PRACTICE TIPS:
SETTING THEM UP FOR SUCCESS
1. Make sure the piano is in a quiet place, where the student can concentrate on the task at hand. Make sure they have a workable instrument and good lighting.
Active younger siblings are not the greatest practice buddies, but you are!
2. Piano practicing can be a lonely experience, especially for young students.
There is no teammates or orchestramates. As a parent, you can be their cheerleader- find something to do in the room when your child practices. Read a book, knit, work on your computer, or listen, and, most importantly, tell them how much you love listening to them making music!
Remember: It is the teacher's job to teach/ fix mistakes; it is YOUR job to love whatever your child plays and always be positive about it.
3. Set a specific time of day for piano practice and schedule it into your week.
The teacher is not at your house to make sure the student practices - it is up to the parent to enforce. Remember how much you love to go to work every day- wouldn't you rather take a day off? But you do what you have to. Piano practice is needed, if the student is to succeed.
4. Set clear expectations- piano practice is a part of homework and non-negotiable.
Set a timer if need be. Help your child by reading practice instructions written in their notebook and make sure this notebook is making it to each lesson and back home.
5. Life happens! Make the practice as consistent as possible for your family.
6. Positive reinforcement is a great tool.
Reward or praise a good choice of remembering to practice piano without reminders, sticking to it, keeping their books in one place, memorizing a measure, etc...
7. Have a dedicated music bag to keep everything together.
8. Parents' attitude is VERY important.
If you are committed, your child will be too. If you have “another activity”, what will you choose? Are you going to choose to be 10 minutes late to a birthday party, or to leave a lesson 10 minutes early to get to that birthday party? Do you consider piano to be at the bottom of their activity priority list or at the top? Your child will pick up on and match those priorities.
9. Communicate with the teacher.
Does your child have special needs? Are there special strategies you use at home that work best? What is the student's learning style? Do not wait for the teacher to “figure it out”, be a partner in your child's education.
10. I hear sometimes: “We decided to quit because he/she does not practice at home." A student is learning by coming to the lesson; absence of home practice just means the student is learning at a slower pace. But they ARE learning!
Active younger siblings are not the greatest practice buddies, but you are!
2. Piano practicing can be a lonely experience, especially for young students.
There is no teammates or orchestramates. As a parent, you can be their cheerleader- find something to do in the room when your child practices. Read a book, knit, work on your computer, or listen, and, most importantly, tell them how much you love listening to them making music!
Remember: It is the teacher's job to teach/ fix mistakes; it is YOUR job to love whatever your child plays and always be positive about it.
3. Set a specific time of day for piano practice and schedule it into your week.
The teacher is not at your house to make sure the student practices - it is up to the parent to enforce. Remember how much you love to go to work every day- wouldn't you rather take a day off? But you do what you have to. Piano practice is needed, if the student is to succeed.
4. Set clear expectations- piano practice is a part of homework and non-negotiable.
Set a timer if need be. Help your child by reading practice instructions written in their notebook and make sure this notebook is making it to each lesson and back home.
5. Life happens! Make the practice as consistent as possible for your family.
6. Positive reinforcement is a great tool.
Reward or praise a good choice of remembering to practice piano without reminders, sticking to it, keeping their books in one place, memorizing a measure, etc...
7. Have a dedicated music bag to keep everything together.
8. Parents' attitude is VERY important.
If you are committed, your child will be too. If you have “another activity”, what will you choose? Are you going to choose to be 10 minutes late to a birthday party, or to leave a lesson 10 minutes early to get to that birthday party? Do you consider piano to be at the bottom of their activity priority list or at the top? Your child will pick up on and match those priorities.
9. Communicate with the teacher.
Does your child have special needs? Are there special strategies you use at home that work best? What is the student's learning style? Do not wait for the teacher to “figure it out”, be a partner in your child's education.
10. I hear sometimes: “We decided to quit because he/she does not practice at home." A student is learning by coming to the lesson; absence of home practice just means the student is learning at a slower pace. But they ARE learning!
A NOTE FROM THE TEACHER:
Learning to play a musical instrument teaches students many valuable lifelong lessons. It teaches them discipline, perseverance, and long term commitment (skills that have been practically eliminated from school curriculum). It provides them the opportunities to appear in public settings, deal with nerves, and find like-minded friends in colleges and communities. It is a skill they can take with them wherever they go. Playing a musical instrument lasts a lifetime.
The benefits of learning a musical instrument are in fact quantifiable and supported by scientific research. Playing piano requires developing multitasking and coordination, forcing the student to read notes in two clefs, arranged in two rows of five lines, with both hands and all ten fingers, following the horizontal movement of the melody and vertical line of the harmony, keeping a steady beat, while counting different length notes, thinking of phrasing, dynamics and balance of the sound, all while creating a beautifully emotional musical image. THAT'S what students learn when they learn to play piano. That's the gift you give them when insisting they “practice piano for 30 minutes”.
Respectfully yours,
Victoria
The benefits of learning a musical instrument are in fact quantifiable and supported by scientific research. Playing piano requires developing multitasking and coordination, forcing the student to read notes in two clefs, arranged in two rows of five lines, with both hands and all ten fingers, following the horizontal movement of the melody and vertical line of the harmony, keeping a steady beat, while counting different length notes, thinking of phrasing, dynamics and balance of the sound, all while creating a beautifully emotional musical image. THAT'S what students learn when they learn to play piano. That's the gift you give them when insisting they “practice piano for 30 minutes”.
Respectfully yours,
Victoria
