As someone who did quit music lessons as a teenager, I was quite keen to get to grips with this book. Holder does a great job of breaking down the many varied reasons why someone might quit music and while I did eventually return to playing, I found myself nodding furiously at several passages and seeing my younger self in the scenarios that he describes. The book takes a lot of the most common concerns and provides tangible strategies for teachers, parents and students to avoid a negative outcome.
Holder's approach to music pedagogy is similar to mine – if someone enjoys what they are doing, they are more likely to continue doing it. In this way, the book advocates supporting a young musician by providing them with the resources and confidence they need to explore their passions. The book doesn't prescribe a particular methodology to achieve this beyond doing the utmost to facilitate musical growth, showing the numerous ways a student can be supported beyond one-on-one lessons such as by playing in a church or joining a local jamming session.
Non-musical parents are a key focus of the book, with a number of sections dedicated to demonstrating how even the most tone deaf person can encourage their child. Holder goes to great lengths to allay any fears a person might have about doing the ‘wrong’ thing to support a young musician and directs them towards adopting more helpful patterns of behaviour. One great piece of advice is to instil young people with a love of the music that they are playing by listening and learning about it yourself, with Holder arguing that a student is more likely to want to practice a Bach concerto if they knew who Bach was before their lesson.
In the introduction, Holder expresses a desire to provide a reader with examples of ‘real life experiences rather than sifting through dense academic language and theories’, which is a fair assessment of the content but there is a robust bibliography for anyone looking to expand their knowledge further. Additionally, the book is packed with inspirational quotes from a range of sources, offering a wealth of advice across a number of musical genres which provides examples of musicians who have succeeded in a number of very different circumstances. This all comes together to make the case that there is no silver bullet method that will work for everybody – a refreshing change from the avalanche of media that tries to sell you a simple trick for cracking musical education.
I found the book to be an enjoyable read that challenged a lot of my own prejudices about music education and the right way to go about it and I would heartily recommend it to any music educator who has a lot of contact with parents. The practical advice that it provides should be enough to satisfy even the most involved of parents and you wouldn't go wrong in encouraging the parents of any student to pick up a copy as well.
You can find Holder at stand M6 of the London Expo in March.
