Friend wants daughter to learn carnatic music

i belive in parents not imposing their intrests on kids.
my dad knows carnatic music.wen i was a kid he asked me to and i said a staright NO as i was not and he was ok with it
as she likes instrumental stuff i guess ur friend should allow her to learn it and 7 is too young may be she can allow her to paly with instruments for few years and if she is intrested later she can learn carnatic music

 

Interesting Q, Adara. How about learn both and start with what requires the learner to be younger. Ok, we are partial to music at home and both DH (western classical) and I (Indian classical) have learned a bit, but that is mainly for fun. We expose the child to all forms of music and he is already clearly showing preference to one genre over another, but we both believe you need to get a grounding in both, and appreciate all forms.
So, we are starting with piano lessons (nimbleness is a prerequisite) when DS is ready for it and starting Indian classical at a latter time. Every performer we know has an understanding of all kinds of music, actually one of them plays carnatic on piano (excellent stuff! If you are interested google for Anil Srinivasan, it may help the parents decide.)

 

Adara;
I slightly differ here. Though I personally beleive that kids are not to be super-imposed, it is not wrong for your friend to give it a try.
This stems from my personal experience. My parents sent me for Bharatnatyam class when I was 3 or 4, after the first few classes I told I dont want to go as I had leg pain(I dont have any memory of it). My parents agreed and I stopped going. When I was 10 my parents asked me if I want to join for Carnatic music class, I told no. I dont know why I told no. Just like that..no reason at all. Now I regret not going for it. I wish if my parents had pressured me a little I would have gone. So when my sister (she is 7 years younger to me) had the same issue (she didnt want to go after some dance classes) I pressured her to go for it. Later she got very interested in it and Learnt Bharatnatyam, Mohiniyattam and kuchipodi. She is an accomplished dancer, and she is very proud of her dancing abilities.(Me too).
So what I would suggest(I may be wrong) is let your friend take her daughter and just see if she develops interest in it. Parallely let the daughter take violin class too. Actually, it classical music and violin complements each other. When I went for violin classes, I wished I had studied classical music.
-Nitha

 

Hi OP,

I think it is very nice id children learn musin or dance. It would be a great accomplishment.

Your freind could join her in both classes initially and let the daugther make a choice between the two after giving it a try for a reasonble amount of time.

My niece has learnt Piano and is now learning Singing. My nephew has learned Piano.

No harm in any trying.

 

I agree with others here - the child could be encouraged to learn both styles.

My son learns piano, guitar and western vocals- he is musically inclined,and his teacher is very encouraging.
But I'd always wanted him to learn carnatic too.He was not for it initially.
I showed him clips of these children's talent programs on TV (indian idol/super singer and the like)and let him see for himself the ease with wihich professionally trained carnatic singers can perform.

He slowly got my drift - and now learns both the styles.He's way more advanced in western music (he often goes in for public performances),but we can all see the difference learning carnatic has made!

Your friend could probably let the child learn piano for a while,and slowly introduce her to carnatic.....

 

I dont know Nitha, how would you balance this? There is some push required, but a lot of push is bad. How would you (or your parents) or anyone else know the "limit" when the push is good or becomes bad?

In general, allow the kids to excel in their interests, not push your interests on them. But your example makes one pause...I dont know...tough to find the balance

 

Hi all,
thread is so old, but I want to add my experience - when I was about 9 years old, I loved classical dance and hated classical music.. My parents let me learn classical dance, but insisted I learn classical music.. For the next 4 or 5 years, I would not like to even sit down for practicing music :rant ( yes, I used to find the sa, re, ga, ma etc so boring) .. and I always had this notion that I have a kattai-thondai (dont know how to translate).. I threw tantrums sometimes, but nevertheless my parents kept pushing me.. :hiya my progress was quite slow though.. :rant
Then something magical happened when I crossed 15 or so.. I started appreciating music slowly..I got into freinds circles, where there were good singers here and there.. I was inspired to hear them render melodiously..
I started trying to sing a bit ..Quietly, I started reproducing tunes from songs/ads etc exactly as I heard.. Started receiving compliments which did give a boost.. :thumbsup
And then, as soon as I realized I 'could' sing.. and it 'was nice' I started getting more interest in learning small krithis, bhajans etc.. Yes.. I was a late bloomer, but bloom, I did .. :banana And surpizingly there came a day, many many years later, when with encouragement of hubby and in-laws I resumed learning carnatic music actively..
Today, if my music teacher is so proud of the 'good and committed adult learner' that I am Bow , I thank my parents for having pushed me much beyond what could be defined as limits even..Sometime, I stare at my aging face and features :roll: , laugh at the possibility of having continued dance , and secretly wonder, why couldn't they have pushed me more just along music... ? :idea
Well, anyways.. thank God.. they 'pushed' atleast .. ;-)


Love
Savitha