Please see the thread "how to prep a horn for long term storage" I started this morning.. Seems the topic got off to a subject that is much more important.

Is there a way to link that thread to this one? I do not understand all the features of the forum. Help!

thx - Craig

Basically I my son says he is bored. Last year he got a lot of simple songs and was dealt mainly whole and half notes. Not much to get excited about. Next year, he will be in a jazz lab and a concert band, with one class starting at 7am. Mornings do not agree with him. he probably has 1000 things going on in his head now..... so please take a look at the other thread and post on either one. I sure could use some help with this. His face looks so sad when I bring it up. And I'm probably coming on too hard, as I usually do.... Parenting is not the easiest thing at times.

thx - Craig

See my post last there It has some ideas.

http://www.trumpetmaster.com/vb/f131...tml#post442429 (How to prep a horn for long term storage ?)

veery

7am is very early for anything. If you want to keep him in music how about keyboard or guitar lessons? You send some times with active listening and he might open up some more. Listening is something my wife taught me how to do. I still need reminding every now and then.

Try finding practicle music. Once I figured out that there was live top notch orchestras playing video game music it defiantly changed my opinion about music in general. Tim morrision performs with Joe Hisaishi and the Japan Philharmonic Dream World Orchestra. Im personally like something called anime and this was personally really exciting to me. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clJEd1VWNOQ]YouTube - Joe Hisaishi & New Japan Philharmonic Dream World Orchestra[/ame]

Also private lesson help stimulate intrest. But to be honest I was going to quit until I my playing got challenged by another student.

Does he want to play trumpet? If yes, get him private lessons--guaranteed he will play more than whole or half notes. In fact, private lessons are a must. Don't expect a whole lot from group lessons at public school. As long as you are paying for private lessons, he must commit to practicing every day. His teacher would know what level he is at and how long he should practice. Let your son choose the time, then hold him to it. Consistency is key! If he doesn't want to practice, then threaten to cut off lessons.

Take him to concerts, take him to a football game to see the marching band, go see a brass quintet. Borrow some music and videos from the library, eventually you'll both discover what types of music you like.

If he is bored at band because of the the repertoire, then find out what youth orchestras are available in your area. There is also summer music camp.

I have a son going into 7th grade as well. He's very talented, loves band and orchestra, but would rather play video games than practice. It's frustrating for a parent, but you have to get creative. Maybe a new piece of music, or a new "toy" like a mute. You can get him a "plunger" mute from the hardware store for a couple bucks.

Your boy says he's bored, and he probably already knows you accept this as a good reason.

I say, tell him, fine, enjoy being bored, now, get after it.

That is not my own advice,above, but I agree with the Dr. who "wrote it"

Then,when I was a kid, boredom introduced to me, a time to discover something new. Boredom was an opportunity.

Today, it is socially unacceptable, for your child to be bored. Today, parents must drive their kids into multiple sports programs and travel 300 miles round trip on a weekend and play double headers on the baseball diamond and burn the candle at both ends till they need meds to keep up.......so they won't be , ''.bored.

No, they say, boredom leads to recreational drugs.(?)....really, or unwanted pregnancies.

This is why so many parents have their kids involved in multiple activities. So they ,as parents can feel they have done well to their kids.

I ask, "What ever happened to skipping rocks over the lake?"...gone! There is more quality time there than jockeying your kid all over in your mini van and bitching to him about traffic, and which crappy-burger restaurant he's going to eat from to call it dinner.

My kids are involved a little, in activities, because they want them, I won't drive them into a frenzy.

Craig, your son might already know the word "bored" pushes your button. I suspect you might not know the real reason why he lost interest. Rowuck listed them all. But I may single out the music teacher, or, a girl, to be specific.

Boredom is not a bad thing, that's when kids discover new things, that's when they learn to relax and discover what "that cloud" looks like. Kids these days can't learn to relax anymore, and I'm not going into detail, but I have two boys, 14, and 10.

Originally Posted by Bachstul

Your boy says he's bored, and he probably already knows you accept this as a good reason.

I say, tell him, fine, enjoy being bored, now, get after it.

That is not my own advice,above, but I agree with the Dr. who "wrote it"

Then,when I was a kid, boredom introduced to me, a time to discover something new. Boredom was an opportunity.

Today, it is socially unacceptable, for your child to be bored. Today, parents must drive their kids into multiple sports programs and travel 300 miles round trip on a weekend and play double headers on the baseball diamond and burn the candle at both ends till they need meds to keep up.......so they won't be , ''.bored.

No, they say, boredom leads to recreational drugs.(?)....really, or unwanted pregnancies.

This is why so many parents have their kids involved in multiple activities. So they ,as parents can feel they have done well to their kids.

I ask, "What ever happened to skipping rocks over the lake?"...gone! There is more quality time there than jockeying your kid all over in your mini van and bitching to him about traffic, and which crappy-burger restaurant he's going to eat from to call it dinner.

My kids are involved a little, in activities, because they want them, I won't drive them into a frenzy.

Craig, your son might already know the word "bored" pushes your button. I suspect you might not know the real reason why he lost interest. Rowuck listed them all. But I may single out the music teacher, or, a girl, to be specific.

Boredom is not a bad thing, that's when kids discover new things, that's when they learn to relax and discover what "that cloud" looks like. Kids these days can't learn to relax anymore, and I'm not going into detail, but I have two boys, 14, and 10.

the kid tells me that he has no interests, hobbies, etc. We've talked and brainstormed about it, and he freely admits he'd like to find something. By boredom, all he has to base is musical world on is 6th grade band and not being able to play melody for just about everything the band played. We have music on all the time, Maynard Ferguson, Herb Alpert, etc. I need to remember not to shove it down his throat though. Not sure if he really cares that I still get goose bumps 35 years later with the Tower of Power's "You're Still A Young Man" trumpet intro and ending. He seems a bit too attached at times to the SciFi Channel and anime cartoons. Maybe when he starts playing the fun stuff in his jazz class, the fire can be relit.

Craig

Well, he needs to understand there is no 6th grade band in the universe able to keep a melody.... then it is all about learning to play in front of an audience, nothing more.oh, those butterflies!

Does he realize, the opportunity he is giving up, if he were to quit, (because it is not all about music at this point) possibly sitting across the most beautiful girl he has ever seen?

I sat first trumpet in a U shape up front facing a girl I fell in love with.(Blonde, played flute) I still love her, 33 years later....I didn't marry her, but I'll always remember her, since 1976. She remembers those days., too. I would give anything to go back to 1976, as well as several other years!

I'm just saying at this age, it is about more than music. It is about opportunities in small groups, where they are isolated from the mad rush in the hall between periods, away from the rest of their clique. There are awkward times he may not want to tell you; so he expresses, he is bored, just to close the discussion.

In a concert band, or jazz, symphony, they can be themselves with someone they might not ever encounter in that big school otherwise. They just need to find the door.