Raising Musical Kids: A Guide for Parents

by Robert A. Cutietta

Does music make kids smarter? At what age should a child begin music lessons? Where should you purchase an instrument? What should parents expect from a child's teachers and lessons? Raising Musical Kids answers these and many other questions as it covers everything from assembling a listening
library for kids, to matching a child's personality with an instrument's personality, to finding musical resources in your community. Knowing that children can--and usually do--get most of their music education within the public school system, the author explores at length the features and benefits
of elementary and secondary school programs, and shows how parents can make the schools work for them and their children. Throughout, Cutietta emphasizes the joy of participating in music for its own sake. Raising Musical Kids is a book that parents everywhere will treasure as a complete road map
for developing their child's musical abilities.

Genres: Parenting, Music, Education, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2001

About the author

Robert Alan Cutietta (born 1953) is best known as an educator, author, researcher, composer, and arts leader. He is the author or co-author of five books and over fifty referereed research articles in the area of music psychology and education. He is also a composer, having written for television shows and movies.

Reviews

[Alissa Faust · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had some interesting ideas that I had never thought of before. It talked about the appropriate age to start a child in playing an instrument (before 6 for intellectual enhancement which the author wasn't super sold on and put up a pretty good argument as to why not) or waiting until the child is in Junior High for many instruments. The logic behind this is that if they start an instrument too early they may get frustrated and develop learned helplessness and drop out before they would be more advanced and developed to appropriately handle the instrument. He talked about the best instruments to start children on would be mainly piano or violin. He talked about the pros and cons of each with the piano it is just learning to play the appropriate note that will always be in tune, and with the violin you have to attune your ear to hear and your body to then respond and play the correct note.

I loved his approach to practicing. Instead of giving children a time limit that they must practice, he would give them goals to accomplish. It showed a calendar that a parent could put together for the child to help them easily see their goals. Practicing may be longer or shorter some days but the child is better able to feel a sense of accomplishment and dread the task of practicing less.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource for parents who are considering having their children participate in music. It gives ideas and guidelines for how to make music an enjoyable part of your child's life as well as suggestions on when to start your child in lessons, what to look for in a teacher, etc.

(also has a very useful appendix with lists of music teacher associations, competitions and festivals, music camps)

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four stars because this book does pretty much exactly what it sets out to do. Some sections were admittedly fluffier than others and it’s definitely showing its age now in discussions of technology and of the music industry/landscape, but what I wanted was an expert in music education presenting evidence-based advice on how to foster a love of music in kids and cultivate the musical skills that support the enjoyment of that love in childhood and onward, and that’s what this is.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for parents looking to raise musical kids!

Engaging, funny, and full of research-based advice! I have been a private music teacher for over 25 years and highly recommend this guide by Dr. Cutietta. We even have a copy of it in the waiting room of our studio for parents to read.

[RWaggoner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps my review isn’t fair since I am a parent, a teacher and a musician. His premise, that every child can be raised in a way that encourages their musical development, is a good one. I disagreed on many of his applications including warning parents not to begin private lessons to soon as the instruments will be too large for the children. Hmmm. Maybe he hasn’t seen fractional instruments?

[John Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally posted at Honey and Locusts.

"Musical children are not born — they are raised."

So begins one of the greatest resources I've come across for parents (and teachers!) who want to give children the best chance to maximize their musical potential, and I couldn't agree more with the sentiment. As a music teacher, my experience has been that — while some students have more natural aptitude for music, and not all students given the same opportunities will reach the same level of proficiency — the biggest factor contributing to success in music is the commitment of parents to the musical education of their children, and their involvement in that process.

Dr. Robert Cutietta, who is currently the dean of the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, is uniquely qualified to write this book. He describes himself as wearing "four hats", each of which give him a different perspective on music education. These hats are: (1) professional musician — he knows the music industry through decades of experience as a performer in many styles and settings; (2) music teacher — he has taught music in private settings, in public schools, and at the university level; (3) researcher — he spent more than two decades doing academic research in the field of music education before writing this book; and (4) parent —he has raised three musical children of his own!

The book's scope ranges from the practical ("Do different instruments require different investments of time and money?") to the philosophical ("What can music education do for my child?") to the informative ("What should my child be learning in his music classes at school?"). Each chapter is written clearly and instructively, with the understanding that the book's audience is primarily made up of parents with little or no musical training themselves. You don't have to be a musician to be a great musical parent!

Of great benefit to me were chapters addressing the three questions I hear most often in my position as the administrator of a private music school:

* "At what age should my child begin music lessons?" (Chapter 3)
* "What instrument should my child play?" (Chapter 7)
* "How can I get my kid to practice?" (Chapter 8)

Each of these chapters is immensely helpful! The answers to these questions are much more complex than most people imagine, but the author takes great care in explaining all the different factors that go into making those important decisions.

There are a few chapters in this edition (published in 2001) of the book that are slightly outdated, most notably the chapters dealing with music technology. As you might imagine, technology has changed quite a bit in the last ten years! Having recently corresponded with the author, I learned that a new edition is in the works, and I'm sure this will be addressed. In the meantime, this should not deter anyone from buying this book. Most of what is contained in it is timeless information, which will be relevant for many, many years.

