Starting Lessons Over

When Sebastian was four, I had him try viola lessons. FAIL! He then showed interest in piano so I had him take lessons at six. FAIL! He tried again a few months later, when he was seven (because he asked!) and.... FAIL!  I gave up at that point because he was so little.
I said that when he was eight I would do theory with him and maybe he would choose an instrument.  This summer, after he turned eight, we tried having Daddy teach him trumpet. It wasn't a fail, but we only did one or two lessons. We weren't very good with the whole consistency part.

This year I started doing music theory with him as a part of our home school. He has surprised me with how much he knows!  He can read the treble clef fairly well and he is great at clapping rhythms. He might not be excited to sing, but he has some solid theory of music down for an eight-year-old.

Maybe drum lessons are in our future?

This week I started giving Sebastian and Kaelyn piano lessons as an experiment. For Kaelyn it is a "music class" with minimal actual work on the piano. She loves her dance class and I am not pushing her to do much at her age. She is a very young five-year-old (that is the nice way of saying she is immature and unable to handle lessons at her age).

Sebastian is starting in a book that he had worked out of previously a few years ago. He wants to pas by everything he already learned because he can read music and rhythms, but his fingers aren't ready to move forward. I told him to give me a month or so to help his fingers remember how to play the piano. He is willing to work hard for me, so I am hopeful this works. 

My idea is that he gets a basic understanding of music and if he WANTS to play for real, I can get him lessons after he has the basics that I can teach him.

I happen to have a viola sized for Kaelyn and Sebastian, so they asked if they can also learn viola. Sure!  Why not!  I am doing a group lesson format with them together. At some point Sebastian is going to lap Kaelyn, but them doing it together is fun for right now. In a few years we can get Miles in there too. 

So that is what is happening right now with our homeschool music classroom. It is always changing and I have no idea what to expect from them.  Be on the lookout for a video soon!  I want to share with you what they can do!