....and then there were none.
The days of children picking up an instrument at an early age are slowly waning. I am not talking about band or the child who teaches themselves on the electric or acoustic guitar because they want to teach themselves from YouTube videos how to play like Eddie Van Halen or Hendrix. I am talking about the violin, viola, cello, bass or even the piano.
When I was a child and picked up the violin in the later 60s, there were so many children who played in school orchestra that the program was at capacity every year. We were able to find an instrument of our choice quite easily and cheaply. Lessons were given at a very reasonable price and the added expense did not alter our standard of living(which was low to begin with at times).
But over the years, at least here in the U.S., the cost to a parent to be able to afford an instrument, pay for private lessons and keep their child interested has seriously declined. Sure, there are some things that we just cannot control and one of them is the advent and soaring popularity of electronics. Most every child has a PlayStation or x-box and at roughly $20 a month subscription, they can have fun and play with their friends online at the drop of a hat. FAR cheaper then it would cost to rent a violin and to take lessons, not to mention paying for music camps, joining a community orchestra and paying for lessons.
This post is not to diminish a teachers role in charging for lessons. I get it! They spent exorbitant money to get a degree in music and need to earn a living as well...I truly get it! But that does not mean that 'different times require different measures' if we are going to keep music alive and orchestras sustainable.
Private lessons cost anywhere from $45 an hour up to, and beyond, $100 an hour. There aren't many families that can afford that. Let me give you an example of what I am trying to say. I am a chef. If it cost me $30,000 to get a culinary degree and if I were going to use the same logic, I would charge $75 an hour because "I have to pay for my education". Noooo, that is now how it works. I go into my chosen field knowing that it is going to take years to pay it back and I would have to work and get paid no different than any other career. I do what I can in my chosen field. I don't think to myself I am any better then the chef who worked their way up the ladder the hard way to become a chef.
Over the past couple of years, my 13 year old violinist son and I have reached out numerous times to help those families whose child wants to play an instrument but simply cannot afford it. We have offered to teach them free of charge for the first number of months to make sure their child is seriously interested. Not only does this help a family's financial burden but this offer also helps a child learn with another child(my son) and in turn, makes it more interesting and fun instead of sitting in your room at home practicing by yourself. THAT is boring and not very conducive in fostering attention or interest. I am with my son at every home practice. Even it I were not a violinist, I would still sit down with him every day and do everything I could to make him feel as though his practice was not only important, but he was doing a great job.
I will never forget a former teacher of his who came highly recommended. He was loving her for a while then all of the sudden, on week, he came out of practice and I could tell he was saddened about something. I mean he looks really upset. I found out why. His teacher came out with him and her first words were "I did not see any improvement this week at all". I just didn't know what to say. Is she kidding me? Nope, those were her exact words...at right in front of Thomas. I was upset to the point of wanting to say something to her but I did not. He has practices at least 2 hours a day for 6 days a week and just because he did not show improvement that one week, she needs to make sure he hears her say that to me? Tell him what he improved on rather than embarrass him like that. Within a week we found a new teacher and she has been so positive for his growth and are still with her today.
Our offer of free lessons has been accepted numerous times but have not continued for a variety of reasons, some beyond a family's control while others saying negative things about the schools music teacher and the added expense of a violin. The one good thing is you can rent a violin at a very very reasonable price from your local music shop. There are schools that also have instruments that belong to the school as well and you can use them free of charge. This is a great beginning but I am afraid that is where kindness ends many times. I have seen time and time again where the stringed players are mixed in with band members, first year string players are practicing with multi-year brass players and the complete lack of attention from the band/string teacher in order to foster a childs interest in strings. Now if this were decades ago, I would understand because there were literally dozens and dozens of students playing instruments but today(at least in the district my son attends), there are under a dozen.
Community youth orchestra's are declining at a rapid pace, worse then school orchestras. You would not believe how many students have no idea about the local community orchestra because it is not offered by their teacher at school. Every music teacher worth their weight should be telling every music student about their community orchestra. For example, here in Bangor, Maine. Every school district in the surrounding areas who have a music program should be telling them about the Bangor Symphony's Youth Orchestra's. There are 3 of them at varying levels of discipline, from the very beginner to the more advanced. Yet after speaking to parents, they had no idea. Shameful!!!!
Now having said that, the cost of joining a community orchestra, such as the BSYO is very very agreeable to many families. There are even scholarships and help with the expense. Kudo's to them for providing this but if students and children do not know about it, what good does it do? The only thing I would change about the BSYO is to put a crazy amount of effort into reaching out to each and every school orchestra and band....before it is too late. The cost would be minimal but so well worth that minute cost and effort. There is no reason(if a music teacher is truly a lover of music and wants it to continue) each and every music teacher does not talk to the school children about this. They should work as hard as the student to foster growth and excitement. In just the past 10 years, many youth orchestra's are not even close to the numbers once seen. And please don't give me the Covid excuse because that is just what it is, an excuse.
I understand that in many foreign countries, there are programs set up to help parents with the cost of getting their child to play an instrument. It is a shame that we don't see something like that here in the U.S..
To put this all in a nutshell, we need to change with the times if we truly love music and we are in it for the devotion to our craft and the future of it.
Lets make it affordable for young people.
Let's get the word out to every single school and tell students there are more opportunities for them outside the school.
Let's get school music teachers to actually help encourage students to "spread their wings".
Let's get the community involved in the child musicians. If half the effort went into this as it does with the adult pro's, you will be ensuring future orchestra's are full of talented musicians.
We need private teachers to offer reduced or even free lessons to just 1 student. Come on, giving 1 hour a week to a student in need would make such a difference. If my 13 year old and I can do it, anyone can.
If you are a teacher, give a little, you will get so much more back.
If you are business owner or one who could help a child, consider sponsoring a child fora just one year in the BSYO. It costs just $300 for 2 seasons and boy oh boy, will that make a difference.
Something needs to be done because if not, this decline will continue and it truly will not be long before more youth orchestra's will shut down or have to increase their costs simply because of lack of enrollment. And this lack of enrollment was something that could have been avoided in the first place.
Such simple steps but above all, change with the times people.
