The Catoctin School of Music

how to make sure your child is successful in music

So you've bought the instrument and signed your child up for lessons...now what?

It can be daunting to have your child undertake music, especially if you've never studied music yourself. But have no fear! CSM is here to help you. So what can you do to make sure the lesson experience is rewarding for everyone involved?

Sit in on the first few lessons: Parents are highly encouraged to sit in on their student's lessons and especially during the first four weeks (the trial period) to make sure all is going well.

Ask questions: These are your child's lessons. If you see something contrary to your expectations or that you think is out of place, ask your teacher about it. Our teachers are more than happy to spend 5 minutes in a lesson to pow wow if necessary. Ask as many questions as you can think of. We also encourage emailing your teacher about lesson progress and questions you may have.

Set up a regular practice regimen: This is the easiest way to ensure success in music lessons. Designate a certain time each day as practice time and practice will soon become a habit. Speaking of practicing...

Practice with your child: This is especially important for beginner's and new students. Sitting in on practice sessions will help you familiarize with what your child is learning, just like checking your child's school syllabus helps you keep track of what they're learning in math or science. Every student has a notebook with feedback from every lesson. It's a detailed roadmap for you and your child to guide you through music lessons.

Make sure to arrive on time for lessons: Even arriving 5 minutes late is a huge chunk of wasted time. Doing that 6 times is a whole 30 minute lesson gone that you can never get back. Time is precious, especially since we only see you once a week!

Stay on top of makeups: If you need to miss a lesson, make sure to notify us at least 24 hours in advance. Also make sure you schedule the makeup sooner rather than later. Makeups expire after 60 days and it is good to get the makeup lesson soon so there isn't a lag in the learning process.

If you can, take some lessons yourself! Some of our most successful students have parents who took some piano or guitar lessons with us at the same time their children were taking lessons. This really helps in the learning process because you and your child can speak the same language (music!) which helps when asking the teacher questions and guiding practice sessions at home.

Be sure to visit our lessons page to learn about discipline specific information. Also see our learning tools for online learning help.