<p>naturalmom - Good for you for thinking so far ahead. In this way, you’re way ahead of the pack. It’s impossible for us to all give advice for a 7th grader - we can only point you in certain directions. Here are my thoughts - worth what you paid for them! :)</p>
<p>My biggest concern would be <em>the balance</em> between doing all you can to help your son, while at the same time, letting him take the lead. If you pour the next five years into helping him prepare for conservatory, and he decides instead to major in psychology - will you be okay with that? I’m not looking for an answer - just offering something to think about. We think about that occasionally here - and my kid is gung ho full steam ahead in his junior year of college, with no intention of switching. But kids can and do change interests, and that needs to be okay. If music becomes forced, he looses that spark you write about.</p>
<p>A good teacher is everything. (Okay, maybe not EVERYTHING - but A LOT.) Not just technically good, but able to inspire. I forced my child to switch from a piano teacher he liked and respected, because I saw the teacher’s criticism and negativity start to affect my son. I have three kids - each plays two instruments - so I have seen multiple teaching situations with multiple kids. There’s just no substitute for the right teacher.</p>
<p>Another thing to know - for the future - is that many schools, and even conservatories - don’t necessarily look at how hard the pieces are that your child plays. They are looking for evidence of talent, of musicality, of teachability and potential for growth. If they just want technical accuracy, they can buy player pianos. I’ve heard plenty of kids play very difficult pieces - and play them badly. You can almost guess that the kid or the parent - or even the teacher - pushed for harder pieces, and the kid wasn’t ready. There is a sad joke (sad because it’s so true) about how musicians greet each other – “I played that last year.” Don’t get caught up in it.</p>
<p>Many summer camps and programs offer scholarships. The advantages to these programs in terms of getting to learn from other teachers, getting various opinions about your kid’s abilities, and getting leads for schools, teachers, competitions, etc - all of that is just too valuable to say “too expensive” without even trying. There were years when I thought we’d go nuts. But in the end, it has paid off. Not only is my kid in a conservatory, but he has quite a large non-need scholarship. Not having money to throw around meant we did a lot of research, and chose our expenses carefully, but every penny has been worth it. </p>
<p>And one more thought - There will be plenty of schools when the time comes, especially since you are starting to look so early. One of the schools my d has applied to is Furman, in SC. I have no idea about the piano program there. But they have a church music program and a Christian background (although it is not in your face). Another, Allegheny, has a piano teacher who is a Juilliard grad. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to find out where the great piano programs are now for a kid who won’t be going there for another 6 years. Programs and teachers change.</p>