Cerovsek, C.
Davidson Institute for Talent Development
Drawing on his own life experience and the experiences of parents who participated in his onine seminar, Corey Cerovsek discusses various aspects of the lives of gifted young musicians.
In this seminar we spoke about my own experiences as a young classical musician, and some of the choices and issues facing parents of children with strong interests in music. Observations and conclusions we made:
- Identifying young talent
- For the youngest, love of singing and listening to music.
- Can sing or play back music instinctively by ear.
- “Perfect” or “absolute” pitch is helpful but not a requirement.
- Natural enthusiasm; practicing should not need to be forced inordinately!
- Take the compliments you hear with good humor but a grain of salt. Musical talent is not that uncommon; maintaining the passion is rarer.
- Fostering young talent
- Private lessons with the right instructor.
- Daily practice; amount depends on age; at least a half hour daily is reasonable for making real progress on an instrument.
- Reading music with ease should be a goal from the outset. Don’t let your child “cheat” by learning everything by ear!
- Start on music theory (and possibly music history) early.
- Make sure the music theory advances rapidly enough to remain interesting! The so-called rudiments are exactly that.
- Find a community of young musicians if at all possible, in youth ensembles, summer camps, contests, etc.. Having no such musical context can become socially challenging especially in the teen years.
- Music theory options
- Berklee appears to offer some excellent courses, with live instructors, though at non-negligible expense. The focus is less on classical music than on jazz and popular genres of music. Material is college-level and the instructors are well-recognized faculty members.
- The Royal Conservatory in Music in Canada has a syllabus and associated print educational materials by which I did very well and which have inspired a number of instructors with which the parents have worked. There are RCM examiners in Minnesota and likely other states.
- In Minnesota, the MMTA sponsors exams and provides materials on CD. (A teacher who’s a member may be necessary.) Other states and regions may have similar resources.
- The Associate Board of the Royal Schools of Music in England seems to follow an approach similar to that of the RCM.
- There is a plethora of software available. These programs are much fun for kids, though really only sufficient for theory rudiments. To advance further a live instructor and live music are still indispensable, but the software is a great chance to see whether your child likes the material.
- Piano as a second instrument
- Highly recommended! Most music degrees eventually require it, so should your child pursue music seriously, it’s an excellent background to have.
- Practice
- For advanced students, several hours a day is NOT unusual. However, there’s no point striving for this quantity unless your child really is driven to want to excel as a musician. In the pre-teen years, an hour a day is a perfectly fine goal.
- A warm-up routine of scales and etudes is good for technique.
- Technique need not be an obsessive focus at the outset, but bad habits that could lead to physical difficulties should be caught early on. Poor posture and the like can prove disastrous if left uncorrected.
- Children should learn to practice themselves, so parental supervision should probably not be too strong, except to catch these bad habits.
- Don’t let your children get sloppy about rhythm or proper pitch.
- Lack of enthusiasm might indicate the wrong teacher or pace of learning.
- Competitions
- Not a necessity; most appropriate if children enjoy the experience and if it inspires them to do better.
- Generally a better filter for technical prowess than musical individuality!
- Let your child try it and tell you whether they wish to pursue it.
- Composition
- For a classical music training, writing one’s compositions down is important. This probably doesn’t hold as much for other genres however.
- Chamber music with other youngsters
- …is absolutely wonderful for young musicians. However, if your child is introverted, shy or self-conscious, it’s not necessary to force this too early. It can probably even wait until their teen years.
- Music in the context of other activities
- Children easily spread themselves thin. They should be made to understand that they will not do well in music without a requisite amount of time and effort invested, but if their interests take them elsewhere, they shouldn’t be forced too long or too hard to maintain the one in music!
- Parents
- Parent of young musicians do typically find they have to make substantial efforts as with fostering any other interest. In particular, to find a good teacher may very likely require looking quite far afield.
- Teachers
- Things to look for: someone who “gets” your child; someone who cares about your child as an individual; someone who performs and is knowledgeable about their instrument; someone whose teaching methods are flexible and open-minded; someone not too possessive to move your child on to another teacher when the need arises. (Thanks to avjohnson.)
- Someone with performing experience, if possible—just to reiterate!
- It’s a matter of chemistry. You may have to try several to find a good fit for your child.
- Good teachers will nurture your child’s individual voice while keeping them from developing bad habits; they offer more inspiration than dogma.
- Expect success to require intuition and good luck!
- More advanced musical education
- In this day and age, it’s wiser to make music a double major and to pursue regular degrees than music diplomas. For this reason it can also be an advantage to attend a general institution of higher learning rather than a music conservatory.
- Music as a career
- It’s not just a matter of musical proficiency. Music as a career puts many demands on personality and disposition and not everyone is adapted to the required lifestyle choices!
- Economically, it’s likely to be a tough haul. The best motivation for a musical education is probably not the expectation of a musical career but the potential for enriching your child’s life and love for music.
- Ultimately, music education teaches much beyond music, such as time management, attention focusing, perseverance, and cultural literacy.
Permission Statement
©2007 Davidson Institute for Talent Development
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