{"id":428,"date":"2010-08-27T23:19:23","date_gmt":"2010-08-27T13:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/denleymusic.com\/wordpress\/?p=428"},"modified":"2010-08-27T23:19:23","modified_gmt":"2010-08-27T13:19:23","slug":"a-little-on-the-subject-of-practising-and-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/a-little-on-the-subject-of-practising-and-parents\/","title":{"rendered":"A little on the subject of practising and parents…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found this article on a site called\u00a0Piano253.com<\/a> and it expresses what I feel about practising so well.\u00a0 I feel it is so important to have parents on board with their child’s practise, to check if anything needs to be read or signed,\u00a0perhaps take notes in your child’s lesson.\u00a0 I even have parents\u00a0record their child’s lesson so they can make the most of it.<\/p>\n

Let’s face it, parents who expect their children to come to lessons each week unprepared, who would rather stay outside cleaning out their car, who take off during the lessons so they can run errands, who don’t believe in checking that their child is actually\u00a0practising the right things\u00a0are simply after a child minding service!<\/p>\n

The focus of many parents is that they want their children to enjoy piano lessons and have FUN.\u00a0 Most children are not going to become piano prodigies, so the main goal is for them to learn a little about music and have fun making music.\u00a0 They tell their child that lessons will be FUN.\u00a0\u00a0 Unfortunately, this is not always the best way to think about lessons because children of today associate \u201cfun\u201d with their other favorite activities and the piano is a lot different.<\/p>\n

First, let\u2019s talk about what \u201cFUN\u201d means.\u00a0 Nowadays, it means something with instant gratification.\u00a0 The piano takes work and dedication and the end result of being able to play songs you love IS fun, but it takes awhile to get there.\u00a0 Also, most children do not consider LEARNING to be fun.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s up to the adults to instill in their children a desire to learn and remind them that the learning process in itself is enjoyable.\u00a0\u00a0During my years of teaching I have noticed that before a lesson parents will say to their child, “Have fun!” \u00a0Then after the lesson the first thing they ask their child is, “Did you have fun?” \u00a0I think a better question to ask would be, “Did you learn a lot of neat new stuff about music and the piano that you didn’t know before?” \u00a0\u00a0I am not saying that piano lessons, or piano in general, is going to be a drag.\u00a0 I am simply saying that compared to what our children are used to these days, the piano is not going to be as easily associated with \u201cfun\u201d as their other favorite activities and it is important to recognize this.<\/p>\n

At the beginning, from the child\u2019s perspective, lessons usually start out enjoyable.\u00a0 The songs are easy, there are exciting rewards for doing well, their parents are enthusiastic and interested in their efforts, and there is a patient teacher dedicating 30-45 minutes to them alone one day each week.\u00a0 However, eventually the child begins to realize that there is a LOT to learn and remember.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 The teacher wants me to hold my hands a certain way but that makes it harder to play the keys.\u00a0 I can\u2019t memorize all the names of the notes.\u00a0 She always makes me count out loud and I HATE doing that.\u00a0 She keeps using these weird music terms and I can never remember what they mean.\u00a0 Do other kids learn all these words?\u00a0 Why can\u2019t I?\u00a0 I must be dumb.\u00a0 This is hard and I can\u2019t do it.\u00a0 This is NOT fun.\u00a0 Why did I think piano would be fun?\u00a0 Mom said it would be fun.\u00a0 This is turning out to be worse than I thought.<\/em><\/p>\n

Children 10 and younger are not able to think long term and plan ahead for the next lesson.\u00a0 They will not even think once about piano until the lesson day comes!\u00a0 Then they realize how uncomfortable they will be at the lesson when they cannot play anything and they don\u2019t know the answers to the teacher\u2019s questions.\u00a0\u00a0 If the student would spend just a little bit of time each day working on the things the teacher tells them to, they would gradually improve and be prepared for the next lesson.\u00a0 But once you get behind, it\u2019s like math class and every difficult thing is compounded.\u00a0 Either the child will end up stuck on the same piece for 6 weeks or the pieces will become more and more difficult and the child will not be able to play the advancing music.<\/p>\n

