I started playing the violin when I was 5 years old. Since that time, I’ve practiced, played in orchestras, performed solos, played with small groups, and done lots of teaching. I’ve taught lots of other children, and I’ve also taught … Read More
When people find out that I’ve been a vegetarian my whole life, one of their first questions is, “Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?” And then that is often followed by, “Do you have any vegetarian recipes for Thanksgiving?” This has always … Read More
It’s here! The Global Service Advent calendar! I loved putting together the Global Children’s Book Club so much. It was an incredible experience finding opportunities for global education and to virtually travel the world with so many of you. And … Read More
This post was updated in December of 2021. I tend to lean slightly minimalist. With 5 kids, that doesn’t always happen, but the mindset and style appeals to me and I love decluttering. I hate buying knicknacks and tchotchkes, and … Read More
For about 7-8 years now, we’ve spent the month of December doing Christmas family advent activities each day. These simple religious activities have been such a special part of our holiday season and allows us to remember the reason we … Read More
For years, we’ve done experience gifts for kids for their main holiday gift. These have been a great way for our family to enjoy some special activities that we wouldn’t choose otherwise in terms of time and money, and to … Read More
This post is sponsored by OwlCrate Jr. All opinions are my own. Life with 5 kids can get awfully busy sometimes, and I definitely have my fair share of moments when I feel totally overwhelmed. There’s just so much noise! … Read More
During this holiday season, it’s so important to teach the real history of Thanksgiving for kids. It can be so tempting to go along with fun Pilgrim and Indian activities with family or at school. But when we advocate for … Read More
One of my favorite projects I’ve EVER done is the Global Children’s Book Club. Spurred by pervasive individual and systemic racism in the world, I felt the best place to start was with education. I knew that to be … Read More
You guys know how much I love STEM activities, and the Kiwi Co subscription boxes are the gold standard. This is one of the very best deals I’ve seen on them! The boxes send all the supplies you need for … Read More
I haven’t always been a board game lover. I pretty much only played the eye-stabbingly boring Monopoly and Candyland growing up, so I was never super into them. But it turns out when you have good ideas for board games, … Read More
Diwali, or Deepavali as it’s typically known in South India, is the Indian festival of lights. It’s typically a 5-day long celebration of “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.” It’s one of the most … Read More
I started playing the violin when I was 5 years old. Since that time, I’ve practiced, played in orchestras, performed solos, played with small groups, and done lots of teaching. I’ve taught lots of other children, and I’ve also taught my own. It’s something I never thought I would do, but has been a wonderful solution for our family.
As I’ve both taught and parented string students, I’ve noticed 3 major issues with starting a young child on the violin or cello. I’ve detailed the issues below, and am sharing a program I’ve put together to help solve them!
Standard beginner music lessons are often 30 minutes long. It’s only a rare teacher that’s willing to teach for a shorter time than that, because it just doesn’t make sense for timing and financials.
But almost no young children are ready to start out with 30 minute lessons! Especially for a child who is just getting started, most of that time is a waste. Plus, lessons that are too long can often push kids away from loving the instrument since they get frustrated and bored by the end.
My oldest two kids also play the violin, and my 3rd plays the cello. I’ve taught the older two from the start, which I used to think I wouldn’t do, but has worked really well for our family.
So starting cello lessons with my 3rd was the first time I experienced music lessons from the parent side. As a teacher, I’ve always had a sense for how it must be a bit frustrating for parents to pay for lessons with so much repetition in the early months. But I knew that it’s so important to master those fundamentals to build that muscle memory.
With my little cellist who was taking lessons from another teacher, I got a sense for it from the parent side. I knew he had to continue to to practice the basics before he could move on to playing music, but I still felt like I was paying tons of money for him to practice the fundamentals over and over at lessons.
My first teacher would come to my school and teach a few students, pulling them out of class and teaching in a tiny storage closet.I remember my first lesson vividly. I was nervous but excited. I knew I’d have to work hard but it sounded like it would be fun. My teacher told me I needed to practice every single day.
So I got home and diligently went to practice the next day. The problem was, I had no idea what to practice.
My parents had never played a string instrument before. Heck, they hadn’t played any instruments before, and having grown up in India, knew almost nothing about Western-style instrumental music. They had no clue how to help me and I was devastated.
Of course, it turned out fine and I was able to continue on learning, playing, and teaching for many years, but how much easier would it be if kids had easy visual reminders of lesson content right at home?
I’ve loved helping to solve some of these problems by creating Strings For Kids. Strings For Kids is a set of beginner video lessons to teach the fundamentals of violin and cello to young children.
The fun and engaging 20 pre-recorded lessons start at only 5 minutes long, making them perfect little ones. This is perfect for kiddos aged 4-7, although slightly older students might succeed with it, as well.
Also, your child won’t feel pressure to move on to the next lesson too quickly just to “get your money’s worth” out of the lesson. Since it’s one flat fee, you won’t be constantly paying to review the same material to build familiarity and muscle memory; the videos are yours for life and you can watch them as many times as you like at no extra cost. This will save lots of money and help prepare your child to excel once they start lessons with a regular teacher.
Finally, since you’ll have access to the videos anytime you like, you can ensure proper practice every time. You’ll never forget what to review or how to do something, because you can review the lesson for each practice if you’d like!
Strings For Kids is currently available for pre-order! All of the recordings will be available for download in January 2021. It’s launching with a special Black Friday pricing of $199 through December 25th, after which the price will go up. This price is less than the average cost of 2 months of lessons. That’s amazing deal since students will typically take 3-6 months to master the material.
In the meantime, you can decide on your instrument and get excited. It’s a perfect way to give the gift of music this holiday season!
Do you have any questions? I’d be happy to answer them!
