Need ideas to academically motivate a 10th grader

[Mizmoon]

Does anyone else have this problem? I have a son who is in 10th grade and is a very talented musician. He has decided that he wants to dedicate his life to music, which in his mind means all his other work is just silly crap in the way of his dreams.

He's not failing his classes but that's only because he is very bright and able to pass his tests without studying. No amount of punishment, reward, or discussions about his future and the need to have a degree too seems to change his mind. I'm so sick of playing homework cop, but if I let up he doesn't do it and barely passes his classes.

Just so you know, I am very supportive of his music. It's just that I want to see him get a degree too because we all know it's not very easy to make a living in the music world. I have told him he can study music at college, and that's somewhat interesting to him, but he'd much rather be a rock star right away.

Any words of wisdom out there?

[slinkerwink]

1. promise him a trip somewhere if he does well in his classes

[slappypan]

2. If he wants to be a musician

he should also study mathematics, accounting, and how to invest his money so he doesn't get ripped off and end up broke like so many great musicians and artists.

[WoodrowFan]

3. cattleprods???

[Mizmoon]

4. heh heh ... believe me, I've been tempted n/t

[Ilsa]

5. A point for him to consider:

Other disciplines enrich his musical abilities (and vice versa). Language will enrich his lyrical abilities and math will improve his analytical acuity in writing and reading music per se. Science will improve his understanding of the physics of sound. I know lots of computer people who are very musical. Some disciplines cross over.

Sorry. I don't have a 10th grader. But I do recall being a "B" student for much of the 10th grade. Somewhere in the second half, something "snapped" and I started "getting it" in math and science (I was the youngest in chemistry class) and started getting straight A's. I even beat the boys (yeah, girls weren't encouraged to go that route) who were taking Physics class on the Physics portion in Trig/Calc. For the next two years I made the A or A&B honor roll and graduated with a GPA over 90. Those skills helped me fly through math and English in college, no sweat, so I could concentrate on subjects that were more difficult for me. Please take heart in such stories.

You're a great parent for trying to help him focus. My kids are still young and you have my admiration.

On edit: Reply # 2, tell him aobut Sting getting ripped off!

[Bronco69]

6. Tell him if he keeps a 3.0 GPA throughout high school

and college he can come to my house and my partner will help him cut his first album. We have a recording studio and my partner is a professional musician. LOL! Wait til I tell my partner I just volunteered his services. :-)

[Mizmoon]

9. Maybe he could trade some emails with your

partner. If he made a friend in the music world who could tell him what he needs to do to 'make it', maybe that would help. Do you think your partner would mind doing something like that? I could PM you his email address.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

7. Since you know he's capable of As and Bs...

If he doesn't make them, take away his favorite musical instrument. That'll get him back on track quickly. :shrug:
Duckie

[Mizmoon]

8. He has been grounded from band practice

Which is a fate worse than death in his world. I know what will happen though. He'll do well enough to get it back and then go right back to his no homework ways.

It's a lot like herding cats.

[Richardo]

12. I like this one.

WTG, YRD. :thumbsup:

[YellowRubberDuckie]

17. Thanks...

[bbernardini]

10. Take it from a musician...

Becoming an instant rock star is next to impossible. I've been playing out for years, but it's not as much about talent as it is about luck and the hideous tastes of the majority of the listening public. There's no reason he shouldn't go for it, but he should get a degree to fall back on. Why not music education? I'll admit, teaching, while rewarding, doesn't really match the thrill of playing live in front of a crowd. On the other hand, finding out that a 7th grader bought a Devo CD because of me is an equally fulfilling reward. :)

You might want to point out to him that all of the guys from Queen had college degrees (none of them in easy subjects, if I recall correctly). Doesn't Greg Graffin from Bad Religion have his doctorate?

[Mizmoon]

15. I feel your pain

The bands he and his friends like are a million times better than anything on the radio today. If they played that stuff on the radio I might actually listen to it again. But of course, they don't have 'broad enough appeal' for the music conglomerates. They'd rather play ridiculous crap like Brittney Spears.

I know where you're coming from and have suggested to him the very path you're on - teaching music and playing gigs on weekends and in the summer. But those of us who remember what it's like to be 15 recall that the adult world seems a lifetime away, and adults are a bunch of dunbasses who don't know what they're talking about.

*sigh* sometimes I think he'll have to find out on his own in the year or two after H.S. and then he'll be asking us about that college fund we saved for him - you know, because waiting tables or whatever sucks rocks.

[Ilsa]

19. Re: Queen -- Wasn't at least one of them in physics?

Didn't all of the guys in Chicago have Masters or PhD?

[liberalitch]

11. Expose him to the kinds of jobs that are available without..

an education...
that'll fix him.

[politicat]

13. Try to find the VH1 Behind the Music about TLC

They talked a lot about the business side of the business, and how they had to declare bankruptcy, even after a couple of platinum records.

Take him to a music festival, get him signed up for some of the seminars about things like health care, money management and the like. There are upwards of 1000 benefit concerts a year for musicians to help pay for necessary surgery. Most don't have any health insurance. (I seem to recall Spider Robinson writing about this, but I can't find the article.) Health insurance by benefit concert isn't health insurance.

If you can, take him to South By Southwest. There's a lot of talk there about the industry.
http://2005.sxsw.com/music/

There's no such thing as "being a rock star right away". Cutting an album costs about $70,000, even with current technology to bring down the mixing costs and production costs. And that's before he finds an agent, finds a label, gets the marketing done....

The business side of music is as painful and difficult as the writing business. The advantage of the writing business is that it's cheaper....

Pcat

[bbernardini]

14. Also, make him watch "Bands Reunited" on VH1.

Some of those folks were HUGE, and now a lot of them are working regular office jobs, including party equipment rental and city law office work.

[China_cat]

16. You might want to look at

the relationships between math and music.

http://www.math.niu.edu/~rusin/papers/uses-math/music/
http://www.musicmasterworks.com/WhereMathMeetsMusic.html
http://members.cox.net/mathmistakes/music.htm
http://arts.ucsc.edu/EMS/Music/tech_background/TE-11/teces_11.html

A few links on the subject.

Also, for a teenage boy, anything that is totally gross (like some chem experiments) or goes boom, is a great motivator.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

18. Actually it is just as feasible to make a living from music as other

vocations. Sit down and have a conversation with him about HOW he envisions paying the bills through music. If his only pipe dream is to be a rock star, then get him more grounded in the reality of the situation. Does he know his instrument well enough to sell it during the day while he plays it at night? Can he write commercial jingles? Does he know how too book other musicians? Does he know how to get industry sponsors? Does he play well enough to get their attention?

If he is as dedicated to his music as you say and isn't just ripping power chords on an amp, he may very well be able to support himself but there are a few other things he need to know....accounting, marketing, etc...he should also pick up on geometry rather easily since the guitar is a geometric instrument....physics is useful since the guitar IS a funtion of physics.


If he really wants to make his living from music itself..then EXPAND his interpretation of WHAT MUSIC IS.

Just make it clear to him that anything can happen so he needs to expand his reality. Dr John...famous pianist from New Orleans started out as a guitar player...then he lost a finger (the most common amputation there is in the populace)


SO..support him in his music but GROUND him in the reality of making one's living from music.

:D