Which music method fits your family?
A seven-question quiz for parents. Answer questions about your child's age, your time, and your goals, and see which music teaching methods match.
Your matches
These are the approaches that fit your answers best. Treat them as a place to start. Visit a class or book a trial lesson before you choose.
The Suzuki method
Children learn an instrument the way they learned to talk: by listening first, then copying, with a parent beside them. Reading music comes after the child can play.
Look for a teacher with Suzuki training who offers a private lesson and a group class, and who asks a parent to attend.
A Kodály class or choir
Children sing first. They learn to read and write music through folk songs, hand signs, and rhythm names. It is common in school music classes and children's choirs.
Look for a children's choir or music class that uses solfège hand signs and singing games.
An Orff Schulwerk class
Children speak, sing, move, and play xylophones and drums. They make up their own music from the first class. It suits children who learn by doing.
Look for a group class with barred instruments, such as xylophones, and a teacher with Orff training.
A Dalcroze eurhythmics class
Children learn rhythm and pitch by moving to music. The teacher plays the piano and the class steps, skips, and stops with the sound.
Look for a eurhythmics class at a community music school. Trained teachers are few, so it may take a search.
Traditional private lessons, with exams if you want them
A child meets one teacher each week, learns to read music from the start, and works through a set of method books. Many teachers add graded exams, such as the RCM levels or the ABRSM grades.
Look for a teacher who teaches reading from the first lesson. Ask whether the studio enters students for exams.
An early childhood music class
A parent and a young child go to a weekly group class with songs, rhymes, movement, and small instruments. The goal is a love of music and a feel for the beat before lessons begin.
Look for a parent-and-child class nearby and visit once before you sign up.
How the quiz works
Each answer adds points to one or more ways of teaching music. The two with the most points show first. A tie shows three. The quiz covers the Suzuki method, Kodály, Orff Schulwerk, Dalcroze eurhythmics, traditional private lessons, and early childhood music classes.
The quiz cannot see your child or your town. A warm, skilled teacher nearby matters more than the name of a method. Many teachers also blend ideas from more than one approach.
What to do with the result
Read the guide for your top match. Then find one teacher or class and ask to watch a lesson. Ask how parents take part, when reading music starts, and what a week of practice looks like. Our comparison of music teaching methods for kids lists questions to bring.
Goes well with
- Music teaching methods for kids compared
- Suzuki vs traditional music lessons
- Music exams for kids: how RCM and ABRSM work
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