his lack of practice. I guess I'll have to wait and see how things go. As you say, fjohn, he is only 6.

Gatsby,

I must say, it is a brave parent who will offer a set of drums to a child. Not a bad idea, I just don't think my nerves OR ears could stand the sound of someone practising on drums! Some instruments are absolutely intolerable to the human ear if they are not played well. The violin, for instance. The piano is not so bad. I used to play the clarinet when I was in grade school. I must have drove my parents berserk. All that sqeaking and squawking. Yikes!

I don't think 10 minutes a day is a lot to ask of a 6 year old, though perhaps you could start off with 5 minutes or even 3 minutes. I wish I'd had a bit more of that kind of discipline when I was a child. I might have a bit more stickability now if I had.

If your son wasn't interested at all I'd give up on the whole idea, but as he does enjoy his lessons I'd probably tell him that it's all or nothing - he has to practice or no lessons. I also don't think he's too young for you to make your point about taking it for granted. I'd tell mine that money doesn't grow on trees and that if they don't do their lessons properly they can't have them. I did that with my daughter when she was half that age...we used to go swimming together and she just wanted to stand in one corner and not do anything. I told her if she kept doing that we wouldn't come anymore. She suddenly got very brave and has loved swimming ever since. You know what works best with your own child though...