Student Voices — Kids Set Musical Goals for the New Year!

It's hard to believe that 2022 is already here, but a new year is always a great time to set new goals, especially those of the musical variety! To help our students get the ball rolling on their musical goals for 2022, we put forward a series of "Would You Rather?" questions for them to answer. We received a lot of great responses that clued us in to the interests and priorities of our students, and we're excited to share them with you now!

To help kids think about their preference and goals in relation to composing and performing we asked: Would you rather...

• Be a talented songwriter who can’t play an instrument or sing?
• Or be a great musician who can’t write their own songs?​

Asher S.
Asher seems to value composing above all else. In her opinion,"songwriting is the most important part of guitar. "

Miller F.
Miller prefers the act of playing over songwriting, and simply stated that it was "because I want to be a musician."

Nora U.
Nora, who specifically requested that we mention her nickname, "Eating Machine," also prefers performing to composing.  Her reasoning for this is "because if I write songs then I can't play them."

Louisa B.
Louisa seemed saddened by the idea of being unable to play her instrument, and said she wouldn't want to just be a talented songwriter "because my guitar practice would go to waste."

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​Sharing music with others is an important part of the process of learning any instrument, so to help kids think about their performance goals we asked: Would you rather...

• Play a song for your family?
• Play a song for a group of people you don't know?

Kaleigh X.
Kaleigh is more interested in playing for people outside of her family as she wants to share her talent with others and demonstrate what she's musically capable of!

​Corban M.
Corban "would feel more comfortable" playing a song for her family than people she doesn't know, and would prepare for the performance by practicing before dinner.

Eloise F.
Eloise "loves singing in front of new people," and said she'd rather perform in front of a group that she didn't know.

Louisa B.
Louisa would rather play a song for her family. In her words: "I know them better and I get stage fright. Ahh!"

Sloan H.
​Sloan also preferred to  play a song for family.

Playing music with others is a wonderful experience for a musician at any age or skill level, which is why Orpheus offers group Musicianship classes and many ensemble opportunities. To help our students think about their collaborative goals we asked: Would you rather...

• Play music alone?
• Or play with a group?

Louisa B.
Louisa would much rather play with a group. She said, "I would like to play music with my friends" and that by playing with others the performance "sounds more full like the actual song." Louisa does enjoy playing alone though, and likes that she doesn't "have to stop and wait for everybody to start."

Lizzie D.
Lizzie prefers to play music alone, but didn't specify why.
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Corban M.
Corban thinks that "it would be funner to play in a group," and likes the collaborative process and sharing the spotlight with others. In Corban's own words: "If I make a mistake it is covered up-ish." At the same time, Corban enjoys the "freedom in picking what the songs are" when performing alone.

Johnny K.
Johnny unfortunately hasn't had the chance to play with a group before, but would very much like to. While he feels that playing music alone "is peaceful," he really likes "the sound of two or more people playing" together.

It's important for young musicians to begin to gauge their priorities, and to also think about how they can put a plan in motion to accomplish their goals. We asked: Would you rather...

• Play one song perfectly?
• Or play five songs just okay?

Alex W.
Alex definitely seeks a challenge, as he believes learning "the five songs just okay would be easier" and therefore would prefer to play one song perfectly. 

​Louisa B.
Louisa had an interesting response, and said that "there's no way (to learn a song perfectly), nothing's perfect." Instead, she believes the option of five songs just okay would be better than one.

Asher S.
Asher would rather play one song perfectly, and says this is because "I can already play five songs just okay." When asked about her plan of action, she says she would perfect a song "by practicing a lot and working hard!"

Nora U.
Nora also recognizes the importance of "practicing a lot and working hard," but says she would rather strive for perfection "because I could be famous from my song."

Conley R.
One song played perfectly is more appealing to Conley because "it sounds better."

Landon H.
Landon thinks learning five songs just okay would actually be a great starting point rather than an end goal, as "you can learn from your mistakes and make it better."

Presley S.
Presley would value playing one song perfectly because it would make her feel happy, and has a great multi-step plan to achieve this goal! She says she would "get help from her teacher, practice, listen to a recording and follow along," and would try each part of the song song by itself.