Children Whose Parents Oversee Their Music Lessons May See Improved Focus

A common issue that arrises for parents who genuinely want a musical life for their child is the feeling of helplessness against the often-intimidating and hardly standardized world of music instruction. If the parents aren't musically inclined themselves, choosing the right teacher for the right price (and verifying their quality), can be a daunting task. If the child isn't progressing, who's to blame, the child or the teacher? TheMusicTeach, a helpful music blog catered to anyone mired in the world of music education, wrote an insightful piece that challenges norms, and suggests that parents who oversee their children's music lessons may see improved focus.

First addressing an ideological objection to the practice of parents overseeing their children's music lessons, the author does concede the issue of confidentiality. Parents can be nosy, full of undue suggestions, and perhaps even prone to inhibit the child in some way. Students can be greatly empowered by working privately with an instructor to determine their own unique musical direction. As the author admits, a parent's presence could prevent "children from finding their independence when it comes to learning."

Especially for young students, however, the level of trust required on all sides with this tradition (an "understood" one-on-one arrangement) can institute a self-fulfilling prophecy---one that was sadly addressed by The Orpheous Academy. As an Orpheous author lamented in the FAQ page, "It happens nearly every week: A friend or parent tells me about their own or their child’s music lesson experience and how it ended in disappointment. Sometimes they identify the problem as the teacher, but more often they simply say they 'lost interest' or 'weren’t talented enough.""

The alternative, says TheMusicTeach, is to place the onus on the parents, since, after all, the entire arrangement is on the parent's dime. Benefits to all sides were observed by the author, including behavioral improvements to the child, improved focus (to both student and teacher), and finally, encouragement for the parent to reinforce at home what they witnessed in the lesson.

But is the parental overseer an intrusion to the teacher? Absolutely not, says the author. In proud defense of the profession, the author argues, "Teachers have the skillset and experience to manage pupils of all ages and abilities. This is regardless of who is watching."

In one sense, the teacher-student(+parent) dynamic can be compared to the focus and intensity of a public master's course---with, frankly, much more on the line.