ZOE

So, this mother of seven woke up one day and decided to open a Music School.

I knew I wanted to be a Suzuki piano teacher when I was a sophomore in college, and this large touring musical family with 13 kids came to perform at my school.  I watched in awe as this gorgeous young mother played piano while all her smiling children played their little violins. It was unbelievable to me at the time. I said to my fiance after the show, “That’s the method I’m going to teach my children.”

Fast forward 25 years later, those same little boys of that large musical  family grew up and became the famous international touring fiddle group Scythian, and I did get my Suzuki Piano certification to teach my own children. I only had seven kids, not thirteen,  (did you just do a facepalm?) and each one of them studies classical piano or violin.

I didn’t really plan on other people wanting me to teach their children.  It just kind of happened in a beautifully backwards kind of way.  In Atlanta, as a young mom of  five children at the time, parents would see my children perform at recitals and ask me if I would teach their child.  One by one I said yes.  My music family expanded.

I remember how idyllic I was as a new mom, and new piano teacher.  I grabbed my certificate and thought I was ready and actually prepared to be a teacher.  Looking back, I had no idea the struggles, joys or tears that lied ahead. All I knew was that my kids would be musicians, one way or another. It has been a humbling journey.

 I am a mother, who knows what it is like to be in the trenches of trying to have a child acquire the discipline it takes to learn an instrument.  I know what it is like to have a child scream at them when they tell their child it is time to practice.  I know what is it like to want to cry because I lost my temper being sure the practice happened anyway.  I know what it is like to want to let your child quit because the daily struggle to enforce practice just seems not worth the emotional and often frustrating battle of wills.

What I hope to accomplish in this blog is to hopefully reflect and share what I have learned, through trial, error and lots of mistakes.  I don’t regret the mistakes.  I have become a better teacher.  A better mother because of them.

Not many parents are blessed with a full circle perspective.  I have asked my daughter to add her reflections of being a child raised in music, who is now teaching music.  I asked her to be honest. Teaching and parenting is a journey.  I have learned more from my children that I have taught them.  My hope is through our honest conversations, as we dig back into the funny, tearful and real stories of life within our walls, there might be some inspiration for our readers.

But, even more importantly, I hope to hear from you.  Be active in our conversations. Be real, and share your struggles with us. Whether you are trying to get your child to practice soccer, math facts, violin or just have them clean their room, we are all trying to achieve the same objective. Even though there will be many days that we want to scratch our eyeballs out, we are all trying to motivate our children to achieve something great. Laugh with us.  Cry with us. Join us in the conversation.  You are not alone.  

LANA

When I tell people I am the oldest of 7 kids, I usually leave out the part where we all have played classical instruments since we were in kindergarten. This part of my life was so ingrained in who I was, that it would have been like telling strangers what I had for dinner every day of the week. But I have learned that there is so much more to growing up with music that as a child I was not fully able to realize.

I started playing piano when I was 4 and continued to finish all 10 Suzuki piano levels by age 16. I studied under master teachers while attending the George Washington University in Washington, DC. I graduated with my Bachelor’s of Arts in History cum laude in 3 years, and accepted a position as a kindergarten teacher in San Antonio, with Teach for America. My experience teaching piano under my mother’s tutelage served as the foundation for my passion for education in the public school classroom, and I couldn’t help but open a little piano studio of my own here in San Antonio.

My journey into music education has definitely not been conventional, and is nothing like my mother’s.  But I cannot imagine doing it another way, and would love for others to see a different perspective- one that lets you do everything. I’ve always been a “jack of all trades” person, finding something I’m passionate about in everything I do. It made choosing a major and a career extremely exhausting for me, and looking back I’m grateful the decision for me to study piano was made for me.

I am currently pursuing a degree in Biochemistry and applying to medical school, so I can imagine the confusion as to why I would be blogging about my experiences with music. “Why bother with music if you’re not going into it for your career?” Well ain’t that the question of the year. As a teenager I would berate my mother for having me spend so much time practicing when I “knew” that I wanted to be a diplomat when I grew up.

Even though my love of science and math had yet to present itself and inform my actual career decision, my point still stood. Why music? Why so structured and “intense”? It took a good deal of reflection, introspection, and maturing for me to realize the benefits of studying music throughout my formative years, and believe me when I say that I would not be where I am today without it. This blog will detail the impact music has had on my life, and illustrate the less conventional paths on which music can take your life.