Do your kids take music lessons that they do not want?

It’s not the best idea. I was forced into taking music lessons when I was younger and it made me not want to play the instrument at all.

I picked it up on my own will a few years later and have since become very proficient.

Basically, if your kids want to, encourage it. If not, don’t force it on them.

My daughter started sax lessons and it lasted a few months. She hated it and we discussed all the pros and cons of quitting. I made her finish the summer lessons before she was allowed to quit. I took into consideration the fact that she was involved in other activities and never gave up on them out of frustration. I guess music just wasn’t her thing.

I can only speak for myself as a child because my daughter isn’t at an age to have music lessons, but I didn’t like them. Well, I didn’t like my piano lessons when I was growing up because I didn’t like practicing. My mom made me stick with it until 9th grade. Now though, I appreciate knowing the piano and how to read music and I’ll sometimes sit down and try to play something and wish I had stuck with it a bit more. On the other hand, I hated band also and they let me quit junior year and I have not missed that one bit. So, I think it depends on the circumstance and the child. Open communication and figuring out why they don’t like it is probably the best route to take.

My son is really talented on the piano, so we started him in lessons. He’s been taking piano now for four or five years. Before the lessons, he would go to the keyboard or piano and play and experiment and compose for hours. Once he started lessons, he stopped playing on the piano or keyboard period. He will only practice if we harp on him, and it’s turned into a really negative thing for all of us. We are making him finish out the year, and then we won’t do lessons any more. I have mixed feelings about this. Part of me wants to think that, if we make him continue, he’ll be grateful later that he has this ability. But, most of me feels like lessons have crushed his creativity. I’d rather he play the piano for the joy of it than play because we make him.