What Should Piano Parents Know

WHAT A PIANO TEACHER NEEDS FROM A PIANO PARENT? HOW CAN A PARENT HELP THE CHILD WITH PIANO PRACTICE?

It's been only a few days before the new academic year begins and I am in the middle of my preparing (scheduling, buying books for each student, looking for new piano ensemble music and  solo repertoire, writing a  letter to the parents etc).

While doing my preparation reflecting on last academic year,  I deeply felt the need to give a message to the parents of my students and all the parents of piano or any other musical instrument.

Learning to play the piano is not only wonderful but it's also beneficial.

Beyond the technical and musical skills a student can learn, he will develop various other skills and abilities that will help him through his life.

Learning to play the piano requires self-control, focus, discipline, patience, persistence.

Read the article 11 benefits of learning the piano at a young age to find out more about how learning the piano is beneficial for your child.

To achieve their goals and to have a creative and productive musical year, piano students should practice the piano at least 3-4 times per week. Therefore, it is very important to have a piano or a good keyboard at home.

Small children (beginner level) need 5-15 minutes of practicing every time.

Children in higher levels need 30 minutes of practice and as the level goes up, they will understand that practicing time can be up to 2 hours or more.

Practicing the piano must be regularly, at specific time every day in order to create a great practicing schedule for the children which will lead to excellent progress.

By making progress, children feel proud, they have more self-confidence and they feel awesome by creating some good music for themselves, their family and friends.

If students don’t practice enough at a regular base  they won’t have progress and they will get disappointed and loose interest.

IS A PIANO TEACHER IMPORTANT?

Having a private piano lesson with a professional piano teacher is significant.

The teacher will be the guide, he will give the student all the knowledge to become a good piano player.

The piano teacher is the one who will believe in the student’s abilities and support him in his failures.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PIANO PARENTS

The piano teacher is the one who guides and supports the piano student but it is not enough for his development.

Practicing the piano regularly is essential.

The teacher will give guidelines about how much time and how often the student needs to practice but the parents are the ones to encourage practicing at home.

As we all know technology has brought many changes, some are good but some others are not so good.

What I noticed as a parent and a teacher, patience and discipline is extremely difficult for a child to accomplish nowadays.

When a child plays a game on a smart phone or on play station and he loses, he knows  that by just pushing a button a new life is available to restart or continue the game.

Well, life is not a game and children need to learn to set goals and work methodically to achieve them. They need to get over any disappointment or failure and learn to work hard to achieve their goals.

Piano is the perfect instrument to learn if you want your child to develop discipline, method and patience.

HOW CAN A PARENT HELP WITH HIS CHILD'S PIANO PRACTICE

Set up a practice schedule.

Arrange days and time for your child’s piano practice.

Make sure that your child is practicing regularly. At the beginning the child might need a reminder from his parent but eventually practicing will become a habit.

Easy access to the piano

If you expect your child to practice the piano,  the piano or keyboard should be in a place where access is easy.

If it is winter, and the piano is in a cold room while everybody is in the warm part of the house then don’t expect your child to be happy when it’s practicing time. He will probably choose to go somewhere warm and play with something else.

If the keyboard is not plugged in or if it is covered by other things like clothes or books, then don’t expect your child to practice.

Easy access to the piano any time of the day is a must.

Think highly of your child’s practicing time.

Practicing time should be valued by parents.

Sometimes parents ask their child  not to practice on his regular time because of other plans they made for them even if the child explains that he needs to practice his piano. This is wrong. Respect your child’s practicing time.

If parents need their child to be somewhere else when it's practicing time  they can inform the child about their plans from before and they  can find together a new practicing time.

Practicing time is not relaxing time for a piano student. It’s a time of concentration and discipline and this should be estimated by the everyone.

Encouraging and approval

Students need encouragement not only from their teachers but from their family, too.

• Ask your child to play something for you on a regular base, like once a week or once a month.
• Let him give his personal family piano recital. He may invite parents, grandparents, cousins, or neighbors.
• Show interest about his piano playing or piano repertoire and discuss about his progress.
• Encourage him no matter any mistakes. If you think he needs more practice, you should suggest it with a gentle way that is not going to discourage or disappoint him.

Here are some phrases you may use:

• “You played wonderful dear, I can see your progress since last semester. Well done!!”
• “That was really nice!! I can’t wait to listen to the whole piano piece when you learn the 2^nd page as well. Looking forward to it.”
• “It’s amazing how beautiful you perform my dear. It looks like you do practice regularly. Well done!”

 

LACK OF FREE TIME- HOW CAN PARENTS HELP?

Children certainly need some free time when they get home after school. .

During the last few years, I see students that have no free (play) time  because their days are so full of several afternoon activities.

The consequence of this situation is that don't practice at all. When they don't practice, they don’t make progress, they get disappointed,  they feel bad about themselves and they quit piano lessons.

What should parents do and don't do about it?

• Don’t discourage your children by telling them to quit piano.
• Don’t make them feel incapable of learning piano by suggesting they learn another instrument.

 

• Have a conversation with them! Ask them to remember why they chose to learn the piano in the first place. Discuss about the lack of time and the need of practicing time. Let them express their feelings about piano lessons.

Before you have the conversation with your children make a reflection and think about how helpful you are considering practicing. Is there a suitable piano with easy access in your house? Does the child have enough time to practice?

• Create some free time. Are all the afternoon activities necessary? Does the child spend too much  time in the car or somewhere else without doing nothing?
• Set a schedule for practicing and write it down. There are some notebooks available that can help you with it.