With children back at school the usual arguments about doing homework and who got the best packed lunch are back to haunt us. And another familiar battle for many parents will be trying to get their children to practise their musical instruments. Others may be wondering how they too can get their offspring involved.

Learning an instrument needs a good deal of dedication if it is going to be worthwhile and, more importantly, fun. But as well as the perseverance of the child, a significant financial contribution from the parents is required.

These days the musical options open to children are many and varied. Classical training is still popular, but there are plenty of opportunities for children to learn to play traditional instruments, or the more modern rock and jazz styles.

If you are lucky, your child may be at a school where a music teacher comes in, and children can stay after school and take a lesson. If this isn't the case, or the usual options of piano, with maybe the violin or clarinet in some bigger schools, is too limiting, then a bit of searching is required.

Many music teachers will come to teach in your own home. This is convenient if you can find the right tutor, but it is also quite costly. The Irish branch of the European Piano Teacher's Association (EPTA) recommends that its qualified and experienced members charge not less than £20 (€25.39) an hour for piano teaching. A young student training for a teaching diploma may charge less which may be fine for children starting out, but once they start progressing a more qualified teacher is appropriate.

There are many colleges offering lessons on their own premises which charge rates per term that are good value. The best known in Dublin are the Royal Academy of Music, the Leinster School of Music, and DIT's College of Music. Their term fees work out at between £10 and £15 per lesson. It is worth checking the length of the lesson and whether the cost also covers separate music theory classes.

For those learning classical music - particularly if they hope to take any exams - music theory is a vital component. It is usually taught in groups with children of a similar standard, and helps them learn to read music and deal with technical aspects of their work.

The exam system is well established in classical teaching and gives students something to work towards as well as a benchmark of their proficiency. The Royal Irish Academy offers exams covering all ranges of ability, and they cost from £15 to £50 to sit depending on the level of the exam. Other colleges run similar examination systems.

The academy and some other colleges try to teach the most promising young students, and require an audition before they will accept a child. This usually means that at least some musical proficiency and potential must be shown before entry can be gained.

Outside Dublin there is a number of musical opportunities, but some travelling and parental goodwill can be required. The College of Music in Cork IT is a highly developed faculty, and like the college in DIT, it receives funding from the Department of Education which helps keep costs down. The north and west of the State are the least well provided. Ms Maura Eaton, musical officer at the Arts Council says the more talented children in the north-west have to travel to Dublin or Belfast for lessons.

Those looking to teach their children traditional Irish music instruments will probably find the network of music groups run by Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann a good starting point.

Locally run groups all over the State offer classes to children in all areas of Irish dance, music and singing. The traditional starting instrument is the tin whistle, which is cheap to buy, and allows the children to pick up basic jig and reel patterns. From there they can move into other groups to learn other instruments like the button accordion or fiddle.

There is a strong emphasis in traditional Irish music teaching on performance and, once proficient, children are generally encouraged to form their own groups which can go on to compete in competitions all over Ireland. Because teaching is generally done in groups it is less expensive, costing about £50 for a term of classes.

In addition to the cost of lessons is the question of buying an instrument. A beginner's violin costs about £85, and a beginner's guitar about £50, which won't make you wince too much. But if your child is interested in brass or woodwind instruments the costs rise rapidly, even a basic clarinet costs £350.

Some shops offer a hire purchase scheme on expensive instruments. This allows you to pay 20 per cent of the purchase price and have use of the instrument for three months. If it works out then you pay the balance and the instrument is yours, if not, you forfeit the 20 per cent.

Pianos are one of the most expensive outlays for your musical child with a good-quality upright costing more than £2,000. An alternative is to buy an electric keyboard, which is cheaper and more portable. This will be acceptable for someone studying for lower music grades, but as they improve the real thing may become a necessity.

Parents of wannabe hard rockers will also have to spend some money. A junior drum kit costs £350, and a beginner's electric guitar with a practise amplifier starts at £200. A good place to start asking about lessons is in a musical instrument shop. Several guitar shops also incorporate a teaching service.

Tracking down the right shop or teacher is a difficult business, and many people rely on word-of-mouth contacts to put them in touch with the right people. A good alternative source of information is the Irish Music Network which was set up by the Arts Council to make music more accessible to the public. Its book, The Irish Music Handbook, is an invaluable guide to all things musical in Ireland, and includes a comprehensive list of music colleges.

A final thought to bear in mind is that like most things, your child's musical talent won't simply be improved by throwing money at it.

Good equipment and teaching are important, as is persistence and a will to learn, but true genius may be something beyond most of our aspirations. After all Mozart composed his first work, an Andante in C, at the tender age of five.