Music Lessons Matter

cultivating the next generation of patrons and professionals

Taking music lessons is not just for people who want to become professional musicians. In fact, many of my students over the years did not pursue music professionally. I am 100% OK with that. In fact, I’m pretty proud of it. I don’t teach private lessons and work with a youth orchestra to just churn out professional musicians.

Community Orchestra Rehearsal

I teach because:

1. I love teaching 

2. Cultivating the next generation of music and arts patrons is important

3. Music teaches us discipline, provides an outlet for expression, and is good for our brains and bodies (just to name a few benefits)

4. Music education is for everyone

5. Music is for all of us, not just an elite few

While I do have former students who now work as professional musicians and music educators, I also have former students who are fashion consultants, engineers, doctors, midwives, teachers, and librarians. I love that and am proud of all of them. 

SHSU Viola Studio around 2021

You almost never meet an adult who says “I wish I hadn’t taken music lessons as a kid.”

It is usually the opposite.

If I had a dollar for every time someone came up to me after a concert and said they wished they played violin or they wished they had stuck with piano as a kid, I could retire. They aren’t expressing their desire to go pro, they are simply stating that they wish they had that skill. 

I always tell these folks that it isn’t too late.

It isn’t too late to learn to play an instrument or to get back to playing one. There isn’t an age limit on taking up violin.

You do not have to be a professional musician or aspire to be one to benefit from playing music or taking music lessons.

Taking lessons helps us appreciate what we see on stage, helps us understand what we’re hearing and seeing, and broadens our appreciation for art, beauty, and creating. If we want people in our audiences, we need people taking music lessons…not to go professional as performers, but to be appreciators and patrons of our craft. 

So, that’s it- if you were looking for a sign to start taking music lessons- this is it! Whether you’re a school aged person who wants to get better or an adult who always wanted to but didn’t, couldn’t, or wouldn’t, do it now. It is never ever too late to start something new and music lessons are a great thing for the individual and the collective.

If you’re looking to get back into music also consider joining your local community orchestra, band, or choir. Music is for life and music is for all.