Mom is too busy working, being a mother to other siblings, being a wife, a friend, a boss, a co-worker, carpooling, managing all the other activities in life, and piano practice does not happen.\u00a0 Besides, who wants to sit at the piano with their child while they fuss and cry?\u00a0 Then lesson day comes and the child gets the LECTURE from the teacher about practice and then the LECTURE from the parent in the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is NOT fun<\/em>,\u201d the child thinks.\u00a0 \u201cI want to quit<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, here is a recap of what we have learned:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0 Parents may think that if piano lessons are taken just for \u201cfun\u201d that it is not necessary to make<\/span> their child practice.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0 The majority of children will not practice without parental supervision.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0 When the student does not practice, piano lessons become stressful and definitely NOT FUN.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0 When practice is not productive then there is no progress and this results in frustration for both teacher and student.\u00a0 A frustrated student will not find lessons to be fun and the child will beg to quit.<\/p>\n

How can we remedy this cycle?\u00a0 First, we must be aware of it, and second, it is up the PARENT to change the way practice occurs at home. \u00a0Here are some more tips regarding practice:<\/p>\n

Children will not practice the piano on their own (let alone practice <\/strong>correctly<\/strong><\/em>) and it is simply unrealistic to expect any student younger than 13 to do this.<\/strong><\/span> <\/strong> If you are worried about your child resenting you for making them practice, or you are afraid they will hate music and the piano, I want you to seriously question those thoughts.\u00a0 I have had experience myself as a student who started lessons at age 6 and then quit because it was \u201ctoo hard\u201d and my mom let me quit.\u00a0 Then I wanted to take lessons again when I was 13 and I had to beg my mom to let me!\u00a0 At that age I was ready to practice on my own.\u00a0 But I always regret how many years I wasted because I was allowed <\/em>to quit.\u00a0 How many famous musicians do you hear complain and have bitterness towards their parents for making them practice?\u00a0 More often you will hear praise from musicians for their parents making them practice when it was the last thing they wanted to do!<\/p>\n

What child is really going to end up \u201chating\u201d the piano or music?\u00a0 If you have a musical talent and you are able to play songs you love on the piano, that is not something that will facilitate hatred for the instrument, but instead quite the opposite.\u00a0 The child will have a greater sense of respect and deeper level of understanding\/love for music, the piano, and their talent.<\/p>\n

If you think practice is something between the teacher and student and therefore you are not going to get involved, that is not helpful to anyone.\u00a0 The teacher has no way of making sure the child practices at home.\u00a0 As the PARENT, you are the only one who can control whether or not practice occurs at home.\u00a0 A child shouldn\u2019t decide IF they practice any more than they should decide IF they do their homework, or IF they go to bed on time, or IF they brush their teeth, or IF they eat healthy, etc.<\/p>\n

One thing I have learned from my experience as a teacher is that there is one common activity that ALL piano students do consider FUN.\u00a0 What is it, you ask?\u00a0 GROUP CLASSES!\u00a0 It\u2019s ok to let out a huge sigh of relief at this point.\u00a0 There IS something that all children will find automatically fun about the piano, and that is having group classes with their peers.\u00a0 As a teacher I schedule group classes for every few months and the kids always ask when the next group class is and they look forward to it a great deal.\u00a0 This time bonding with their piano peers is a great way to keep them motivated and enjoying lessons.<\/p>\n

I sincerely hope that you have found this information helpful and I wish you all the best of luck!\u00a0 Remember:<\/p>\n

The more you practice, the better you will become; the better you become, the more you will enjoy playing and the more you will practice, the more you practice, the better you will become, the better you become, the more you will enjoying playing and the more you will practice\u2026\u2026..<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found this article on a site called\u00a0Piano253.com and it expresses what I feel about practising so well.\u00a0 I feel it is so important to have parents on board with their child’s practise, to check if anything needs to be read or signed,\u00a0perhaps take notes in your child’s lesson.\u00a0 I even have parents\u00a0record their child’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[21,30],"tags":[91,108],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.denleymusic.com\/musicblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}