Practicing

August 7, 2011 § 1 Comment

Still from the "Piano Lessons" music...

One way to get the kids to practice

Other parents gripe about getting their kids to practice the piano. We have enough problems getting dinner on the table and homework done. Are piano lessons going to add one more struggle to our family life?

Boy, I hope not. I would hate to see music turn into misery. The point of music study is to move beyond all that.

In many families, piano lesson peace is as elusive as peace in the Middle East. Teachers insist on a certain amount of practice and demand  well-prepared lessons each week. When there are syllabus exams looming or recitals scheduled, pressure mounts. Student performance is critical to a teacher’s professional standing and self-respect.  The only way to get kids to do more work at home is to get parents more involved. Kids get harassed  about practicing at home, and again at their lessons. Parents feel caught between the teacher and the kids.

I’m a parent, too.  I never liked being the both the enforcer, cheer leader AND the auxiliary teacher with my kids.  I thought keeping them fed and rested and delivered to lessons on time and the bills paid with a smile was the end of my involvement. Mostly what I did about practicing was say, “Gee, that was great! Do it again!” Or, “WHEN you finish  practicing THEN you can play video games until your eyeballs drop out of your head”.

I wasn’t very good at teaching my own kids.  They needed to learn this stuff from someone else. And I  didn’t want some teacher’s demands adding more conflict to our family. We have had plenty of that, thank you very much. Why pay for it when you can get it for free?

As a teacher, the 3-way antagonism has never worked for me. I take a more moderate position on practicing. Home practice is good. More is better. Conflict around practicing that threatens family peace is not good. More conflict, even if it results in more piano playing, is really not good.  And quitting the piano because of practice conflicts is very bad.

Every family is different. It’s possible for parents to encourage, insist, and help with piano practice. But not all parents want or can do this. Not all children accept parental help gracefully. Parental help is the last thing many children want.

Teachers can also have a helpful, non-adversarial role in piano practice. Learning how to practice is really the whole point of piano lessons: how do you learn with the brain and body and time you have. It won’t happen well if the teacher just requires it. It needs to be carefully taught.

Peace. Music. Learning. Isn’t that enough?

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