Children are exposed to music quite early on. Be it the lullabies that parents hum to put them to sleep or the nursery rhymes & children’s songs that they so intently listen to while eating; music is an integral part of a child’s life in their formative years. It sure is loved by all kids. But what should parents do when they identify their child’s special inclination towards music?

Whether your kids want to explore the world of music is completely up to them but as parents you can provide avenues for your little ones to master the skills for them to make the choice. For this, you can start by doing your own research of the field of music which, unlike the popular belief, is not just limited to singing and playing instruments. Confused much? Fret not!

To help you navigate through your child’s musical affiliation and the skills you can nurture, we have prepared a parenting guide. Here are some of the things that you can do:

Expose them to all genres of music

Start by giving your child exposure to as many music genres as possible. Classical music, Rock n Roll, Country Music, Jazz Music, Rhythm & Blues Music, Folk Music, Carnatic Music; include them all in your list. This will help you to identify their liking and pave the path forward for their musical journey.

You can begin by spending some time listening to these different kinds of music with them. This can be done by having musical nights at home or attending musical concerts. We guarantee you that during this beautiful process you sure will get a fair idea about your child’s interests.

Have family jamming sessions

We all are guilty of pushing our kids to sing nursery rhymes, songs & poems in front of guests. Yes, we know the rush of joy to see your child sing beautifully is incomparable. While every child has a cute voice but to understand & nurture their fondness for singing, we would highly recommend having family jamming sessions. 

You don’t have to worry about your ability to sing. All you have to do is provide a safe environment for your child to sing freely and observe their ability to sing. You can include karaoke tracks from their favorite genre. Once you have observed their temperament for singing, you can enroll them for offline or online vocal lessons to hone their skills.

Introduce them to musical instruments

Some kids lean towards musical instruments more than vocals whereas others have the talent to play instruments but don’t know themselves. This can be simply understood when kids ask for musical instruments as gifts or keep using household items to create music.

As parents, it is best to encourage your child to play an instrument or two. If you know how to play one yourself then you can start by teaching them how to play it. You can also enroll them for online guitar lessons, keyboard classes or any other classes for commonly played instruments.

Encourage them to write songs

Songwriting as a skill is often overshadowed by musical skills like playing instruments & singing. Believe it or not, many kids love expressing themselves through words that they can put into music. 

So while they are learning the nitty gritties of musical instruments & vocals, do motivate them to write as well. Today, there are several renowned songwriting classes available for your child to know the essential songwriting techniques like:

• common types of song structures & rhymes

• the story and concept behind the song

• creating song routine &

• building a powerful chorus

You can do your research and enroll them for one of them.

We hope this guide enlightened you with the measures you can take to nurture your child’s music skills. At Furtados School of Music, our Buddy Program aids Parents to sharpen a wide range of skills in kids. Contact us to know more.