BENEFITS
    For Your Child
        Music participation enhances:

      For Your Family
      A child's music study also offer opportunities for shared family experiences, including:

Al Hirt - Talks to parents about children and music
If you would give a child the greatest gift, give the gift of music. In making it possible for a child to play a musical instrument, you give him or her the opportunity for self-expression, for creativity, for achievement – you give the chance to grow spiritually. Very few gifts have all this to offer.  Learning to play an instrument is not easy – for the child or the parent. At first, it may seem like hard work; the child must practice every day. And practice, to a young beginner, can sometimes be a disagreeable task.  That’s where you can help. As parents, yours is the task of motivating the child, which is often more difficult than learning to play the instrument. Motivating young children to work hard at their practice is, by far, the biggest problem music educator’s face today. Though the band directors in your schools are fine musicians and dedicated teachers, they can only do so much. The parents must help, for while music is taught in the school, proficiency is gained at home. Why? Because that’s where 90% of the practice takes place. And it takes practice to make a musician.  There’s no easy answer to the problem of motivation, and there never will be. But wise parents will do several things if they take their child’s musical development seriously.  For one thing, try to ease the loneliness of practice by sitting with the young beginning student during practice time, if only for part of the period. Remember to encourage, praise and commend your youngster when he or she does well. If you don’t happen to be a musician yourself, don’t worry. You’ll know when the practice goes well - and when it doesn’t. And always be frank. If a phrase doesn’t sound right to you, urge the youngster to try again…. and again… until you are both satisfied with the way it sounds.  Your child may lose sight of his goal. The day when he’ll become proficient might seem a long way off. That’s when your skills as a parent must be used to urge him to persevere …. To keep working… to keep practicing, for only with practice can he become proficient.   And remember this: The day when your child can pick up an instrument and play beautiful melodies and take part in the wonderful world of music and feel the pride of achievement – that day will come sooner that you think.  It’s hard to put the rewards of music into words. I can’t do it, and very few musicians I know can. That’s probably because music is a feeling – no, an idea. But this much is certain: The rewards your child will obtain from music, from playing an instrument, are greater than those he will get from any other activity man has devised.  Many successful people in all walks of life will tell you the same thing because they know it to be true.
-Al Hirt

Music
Music comes from deep within us and we respond to it from within. It could be described as the breath of the soul.  Music gives us a direct, immediate means of personal expression. This is a fundamental need experienced by all of us, but one often inhibited by a lack of knowledge and skills.  While many people appreciate music, many also feel frustrated that they do not possess the understanding and the tools to perform music themselves. Today’s students, however, have such an opportunity.  The school music program teaches students to use the music symbols that will allow them to make music an integral and rewarding part of their lives. They acquire skills that enable them to sing and to play musical instruments with confidence.  Students learn not just to perform, but also to create music, and in doing so, to express themselves in a way that is unique and truly represents their individuality. The music program also broadens students’ horizons regarding the types of music available to them as listeners and participants.  Studies have demonstrated that those who belong to music groups become better students. The concentration and mental discipline required of all group members is transferred to other school work. In their pursuit of excellence, school music groups also develop desirable qualities such as dependability, responsibility, accountability, and self-discipline.  Music begins where words end.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, author/philosopher

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