Robert A. Cutietta has taught students of all age levels, and says children, to be actively involved in music for a lifetime, should be exposed to music education while they are young.

What is a parent to do? Wait until Johnny or Jane comes home from elementary school with a loaner clarinet or tuba; begin their piano lessons at six years of age; or just help them decide which instrument to study? Good questions, and Robert A. Cutietta, director of the UA School of Music and Dance, has the answers in “Raising Musical Children ­ A Guide for Parents.”

“Raising Musical Children” offers a complete road map for developing a child’s musical abilities from birth through high school. It is written for, but not limited to, middle-class, suburban parents, with or without a musical background.

Cutietta covers areas such as what age to begin music lessons, as well as the “how tos” of choosing a music instructor, matching a child’s personality to an instrument and making the school system work for parents and children. Cutietta’s book was strongly recommended by The Library Journal as a book that libraries should have for a complete collection, and it received a five-star rating from online bookseller, Amazon.com. National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed Cutietta for a 60-minute talk show; the “Chicago Tribune” ran a full-page feature with pictures, and the “Dallas Morning News” did a story that was picked up by syndication, according to Cutietta, who also authored an article for “Redbook.”

He has written three other books on music education and specializes in training music teachers. Through his research of 21 years, he has compared various teaching techniques, studied how middle school children form concepts and examined factors that encourage students to continue their music studies. He has taught students at all age levels including preschoolers and physically and emotionally disabled adults. In “Raising Musical Kids,” Cutietta asserts that children should be exposed to music at a young age. He believes everyone could be actively involved in music if they are guided when they are young.

“There are lots of people who have tons of talent which is never developed. There are also people who weren’t born talented, but they work like crazy and make up for it,” he says. “ I’d rather take students where the talent is a little weaker, but they’re willing to work like crazy. They’ll go far.” Cutietta uses his book to dispel myths, such as the “Mozart Effect,” a theory, which advocates that listening to Mozart for five minutes a day makes a person smarter.

“It’s demeaning to music to say that you’re going to study music to do better in math and elsewhere,” he says. “There is no correlation. It’s definitely a myth that has to go.”

It’s equally unrealistic when a parent says ‘I want my child to take piano lessons as long as it’s fun,’ according to Cutietta. “As soon as it’s not fun or as soon as the teacher’s not making it fun, it’s somehow okay for the child to drop their lessons instead of working through it and getting something valuable,” he says. “I think part of that notion is because musicians make playing look so easy. But it took them a long time and a lot of effort to get to that point.”

“Music is hard work. It’s wonderful, it’s rewarding, but it’s hard work,” he says. “Parents could benefit by knowing you have to struggle through it, then the rewards are fabulous. It’s not just fun and games.” Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Cutietta’s own musical experience began at home. His father, self-taught on the piano, enjoyed music and encouraged his sons to take lessons; Cutietta started on accordion; his brother was a drummer. The 1960’s emergence of the Beatles, Rolling Stones and other high-powered rock-and-roll groups inspired Cutietta to take up guitar, an instrument more suited to the new music. His father allowed him to play only if he completed his accordion lessons first.

By the time Cutietta was 12, he was playing in his brother’s rock band every weekend. “My dad, bless his soul, would go just so I could be there,” Cutietta recalls. “He would sit there until late, then go to work the next day.”

Cutietta, who majored in music in high school, developed a strong foundation in music theory and history. He joined a choir in the 9th grade, where he developed a love for choral music and learned vocal harmonies, then became lead singer as well as a bass player in his band.

After graduation, he worked as a studio or session musician at night and also took college classes. “Although I didn’t expect to, I really liked my college classes, so I continued my studies through to a doctorate,” he says. He began his teaching career with a part-time job teaching music theory and leading middle and high school choirs.

Now, he is teaching college students to be music teachers. “Teaching is very challenging, and it’s perhaps the most under-appreciated art form. In college, music students receive four years of very intensive music instruction where they develop their musical skills,” he explains. “On top of that they still have to learn to teach.”

Cutietta finds that students are committed to their work and willing to do what it takes to succeed. “Training music teachers is a very exciting area to be in,” he says. “As a teacher, you touch the future because you reach kids. As my students become teachers, they will reach out to other kids and it just goes on.”

In his teaching approach, he likes to be interactive, taking a hands-on style even in large classes. He believes that the best teacher is one who, by the end of the semester, isn’t needed anymore.

“In addition to teaching and making music, I developed a love for research and writing about it,” he continues. “I’ve been fortunate to work with doctoral students. They keep me on my toes, and they are always stimulating,” he says, noting that his research is now drawn to two specialized areas.

“One is noise-induced hearing loss in musicians,” he says. “Immediately you think of rock n’ roll people, but all musicians, or many musicians, are at risk, whether they know it or not. Most of my research has been with school musicians. An example is the band director who’s been in the cafeteria rehearsing every day. Or, think about a violinist playing a violin - it’s two inches away from the ear.”

“Another research area I’m involved with is concept development in young children, specifically those in junior high school and how they develop their concept with what music is,” he adds.

Currently, Cutietta is writing a chapter on concept development for the “Handbook for Research in Music Education,” and also is involved in two education projects. The first, the OMA Project ­ Opening Minds through the Arts, is a collaboration among the University’s School of Music and Dance, the Tucson Unified School District and the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, in which UA students go into the schools and perform concerts twice a week for an entire year. The second is a new music school, called PRIME ­ Pride Radiates in Music Education, which will open soon. UA students will be involved in writing the curriculum for the school.

“I’ve started something totally new,” he says. “I’m composing music and scoring a TV show for the National Geographic channel, called “Lost Legends of the West,” which be aired in the fall.” For personal enjoyment, he plays in a rock ’n roll band called “Still Cruisin” at Tucson’s Smuggler’s Inn on the weekends.