5 ways to support your child in piano lessons
#1 - Instrument
This is the most basic tip! Make sure your child has a decent piano to practice on. Although keyboards are cheap and popular, most of them will not replace a real, acoustic piano. Most children view keyboards as toys, and will not take practice seriously on a keyboard. If you realy must use a keyboard, make sure it has all 88 keys, is fully weighted, and is set up in a quiet part of the house conducive to practicing. If you have any questions about the right piano to purchase for your child, don't hesitate to reach out to me personally!
#2 - Practice
Learning the piano requires daily practice (or at least 5-6 days a week, not including lesson day). So many parents and students assume that the work of learning the piano mostly takes place in the piano lesson and that couldn't be further from the truth! Success truly depends on the student spending time every day at the piano at home. For young children, this falls on the parents! In fact, most young children will need a parent to practice with them at least for the first few months/year. An engaged piano parent who knows what the student is learning in their lessons and should be practicing makes all the difference.
#3 - Time
Just because your child needs to be practicing daily doesn't necessarily mean they need to spend that much time! This will all depend on the student. For a young child, as little as 5-10 minutes each day will suffice. That number will grow as the child develops a longer attention span, but for beginner-intermediate levels, 20-30 min/day should be plenty. Quality over quantity is what we are aiming for! Once a child reaches middle school or high school, that practice time may increase (depending on the goals of the child). I've taught some high schoolers that truly just want to have fun at the piano and have no real goals in music and some who have high aspirations. Their practice times will vary greatly depending on the goals they want to achieve.
#4 - Perseverance
Every child will hit their roadblocks along the way. This happens in everything we learn! Be sure to continue to support and encourage your children along the way. Having a parent that reminds their child to remain patient and persist when things become difficult (instead of quit) will better your child in the long run in everything they do. Learning to play the piano has so many amazing parallels to real life challenges!
#5 - Proud parent
This final one is immensely important! I remember growing up having both of my parents eagerly want to listen to what I was working on each week. This made me so excited to practice and show them! Often, they would come into the room I was practicing for a mini 'concert' and I would play songs I was working on, or review old songs I had mastered. Having a parent that shows interest in what their child is working on will make them excited to keep learning and practicing. You really play so much more of a role in your child's music learning than you realize!
In summary, you as a parent play a profound part in your child's musical development. Don't forget to show interest in what they are learning and continue encouraging them along the way. Your child will thank you later!
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