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Writer's pictureJulia Pinckney Jones

Should I Continue (Or Start) Music Lessons In the Summer?



It's a valid question. When I was a young music student in Canada, it seemed crazy to even consider taking music lessons over summer vacation, and I'm sure my parents were happy that they didn't have to drive me to my music teacher's house in the middle of summer with no air conditioning in the car!

But I also remember going back to my lessons after a long summer holiday and being frustrated that the songs I'd played so beautifully in June seemed impossible in September.


As an adult, I've enjoyed taking workshops and classes over the summer - picking up a new skill or polishing something that I've done for years, and it seems to give me a head-start and some much needed momentum in my practicing, playing and singing.

It may sound a trifle self-serving for us to be arguing in favor of summer lessons... but there are lots of great reasons to take lessons in the summer.


  1. For ongoing students, it keeps up the momentum of learning, and encourages all the good habits the student has built up throughout the year. There is a muscle memory component to all good playing and singing, and maintaining that memory is important if the student wants to arrive in September without losing skills.

  2. Daytime lesson times available during the summer mean that a person can take a lesson at a time when they feel fresh and relaxed... not trying to sneak in a lesson after school but before swimming lessons!

  3. There's more time to focus on improvement during the summer. When there is no other "homework" to do and time is a little more free, "Practice Time" can become a more relaxed, less structured time, which allows for the joy of making music to surface. It can even start to feel more like play! Practicing with a greater sense of fun and play produces musicians who are more creative and sensitive in their playing... and they achieve more!

  4. For new students (or students picking up a new instrument) it can give them the time to really develop some of the basic skills when their heads are a little more open to receiving new information. In addition, students who are a little apprehensive about getting to know new people can start lessons in the summer, when, unlike the fall, they're not meeting dozens of new people. They can develop a rapport with their teacher in more relaxed circumstances.

  5. For parents, summer music lessons are an activity for their kids that is fun, educational, and affordable, and they can give frazzled summertime parents a little "me" time while their child is in his/her lesson.

  6. For adults who don't have a lot of vacation time, music lessons any time of year can be a great creative outlet and a reward to themselves for all their hard work... and it's not even fattening!

We still have teaching slots available for the summer, so now's the time to experience the amazing gains you can make if you take lessons over the summer!

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