Parents can help make practicing fun!

As discussed previously, we know that practicing can be difficult. A teachers attitude makes a lot of difference. It is good if the student and teacher get along and the student wants to please the teacher. But, it should be noted that parents can make all the difference! You are there every day being the task master. Teachers understand your battle but most of us don't know why you would bother paying for lessons and driving a student around so that lessons are nothing more than another practice session.

Here are a few hints if your teacher hasn't provided you with any:

• Talk you student through the lesson. Your teacher probably writes in a notebook of some kind. Make this notebook your business and get familiar with the books. Explain the lesson to the student and help them understand what is expected of them. This will help you both clarify what goals you should have.
• Give a reward for the number of times the student plays a song or segment correctly. Perhaps a Tootsie Roll or something small for every 5 or 10 times they repeat correctly. Nothing like incentives to get any of us to take action!
• If the teacher has not specified how many times to play something you can use dice. Have the student roll the dice and then that is how many times they play the song or segment. Alter this to meet your students needs.
• Break practicing up into shorter segments. Think of this like some people see exercise. Most people wouldn't mind jogging for five or ten minutes but the thought of 30 straight minutes or an hour is just overwhelming. This is generally how practicing feels to the student. Breaking it into smaller time frames and just doing it here and there through the day will help every one in the house.

Keep a positive attitude. Remember that if your child is not enjoying the lessons at all that there may be bad chemistry with the teacher or they may be struggling. We usually like what we are good at and piano students that have fun actually learn more.

Piano Practice

Many parents want to ask how much time their children or they should put into their piano practicing at home. This, to me, is the bane of existence for piano teachers, students, and parents. We all have this one thorn in common.

As a young girl I started taking piano lessons at the age of 4. I never remember my first teachers making it miserable to practice but I don't remember specifically what they did to create the opposite feeling. I know that I have never minded playing the piano so practicing was not really something a parent had to nag me about. I hated going and sitting with a stern person for 30 minutes while they put up with my mishaps and noise.

When I teach very young students I suggest 10 minute practice sessions. Perhaps for a first grader 10 minutes in the morning before school, 10 after school and 10 after dinner. This makes it so that no one is nagging for 30 minutes straight or listening to a piano train wreck as nerves wear thin through the day. I do think that 30 minutes for any age is the absolute minimum time that should be spent. If you won't commit to 30 minutes I believe you are wasting your money on lessons. Even the most talented of students can perfect their assignments and then use practice time for Hanon, scales, sight reading or extra theory. It isn't like one is every truly finished learning when it comes to music. There is always something more that can be accomplished or learned.