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[quote=Anonymous]My DD plays a string instrument, and her teacher is pressuring her to "give it more."  She practices every day for about an hour, and, despite her best efforts, is not making the progress that her teacher wants to see.  I see my DD trying her best, but I think this is perhaps not going to be the main activity in her life.  She is 12.5 and has been with this teacher since age 8/9.  When her teacher buckles down on her on how she is not making the desired progress, I think it makes her want to practice even less.  I think her teacher is demanding, serious, and perhaps is a better match with the very serious student and/or the student with more natural musical talent.  It could just be they are not a great fit at this stage.

I would love for her to have music be a continued part of her life.  Many of her friends are in orchestra and so it's sorta become her thing in school as well as outside of school as she also does a youth orchestra and has a little group she plays.   When I assess her talents objectively, I think her natural talents probably lie in other areas, but I think she enjoys orchestra enough that I think she would enjoy continuing and playing in various ensembles. For example, she would practice very hard and routinely rank last when she did seating auditions in her community youth orchestra (not that I care, just noting that the community youth orchestra is crazy competitive and full of kids who probably practice much more than her and/or have more natural talent).  Her school orchestra is more low key since her school is very small, and she has fun with her orchestra peeps.

I was a very serious musician when I was younger, and my efforts were proportional to the outcome.  I focused only on music and it was my only activity, and while I was able to accomplish a lot, and had great opportunities, I'm not sure if it was truly worth it when I look back in retrospect since I practiced 2 hours per day and really had no other time for any other hobbies or activities.  Years later, I am not a musician but I love music.

I know this post is very rambling. Just wondering if anyone out there every felt the same way and what you/your child did at this juncture...

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