Raising Musical Kids has jumped to the top of my list of books to recommend to parents who are considering or currently pursuing a musical education for their children... and not just because I think the chapter titled "Finding a Good Private Teacher" will lead them to my school! This book will be an invaluable resource which parents and teachers will pull down to reference many times over the course of a child's journey toward musicianship. Buy it here.

[Ange · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author's philosophy is that musical kids are not just born, they are raised. It is the family that breeds a love of music in the child. A child's musical education is based on his or her experiences and it's not just left up to the music teacher to determine whether or not the child succeeds (as it seems so many parents seem to think). I appreciate that the author did not talk as though kids had to be Mozarts in order to be "musical". Simply put, musical kids are kids who enjoy music and receive musical education in a variety of ways from public school bands and orchestras to private lessons to singing hymns and simply listening to music with his family. I liked this book mostly because of the boost it gave me in realizing that a lot of the things I'm doing are on the right track. Singing to my babies, dancing around the house with my budding ballerinas, listening to a variety of music, taking my kids to various concerts are all things that are good. I liked the chapter on helping your child choose an instrument. It helped me realize that it's okay for my daughter to want to play the cello even though I wish she'd want to play the harp or the flute. Ha! The chapter on getting kids to practice was interesting. I like the reminder that kids generally never like to practice. As a parent you can't be reminded of that enough. Again, I was relieved to find I'm doing some things right but I also appreciated some of his comments about a goal-oriented practice charts. I've been trying more goal-oriented charts with my daughters and piano students and so far I really like them. And I liked the chapter on good practicing. It has given me a few ideas on how to better teach the parents of my piano students. However, to be honest, there were many parts of this book which were very long-winded. And I'm not sure that a parent who does not have some basic music knowledge themselves would really be able to follow everything the author talks about.

[Jane H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was an excellent book, but with my music background most of the information seemed fairly obvious.

I wish all parents read books like this, especially the ones who don't naturally already work ways in to expose their children to music. One thing I did enjoy though, was that it's really brought love of music to the foreground, and I've noticed myself sharing it more with my kids over the past few weeks.

There were also helpful and very concrete suggestions on how to help kids practice their instruments, and I took copious notes on that section.

Overall, the author did an excellent job. I think this is a great book to read the beginning, and any chapters of interest. Don't feel pressured to read every page if it's about something that's not applicable to your current position!

[Marcie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exactly what I was looking for! Cutietta is a University professor, former high school band teacher, a musician, and a parent. His book is organized, researched, and well written. He backs up his opinions with studies.

The book is for parents who want to know when to start their children's musical education, what instrument to start with, how to find a teacher, what to expect in private music leasons, where to get an instrument, and what to expect in the schools from kindergarten through high school. I have no musical background or particular interest in learning to play an instrument so I was surprised that I found this so interesting that I couldn't put the book down.

[Steve Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty useful but not quite what I was looking for. I think this book would be really useful if you weren't very musical yourself but were trying to raise musical kids. We already have a lot of music in the house and both the wife and I are fairly musical so a lot of this info was pretty remedial. I found the breakdown by ages to be helpful but I wish there was just a bit more detail on how to pick a good teacher. Anyways, time to go find a decent piano teacher, let me know if you have one :)

[Megan Titensor · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a music teacher without children, I used this as a reference for up-to-date info on the guidance issued to parents regarding music education. I found 4 different chapters particularly engaging, especially those on practice, but generally skimmed the rest. I doubt any parent considering musical lifestyles for their children would really seek out a resource such as this, but I think parents would be open to it once they have already dabbled in a music education foundation and want to deepen the experiences they can offer their children.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a non-musical person I found this
book very helpful. It has simple things you can do to help nurture and encourage your child's musicality.

Lots of info on how to choose a music teacher and when to start lessons and how to get kids to practice that isn't very relevant to me right now. This will be a good resource as my child grows.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A music teacher's answers to the questions a know-little parent like me asks. Moderately helpful, with good references and appendices like "100 songs everyone should know" which you can quiz yourself on!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great resource! I think I will need to come back to it later when the little one is ready to take lessons. I just love that he validates my belief that one should learn music for humanity's sake rather than for the " Mozart effect" ( that it will help kids in math, science, etc)

[Alli Saleh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, easy, and interesting read. Totally recommend it. Gives overview of what's reasonable for a child to learn at each age, finding teachers, public school education, picking instruments, and more.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great description on what music does for the developing brain - motivating.
It also has instructions for making a homemade xylophone so that rocked.

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked that it was about raising kids that are musical, not kids that will necessarily become musicians.

[Amy Daliege · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned so much from this book! It's perfect for a non musical parent who is raising musical kids.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic resource! I highly recommend!

[kati · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel vindicated that he is dismissive of marching band, my bete noire!
Overall, a great primer on raising a musical child, with seriousness but not pushiness.