Editorial

Dear Parents,

Thank you for visiting my website. You are likely looking at this page out of a desire to be supportive of your son or daughter's music education. This site is intended to help you in this regard.

Now is a good time to think about expectations. What kind of musical experience do you visualize for your son or daughter? Do you picture him or her putting forth their best effort in music this year? What does that look like and how will that play out? Taking some time now to visualize these things will help you make decisions on how to help nurture your child's musical progress. Young people listen very well to what is behind our words, and are quite skillful in identifying the priorities by which we live. I am very thankful for my students' families who make time for the arts. I am impressed by your commitment to music, as expressed by driving to lessons, insisting on regular practice, juggling hectic schedules, participation in special programs, and all the other things necessary to make musical growth possible for their children.

My vision for my students is that within the context of a well-rounded life, they develop their musical abilities to the fullest, and participate in musical activities with excellence. I want to see a positive cycle of progress including time commitment for practice, work towards enjoyable short term goals, commitment to always play their very best, sense of past accomplishment, and dreams and long term goals. All these ingredients must be in place for a student to thrive, although for younger students, long term goals are often less of a factor. Private lesson students should expect to be top performers in their public school bands, and especially talented students should seek out more advanced groups and performing opportunities in addition to being leaders in their school music groups.

If you would like to talk about what we are doing in private lessons, please give a call or email. Mornings through 2:00 P.M. are generally a good time to reach me by phone.

Brian Kay