Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory

A Parent/Musician's Thoughts on Various Aspects of Having a Child Study Music
By Catherine Lehr

The Study of Music
If you are reading this article, you don't need to be convinced that the serious study of music is a great educational asset for your child. At the risk of preaching to the choir about the value of music lessons, here are some perspectives on the musical experiences available to young people today.

Private Teachers
Playing a musical instrument develops physical coordination, aural skills, the ability to work towards long-term goals, teamwork, and individual artistic expression. It can also be just plain fun, and generally the higher the level of musicianship, the more fun it is. So, how can a child improve and grow as a musician and what should be his or her ultimate goals in music? The first person who will help a child with this is the private teacher. A private teacher must be able to teach the physical aspects of playing the instrument, as well as the musical aspects of the art form. The teacher should help the child learn repertoire for the instrument and have at least some pieces prepared for a deadline such as a recital, audition, or church service. One of the benefits of music study is learning to perform for an audience - to stand up in front of a group of people and do something. This ability transfers to other professions (e.g. lawyer, actor, pastor).

Some teachers are "hands-on" teachers. They can be very involved in the students' lives, researching opportunities for the students, arranging auditions, going with the student to recording sessions. There is a teacher in Louisville, Kentucky whose students have been NFAA ARTS finalists, Emerson scholars to Interlochen Arts Camp, Sphinx Competition semifinalists, as well as recipients of many local Louisville scholarships and awards. In addition to teaching the cello and researching the many opportunities available to her students, she has driven some of them from Louisville to Missouri for music camp, taught some to drive a car, and helped set up a web site for one student who wanted to do freelance work in Chicago. Other teachers are much less involved with their students outside of their weekly lessons, but they can be devoted and knowledgeable pedagogues and can offer the student all he needs in order to develop his musical talent. With such a teacher the student (or the parents) should be a little more independent, looking for occasions to use and enjoy the fruits of his musical labors.

Choosing a Private Teacher
So - what teacher is best for your particular child? There is no single answer for this. Some of it depends on the individual chemistry between the child and the teacher. In St. Louis, where I live, there are quite a few musicians with excellent teaching reputations. How did we choose? When our children were very young, among these committed teachers, we picked the musicians whom our children genuinely liked, and who lived close to us, thus cutting down somewhat on the "mom's taxi" part of our lives. Then, as our children grew older, more opinionated and more serious about pursuing musical study in college, we made sure that their teachers were familiar with the college audition process including the level of playing necessary for success, and could prepare them to continue their study with someone else.

Summer Music Programs
Those of us fortunate to be able to play a musical instrument have the joy of making music with other people. This is true at all levels of ability from Suzuki Volume I to the Chicago Symphony. We share our expertise on everything from phrasing to bow strokes to intonation, struggling with the give and take of egos, and always keeping in mind that realizing the beauty of music itself and communicating that beauty to the audience are the ultimate goals. People of all ages and skill levels perform in ensembles from 2 to 100 people, and this is one of the most satisfying areas of musical life. Music students can explore this in the summer at the many superb music programs in this country. There are even a few summer programs for adult amateurs.

Choosing a Summer Music Program
How does one choose a music camp for a child? Again, there are many answers to this question, depending on the age and ability of the child, what the child needs, and what the camp has to offer. Generally, there are three kinds of summer music programs: orchestra camps, practice camps, and chamber music programs. Some of these programs include nonmusical activities as well. All of these programs include, or at least have the possibility of private lessons, although in some of them the parent or student must be sure to arrange the lessons, preferably in advance, or they might not happen. My husband and I have three children, and among them they have been to 10 different summer music programs, including Rocky Mountain Summer Conservatory. So far, no one has had a bad summer, which means that there are a lot of stimulating possibilities for summer enrichment. Summer music camp is quite simply fun. It offers friendships with kids who have similar interests and time for music without the distractions of homework, soccer practice, or science projects.

Financial Assistance
Summer music study is expensive. A few camps have the possibility of a full scholarship for advanced students. These scholarships are competitive and can be difficult to get. However, most camps will work with the parents if there is financial need. Keep in mind that the camp must feed and house the students, pay the faculty and staff, provide music, fuel a van or busses for local transportation, and will have other expenses as well, so the camp cannot usually offer a full scholarship to every or even most students. At RMSC, we have had students who have been awarded partial scholarships, but whose parents were unable to contribute all of the remaining tuition for their child's summer study. In one case the child's school music director approached the school orchestra's parents' association which came up with the difference. In another case many people in a young violinist's community made contributions through a church to fund her summer study at RMSC. A cellist received contributions from churches, African-American organizations, a private educational foundation, and members of the Minnesota and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras.

Goodhearted people and organizations are truly excited about helping with the education of talented young people in their community, and parents, teachers, and students can research this wherever they live. Look into organizations that love music: a "Friends of Music Club" or a "Ladies' Friday Musical Club" or something similar. The National Federation of Music Clubs is an all-volunteer group that sponsors many musical activities, and the local chapters' work isn't always well-publicized. Investigate organizations that support whatever the student's ethnicity may be: a "Mexican Society Benito Juarez," an African-American sorority, or a Jewish foundation, maybe a church or group interested in young people. Many of these organizations have formal scholarship programs. Others don't but have individual members willing to contribute to a young musician's development.

Competitions
Competitions offer scholarships, performance opportunities, or generous monetary awards. As a parent and teacher I have mixed feelings about competitions. They are helpful in that students prepare for a deadline and often are exposed to other serious music students. If a student wins, the awards are often beneficial. But the truth is that more kids are "losers" than "winners" in most competitions and this can ultimately discourage more students than it encourages. Young musicians should enter a competition only if they are prepared and if the experience will be a good one for them even if they don't win (e.g. a chance to try out repertoire at an audition before the all-important college auditions begin). That said most kids usually don't win every competition they enter. In any event it is important to remember that music isn't about winning and losing, it's about, well, music itself.

What of the Future?
A few last thoughts on life past high school for the serious music student: What do you do if you have your heart set on being a musician? Will you ever be able to support yourself? Will there be jobs to which you can aspire if even the Chicago Symphony isn't replacing some retired musicians for financial reasons? What a hard question!

Serious music study is in itself a worthy endeavor. I have a friend, a successful lawyer, who has a degree from New England Conservatory of Music and then went to Cornell Law School. Other friends with music degrees have gone to graduate school in other disciplines, with no regrets about their earlier concentration on music. Many of the administrative staff of the St. Louis Symphony have college degrees in music performance and some of them are performers still. If the world is your marketplace, there are many job possibilities. Could you work in Hong Kong, Spain, Mexico City? Can you learn enough business skills to manage a wedding/gig organization? Do you enjoy teaching music? Can you write a grant application so your string quartet can be funded by your state arts council? Do you have the perseverance and belief in your musical worth to audition maybe 20 or 30 times for major orchestras, taking each rejection as an opportunity for learning, for honing your audition skills and knowledge of orchestral literature? Can you practice long hours, always taking care to protect your body so you don't get a playing injury? Do you love music so much that life without it would be unimaginable? If the answer to these questions is "yes," then there is a place for you in the world of music, and it is up to you to practice, to listen, and to find where that place is. Only in infrequent solo recitals do we make music completely alone. For all the rest of our musical life we make music with our colleagues. If you want to be one of us, practice hard. And welcome - we're waiting for you!