My wife has finally acknowledged that Smallsteps probably has a bit of a musical gift, but it took the speed at which the piano teacher is advancing, to trigger her. Of course, it is not wise to get too far ahead with these things with a seven year old, as talented or not, her overall skill still depends on whether she maintains enough interest long-term to keep practicing, keep trying and pushing.
It was interesting talking with colleagues the other day about talent and skills, and the genetics behind these things, as most people tend to believe that they have some inherited talent of some kind in their family. This might be true, but it seems many also feel that the talent skipped them, or they weren't able to take advantage of it for some reason.
For instance, music runs in my family on both sides, but I feel that it has skipped me because I didn't have the opportunity to practice, or I wasn't forced to practice. When I was seven I had a couple piano lessons, but unlike my brothers, my parents didn't make me go, so when I was given the opportunity to stop, I did.
Kids make stupid decisions.
Which is why kids shouldn't be making a lot of the decisions for themselves at that age, and why parents should be parents and do a little bit of "forcing" or at least, some manipulation and some boundaries. It is great when kids are able to find something that they love and the parents can just support it, but it isn't always that easy for some children to find these things, and they can't tease apart the difference between the value of doing something right now, and the value of having a skill in the future.
Kids by nature make short-term decisions, because they don't have the experience to understand the long-term consequences of their behavior. In many ways, this is what keeps them curious and somewhat fearless, but it can also come at a cost to their future, when they make decisions that once the opportunity is missed young, it is almost impossible to get it back. And, some of these talents and the skills that are developed in childhood, are of the kind that we appreciate having in adulthood.
What do you wish you had practiced a lot more as a kid?
Of course, there is a difference between supporting a child to improve on talents and learn skills and, living vicariously through children. For instance in Finland, there are a lot of parents who force their children into playing ice hockey for years, even though the child might not be talented, skilled, or interested. But, the parent dreams of having a star player in the family, and all the accoutrements that come with it - money.
I don't want my daughter to be a star at really anything, unless she really wants to apply herself into building a skill. However, I do believe there is a life value in a person having the feeling that they are very good at something, even if it is something that doesn't make money, or anyone else cares about. This could be because I don't think I have ever had that feeling, where I feel confident in a certain ability. The closest I have gotten I suppose, is my skill back in the day playing Ghost Recon, a first person shooter - that was something that I knew I was good at, to the point that it was incredibly boring.
I knew it was pointless too.
Smallsteps can spend an hour or more, just sitting at the piano, tapping away at the keys, making up new songs, or just playing the ones she has already learned and wants to improve. She wakes up in the morning on weekends, and plays some piano for a little while, before she will go near the television and watch cartoons. She just enjoys it. And I think that if she keeps it up, she will take joy from it for years to come, as she will get that satisfying feeling of being creative, and being in flow.
Flow requires a mix of skill tempered by challenge, where there is a bit of a reach to be able to test the skill level. But, I wonder what happens when we don't have very high creative skills, or physical skills at all, and then what will we do for flow? Is that is what people are getting out of the endless scroll? Is that constant stream of largely useless and unactionable content feeding that void for flow?
Tomorrow morning, a piano tuner is coming for a much needed service. With the extreme changes in temperatures we have had inside, the piano sounds very sick indeed. Thankfully, Smallsteps' piano lessons are not here, and she gets to hear the sounds of a proper instrument. However, I am curious to see what she does tomorrow evening once she is home from school, and whether she will do what she did the first time she ever sat at a piano when she was three - just explore the new sounds.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
While I have nothing from childhood, writing has become my instrument as an adult.