A friend is having a hard time trying get his 7 Y.O. son to practice his violin. Do you have any tips for him?

Question

How do you motivate a young person to want to practice his violin?
Please share your tips and tricks!
Thanks!

Answer 1

What your friend could try is to let him listen to a lot of classical music.I am a violin teacher myself. I teach Suzuki style.That means the student listens more to the recording of what he is playing then how much he practises the piece itself.Some students have the recording always in the background.May be they could go to concerts. A group can be very motivating.Also the parent involvement is very important in our method. May the mom or dad could sit with the child at least for a while and listen but not critizise or correct too much. Correction has to be done very carefully. Ask questions instead of telling the child how to do it or just listen to the child. It could be a fun time for them both. And a lot of praise is also important. Always try to find something positive to say. That is much more motivating then critic. ALso check out some books for example from the suzuki method. Nurtured by love from Suzuki( tells how his method came about. "To learn with love" from William Starr has many good tips for parents. ( not only for Suzuki students) Sharmusic and ymonline(young musicians) has other recources.

Answer 2

Yeah, here's a tip. DON'T MAKE HIM PLAY THE VIOLIN.

The violin is considered a "nerd instrument" at least it was considered that when I was in school.

Maybe when he's older...let him CHOSE if he wants to play the violin.

It sounds like your forcing it onto him. Obviously he's not going to want to do, what he doesn't like.

A trick into getting him to actually play, is bribary. If you play the violin...I'll give you...30 minutes of video games or something like that.

Something that he enjoys. =)

Answer 3

when i was younger i played piano, but quit after a short time. then in my sophomore year of high school i decided i wanted to play again. on the one hand, i may have developed a dislike for it if i had been forced to play all those years, but on the other hand, when i began playing again, i really wished i had stuck with it.. or my parents had made me stick with it.

i would first consider why he doesn't want to practice. is this something the child wanted to do, but is just getting bored with it? is he just now losing interest as playing becomes more challenging? if these are the cases, then it might be something that he genuinely wants to play, but is just going through a phase of boredom or frustration with it. in that case, i would talk with him about it, and tell him that you don't want him to quit without thinking it over. i would tell him that you want him to stick with it for a while longer to make sure he isn't making the wrong decision by quitting, but he can cut his practice time back a bit.

if the case is that he never showed an interest in playing and was forced, i would suggest helping him to explore other options. maybe he wants to plan another instrument... piano, guitar, drums, trombone...?
or maybe music just isn't his thing.

in any case, i wish your friend and his son the best of luck in figuring this out

Answer 4

If the child is not interested in playing there is no real way to motivate him.

Children often change their likes, and do not stick long with one thing it is best to let it go for awhile and when the child wants to play then allow him to play.

When it is the parents wish and not so much the child's to play an instrument or sport the child will most likely be not willing or agitated at the forced activity and will not have motivation to play. The child has to like what they are doing and know they are choosing to do it, not their parents.

Answer 5

I wouldn't force a kid to play the violin if he doesn't want to.

But if he does want to still play, but not practice, maybe try taking him to a symphony concert where there's this well known violin soloist (if possible) and see if that inspires/motivates him to practice.

Good luck with it!

Answer 6

You can't really, they have to like it otherwise they won't do it. When i was younger i was learning the acoustic guitar and didn't like it, so i never practiced, then i gave up. Now a few years later i play the keyboard, electric guitar and the drums. I loved the keyboard and therefore played it a lot and that got me into doing other things.

Try and get him to play songs he likes, that way he might do it more often.

Answer 7

offer reward for time. say for every hour practicing violin he gets a point and points can be used to get rewards based on the kid's ideas. there has to be a limit though like max. 5 points per day.

Answer 8

Sell the Violin and buy him a baseball glove. No-one, including you, would want to be forced to do anything. Find his talent, then encourage him to do his best with what he likes the best. Not only will he become very adept at it, but he will be much better socially adjusted.

Answer 9

Does the kid WANT to play violin or is it activity forced upon him by parent?
My boss had first kid when he was fifty years old.
The kid wants to try ballet....she tries ballet.
Then, if she decides she wants to try gymnastics she tries gymnastics.
He lets her explore.
He does not try to vicariously live through his kid.
If the parent of the "forced to play violin kid" is so enamored with the instrument maybe he/she should take it up themselves.
If he/she has 7 year old kid, how old could they be?
Ain't over the hill yet.

Answer 10

You can't MAKE or Motivate any child to practice. He either wants to play or he doesn't. Find something he WANTS to do, maybe it is baseball -- who knows, but the child. Your friend needs to sit down and talk to her son.