Is there an alternative to formal music lessons?

[perpetualworrier]

DS1 is almost 7. Neither I , nor DH have any musicl talent whatsoever, and having heard Ds's attempts to sing, I sincerely doubt he has either, but he does enjoy playing along to pop records on toy instruments. (I need earplugs .

He said today he'd like music lessons, but I can't see him in proper piano lessons etc. His concentration's not great either.

Does anyone know of somewhere he could just "have a go", rather than be formally schooled IYSWIM?

gumtree have adverts for music teachers etc. Perhaps try there or post an ad up yourself for what you want?

Does his school do anything like music clubs where its not formal or anything?

Definitely ask about after school clubs or have a look at what local peop-le might be up to.

I used to teach 4 year old twins music and we had short informal sessions. They did some singing, bit of dancing (stuff in 3 time and in two time) some piano and music reading. It wasvery informal and their Mum said that their school teacher had commented on how their concentration had improved.

Some music shops have group keyboard/music lessons

Good luck!

Where in the world are you ? We in London and dd (also not great at concentrating, not suited to formal learning situation)loves Colourstrings - www.colourstrings.co.uk - so far it's just singing, running around, fun stuff. If you can find a group near you with similar approach I recommend it.

She's 6 and there are 10 x 5 - 7 year olds in the class by the way.

Why not talk to a music teacher and say what you want? When my dd started the clarinet, I didn't want her lessons to be too formal - I just wanted her to have fun. Her teacher showed her how to hold it, played tunes with her, devised some music games - they had a great half an hour every week (he said he looked forward to it too!) Then sho got interested in taking it seriously so she did. When she started secondary school she was too tired and had too much homework to practice properly, so they went back to their weekly Noodle Sessions, as the teacher called them. Now she's a bit more on top of her life, she's gradually going back to more serious music. I'm sure you could find a similarly accomodating teacher near you!