Hopes and Dreams

Abstract

This chapter presents portraits of the eight families’ hopes and dreams for their children. The general and musical hopes and dreams were often intertwined. The family profiles in this chapter show a wide range of aspirations as well as approaches to reaching those goals, but one unifying thread is the importance of parents, children, and teachers sharing awareness of the family motivations. This chapter argues that clarifying parents’ hopes and dreams for their children’s musicking is essential to finding the right balance of parenting musically and musical parenting; it is also valuable for school music teachers and private lesson teachers to take time to know families’ motivations for participation in music.