Practice Time = Pulling Teeth?!

After the excitement of starting piano lessons has faded, the parents realize that getting the child to practice is actually a problem.  It's completely normal, but children are often excited by the idea of actually being able to play music, but are not so motivated to practice.  It also becomes frustrating for the parent who doesn't know how to read music, when the child declares, "You're not my teacher.  You don't know that this is how I'm supposed to play it."  And the child is right to a point, but this can often leave the parent frustrated or helpless in the process of guiding their children through the musical journey.

In order to try and make this as smooth as possible for both parents and children, I encourage a chart for kids to put stickers on for each day that they practice their music.

Instead of saying that the child needs to practice for a set amount of time, I usually ask that they practice the song(s) we're working on together, 3 times each, for 4-5 days.  The younger the child, the less time they need to spend.  For older children, I push for 30 minutes of practicing 5 days a week.

The other tool I've found helpful is to record the song that the child is to work on, with me giving specific instructions on what they need to focus on, and then emailing that sound clip to the parents.  This helps in eliminating the potential for the child to remind their parents just how un-musical they are!

Finding Their Passion

I recently reconnected with a student who had moved out of state for a few years, but then the family relocated back to the area.  I know this student is shy, but I also wondered if the music we had begun learning was not inspiring him.  I spent part of his lesson explaining the different genres of music and asked which one he'd be excited to learn.  He expressed some interest in classical and blues, but still didn't seem that motivated.


The next week, his mom informed me that he hadn't really been motivated to practice.  But this was the day we would begin learning the blues song he'd chosen.  While I was only going to assign half the song for practice for the week, he insisted on learning the whole son.  Great, I thought, he's enjoying this one.  


Two days later, I ran into his mom at the grocery store. I can't get him off the piano - he loves the music! I was excited for him because I think we've discovered his passion.  Children love the idea of music and knowing how to play it on the piano, but it is not until they own their own tastes for the kind of music they enjoy playing that they actually become musicians.