The typical kiasu Singaporean parent....

[DoubleBlade]

mom: boy boy practice ur piano!!!!

boy: dowan dowan!!!! i want to go play my toy car uncle sam give me as present *vroom* *vroom* *vroom*

mom: YOU COME HERE!!!! *comes out with a cane*


Should parents force their kids to take up music lessons????

What i feel that there is a mentality among typical Singaporean parents brought down by generations that if u want a musical education for ur kid , ur kid has to start from a very young age in order to achieve maximum results.As a result , the kid is the one who suffers , not the parent....

BUT BUT BUT

Sometimes it just takes the parent to make the first move and the kid will be intrigued by his/her instrument and would find practising on his instrument a daily chore instead of a "wha lau eh , must practice piano again today"....

take for example Jay Chou.His mom use to beat him whenever he was too lazy to practice on his piano when he was a young kid but as he grew older , he grew fond of the piano and would treat his piano like his wife.He would even skip school to play piano and look at him now.It was his passion for the piano that brought him to superstardom....

SOFties with kids speak out!!!!

what you guys think????

some food for thought here :lol:

 

[Colarndo]

Music should not be forced upon a child. Music can be influenced and cultivated but never forced. I guess typical SG parents think Music is another subject to boast to other parents. Like,"My kid plays Piano. So clever..."

The local short film called "Qian" emphasises on this.

 

[Praetorian]

No kids. Dont want any. haahahahhaha .






Lol. Ok. If a kid has a flare for an instrument, let him/her learn it. Let kids pursue their interests from young. If you wanna know what a kid has interest for, let em try out different instruments.

Of course, as kids grow, their musical influences will change. So it would only be natural that the kid might wanna take up some new instruments some day. Let them

 

[dhalif]

i don't know about you.. but getting forced to practice is like.... luxury man... i hope my mom would bring out a cane if i don't practice....

oh forgot to add... instead... my mom forced me not to waste time on it and do something else...

 

[mikemann]

Hahaha....this story is as old as the goat having nose hair.

Yeah....different parents have different ways of putting their expectations on the kid. Making their kids learn classical greats like mozart, beethovan, bach...yadah yadah....


End of the day, the kid get back at the parents by emulating blink182 or simple plan......hahaha.... such an irony.... :lol: :lol:

 

[dhalif]

didnt matter what i played.. classical or not... electric guitar or not...

 

[fibredrive]

i wanted drums, but no money. so they wanted me to take up violin. i was like...huh? my bro was on piano liaoz, so i didn't wanna copy. haha. in the end, i picked up guitar on my own...haha

 

[pooo]

I had that experience. For 6 years, forced to learn the piano. It's a strange thing, cos at that period i complained about it like a bitch. Always wanting to quit, and when the adults tell you you'd regret doing so, you don't believe. Anyway I quit and I sure as hell did regret it. It's not so bad now, since my parents support me fully in music.

 

[dhalif]

YOU LUCKY BASTARD POOO!!!!!!!!!!1 lol.. i asked my mom many times if i could get into piano classes in yamaha.. she kept saying no..

 

[pooo]

I lost that luck when i turned into one naive and ignorant asshole then. But yea, things change, people change too.

Seriously back then computer games were all the rage, i hardly ever was exposed to music.

 

[Praetorian]

Me: Dad, can i bring home an electic guitar?

dad: what for?

Me: I wanna learn!

dad: no.

Me: Please....

dad: no.

I brought home a guitar anyway.

 

[Mr_X]

my parents never force me to learn guitar or "brainwash" me with GnR videos etc, so now i play horribly....hahaha. But i think it requires brainwashing to make the kids like the instrument. Beating alone dun work.

 

[pooo]

That's quite true. If Maxim(some might hate him yes, but i like his works) came out at the time i was learning piano i doubt i'd be on guitars now
Influence plays a big part man. Somehow i wish mom showed me the world, showed me MALMSTEEN

 

[gordonzz]

my aunt forced me to yamaha.

i grew to like it.

happy ending

 

[BlackMoo]

Children may not need to be forced to learn an instrument. I've played french horn since pri2 not cos I've been forced, taking lessons or anything like that, Influence of a particular person or perhaps, a rival playing a similar instrument can drive people to learn better. Like me, I started playing guitar cos some chick said I sucked playing and she played better than me. Just cos im a leftie on a right handie guit -_-. Rivalry can make people wanna outdo each other, leading to them learning too =).

 

[DoubleBlade]

That's quite true. If Maxim(some might hate him yes, but i like his works) came out at the time i was learning piano i doubt i'd be on guitars now

It's Maksim NOT Maxim...

wha lau why cant people spell his name properly?! haizzzzzz.....

 

[DoubleBlade]

Music should not be forced upon a child. Music can be influenced and cultivated but never forced. I guess typical SG parents think Music is another subject to boast to other parents. Like,"My kid plays Piano. So clever..."

The local short film called "Qian" emphasises on this.

+1

It's like my son/daughter can play piano , can ur son/daughter play the piano or not? huh? huh? huh? haha...loser!!!!

btw...where can get my hands of this "Qian" film?

 

[Mr_X]

Like me, I started playing guitar cos some chick said I sucked playing and she played better than me. .

i bet u can kick her a$$ any day now eh?

 

[Cloudsky]

My dad forced me to learn piano for 6 years(until I was sec 1, the teacher quit, so i had to stop). Now i want to learn again! :smt109

 

[Cheez]

2 issues here - one is music and another is a larger topic about parenting.

It is true that starting at a younger age gives a musician the edge. The brain is still developing and absorb almost anything like a sponge. That's why the phrase "it is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks". Fingers are not as flexible at an older age. That does not mean that it is not possible, but starting younger is better. Most talented musicians starts young. Of course the next argument is "is it nature or nurture?" For those who started young, are they already inherently talented or is it because the parents encouraged them to do it? I think it is a little of both.

Then the next issue is how do encourage children to do take up something. It doesn't have to be music - could be art, computer, abacus or anything. Do we wait for the child to develop interest? Do we encourage the child? How to encourage the child? Since this is not a parenting forum and I'm not an expert either (still a learning parent), I better not go too much into it. But I think sometimes we cannot leave everything to the child. They go through phases. When they say, "I don't want to study," do we then leave it to their wishes? Of course not! They do not have the ability for discretion yet. The question is what methods can we use to ecourage them to do it, short of using the stick.

Although my older child does not seem to like the piano, I still encourage him to think about it, expose him to music as much as possible, train his ears and hearing etc. I will still like him to take up an instrument, but I need to do it constructively. He has to like it. Anyway, at 3 years old, he is already reading books by himself (primary 1 standard). Our friends shrug their shoulders and said, "Why do you force you child like that? Can't you just let him play computers?" The thing is, we did not force him! We helped him develop the liking. If he doesn't read, he refused to go to sleep at night. I just need to watch his eyesight and make sure he reads at good lighting and at a distance from his books. I certainly hope he will develop the same liking for music.

I remember that for me, there was a time when I wanted to quit the piano. My parents insisted that I should not. I felt that they were pressuring me and "forcing me" to do something I did not like. I'm really glad they did that - otherwise I would not be able to play the piano now.