Your child might come home with an unusual request for you. He or she might want to play the tuba. Here are some steps that you can follow in order to help your child fulfill this dream.

1. Assess the Reality of the Situation

Your first step is to assess the reality of the situation. A tuba is a huge investment of time, financial resources, and space. You need to first determine if your child is serious about playing the tuba or if this is a passing fancy. You can do this by simply not acting on his or her request, waiting a week, and then asking to see if he or she wants to play the tuba still. If your child is serious, he or she will likely bring it up again during that week. If you're still not sure, explain how much the financial and space investment is going to cost and see if your child still wants to do it.

Next, check to make sure that playing the tuba is going to be feasible. In order for your child to play the tuba, he or she is going to need to get access to one. A tuba is too heavy for your child to carry to school, so if your child walks or takes the bus, he or she is going to need one tuba at home for practicing and another at school. Contact the school and your local instrument store to see if renting is going to be an option and if your child can store the tuba in the band room.

2. Set Up a Practice Schedule

Your next step is to set up a practice schedule for your child. This is especially important if you can only afford to rent a single tuba and it needs to be kept at school so that your child can use it for band. Contact the band director to see if your child can stay after school two or three days a week while he or she is still there for a half hour to practice his or her music. Your child's band director will be happy to help you make sure that your child is engaged in the process of learning an instrument that every band needs but not many children want to play.

3. Buy Fun Music

Finally, in order to make sure that your child continues to enjoy playing the tuba, make sure that you invest in sheet music covers of popular songs for the tuba or other songs that your child enjoys so that he or she can remain engaged.

For more information, talk to a local instrument store about rental options and to your child's band director.

For the tuba and other instruments, contact a business such as Mike's Brass & Woodwind.