Peden Piano Studio 

How to Help your Child Practice Piano

Friday, September 29, 2017 by Kristen Peden | Practice Tips

Some children are self motivated and never need reminding to practice.  In fact, sometimes you have to tell them to STOP practicing so they can get their homework done or get ready for bed!  That's probably the exception more than the rule.  For those students, practicing has become PLAYING.  They play for the joy of it, for the challenge of accomplishing goals and making beautiful music.  Music has become a medium of expressing their feelings and sometimes they find it hard to stop.  Yes, making music CAN be even more entertaining than being on your mobile device!

But if your child is not there yet, what can you do as a parent to help them be more interested in practicing the piano?  Here are some tips that may work for you.

1. Make sure your piano is in tune. If your piano is out of tune, it's not going to be very fun to play.  It can hurt your ears and cause both you and your student to cringe. Who wants to cringe over and over again? You made the investment in lessons; invest in keeping the instrument in tune as well so your student will want to play it and be able to make beautiful music on it.

2. Choose your keyboard wisely. If you decide to use a keyboard or digital piano instead, make sure it has weighted keys (touch sensitive) and a sustain pedal.  The weighted keys make it possible for the student to play different dynamics (soft to loud), which is essential for playing artistically.  The sustain pedal is required for many of the songs they will be learning. Without it, songs that are meant to sound smooth will come out choppy sounding.  If you need to upgrade, Christmas is a great time to bless your student with a better digital piano.  I guarantee you will see a difference in their practicing.

3. Have the instrument in a prominent place. And ideal location for the piano is somewhere the student will see it often and be able to get to it easily.  Please don't stick it in a corner and pile things around it that have to be climbed over.  The easier the student can get to it and the more often he sees it, the more likely he will play it.  Sometimes I tell my students, "Every time you see the piano, sit down and play something from one of your books. Pretend it is a magnet, drawing you to it."

4.  Be an example.  Do you play piano or another instrument?  Let them hear you play often!  I remember my mother used to play the piano after we went to bed and I would hear her lovely tunes floating up the stairs, lulling me to sleep.  It made me want to practice more so I could play like her.  Seeing or hearing you practice any instrument will be an inspiration to your kids.  If you don't play any, you can go on Youtube and be inspired by others playing and share them with your student.  When I find inspirational videos like that, I share them on the studio Facebook page.  If you find some, feel free to pass them my way.

5. Set the expectation. Have an expectation that practicing will be done every day, just like homework and chores.  If homework has to be done before they can have screen time, it would be easy to add practicing to that expectation as well.  Often kids like to do their practicing BEFORE homework because they're not ready to dive into the books right after school.  It can actually get their brains organized and prepared for doing homework if they practice piano first.

6. Use small bits of time for practicing. If they are ready 10 minutes early before school, suggest they practice a song or two.  If supper needs a few more minutes to cook, ask them to play something on the piano while they're waiting. Practicing doesn't have to be a huge chunk of time and can often be more effective done in smaller spurts more frequently.

7.  Make the goal quality not quantity. It's not about how many minutes they practice, it's about effective practice.  It's about training themselves to play each piece accurately and with artistry.  I try to help them set practice goals at their lesson and will make notes about what skills to focus on.  As a parent, as you are listening to your child play, if you hear them only play through a piece once and it sounded like it needed more work, encourage them to try it again and to work on the areas the teacher pointed out. Ideally, students should be playing through a piece, then practicing challenging sections several times until they are smooth, then playing through the whole piece again.  Of course, there are many different practice strategies and they will vary depending on the level of the child and the structure of the piece.  But back to the point, it's not always helpful to set a specific number of minutes to practice. It's more helpful to set goals for improving pieces. 

8. Be an audience for your child.  Often the students that make the most progress are the ones that have family members that love to listen to them play and provide opportunities for them to perform for grandparents or other relatives.  Encourage them to prepare pieces for school talent shows. ( Let me know if they enter so I can help them prepare. )  Take video of them playing the piano to share on Facebook.  (Make sure you have gotten their agreement first, thought. LOL)  I grew up with the expectation that whenever relatives came over, I should be ready to play something for them on the piano.  When we went visiting, also, if the relative had a piano, I would often get asked to play.  This meant I better have something memorized!  You can encourage your kids by praising them when you hear a polished piece you love coming from their fingers.  Tell them how exciting it will be for Grandma or other loved ones to hear them play. They will practice all the harder to be ready.

9. Be sensitive to their changing needs. If you find that getting them to practice is like pulling teeth, it may be that they need a change of music.  Maybe they would like to work on some popular pieces, or some jazz, or learn how to do improvisation, or need something more challenging or something easier. Sometimes the doldrums hit during puberty and they just need a change of pace to get them through it.  Feel free to get in touch with me if you sense there is a need for an adjustment in the music selection.  I tend to stick with the level books to guide them through the different skills and theory they need to know for a good musical foundation, adding some supplemental books to keep things interesting.  But we can also branch out to do some independent things and customize selections to the student's interest as needed.

I hope you find these tips helpful for encouraging your child to practice piano.  If you have other tips that have worked for you, please feel free to share them in the comments so others can benefit as well.

Happy music making!

Mrs. Kristen Peden