The always thought-provoking Douglas Wilson (author of Future Men) has an interesting post on getting boys engaged with music, particularly to worship God but in other aspects as well. His first point?

1. It is more important that your boys grow up masculine than that they grow up musical. You don’t necessarily have to choose, but if you have to choose, you should know which way to go, and should go that way without hesitation.

I doubt anyone loves music in worship better than Doug Wilson, but his point is well taken.  If we’re raising our boys to be men, we expect them to be men in whatever they do – hunting elk, changing diapers, and if so inclined, singing madrigals.

He’s also right to suggest that the problem, for those of us concerned, may not be interesting our sons in music, per se, but in particular kinds of music.  He touches on the role of discipline, the importance of role models, and our own humility and wisdom in getting inside our boys’ heads on the question.  Read the whole thing! (And scroll down through the comments as well … some of them are pretty insightful.)