What do you hope to achieve?

Nobody mention Juilliard! Instead, let's think about six months from now.

I can (and regularly do) geek out for hours about the surprising benefits of musical study and the unbelievable shortcuts that are possible when you have good focus and expert guidance.

How about some of these possibilities?

• An eight-year-old, gaining the courage to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for the entire student body of her school.
• A preschooler creating the ideal Christmas gift for Nana: A recording of himself playing "Hot Cross Buns, "Rain Rain Go Away," and "Jingle Bells."
• A high school student taking a break from exam stress by playing a few classic rock songs on an acoustic guitar.
• A middle school student catching up with her peers in the school band.
• A professional lawyer learning how to go "off the book" and play pop songs at parties.
• A fifth grader learning how to jam with his guitarist dad.
• An eighteen-year-old earning a full scholarship to a university as a result of careful preparation for an audition.

Music education doesn't always have to be such a long range plan. Maybe if you knew that you could expect some results right away, you would see them.

And if you didn't see those results, you would have the confidence that you could do what it takes to get them instead of assuming that you or your kid just can't hack it.