Piano for Kids

WHOW, this is really an area of great importance!!!! Parents can have all the interest in the world in their children, but if there is a general negative attitude in the home, the young children pick up on this very quickly.

If you have a child that in words or actions is telling you; “I can’t do this,” you need to give sincere effort to try to find out what is the basis of this attitude. In my personal teaching experiences I have found upon visiting with one or both parent that there is a negative attitude within the home. The type of attitude that says, “I’ll try, but I probably will not succeed,” or “That just can’t be done”.

A positive attitude is probably one of the greatest assets any person can have! I always have loved the children’s story, “The Little Engine That Could”. We have a much better chance at success in any endeavor if we think we can succeed. If this attitude comes from the child’s home it is a wonderful gift to that child! However, if it does not, it is a very important part of your job as a teacher to instill that attitude in the child about his/her music. Your success might help that attitude grow within the child, thus helping him/her succeed in other areas of his/her life.

Young children are so sensitive. As I said earlier, they may not completely understand what they feel, hear, or sense, but it does have a major effect on their learning. Their sense of security and well being comes from their parents. They try hard to do things that bring happiness to their parents. This helps them feel as much joy as it does their parents. If the parents are interested in the child’s progress, the child will try to please them if at all possible. Even if the child is struggling at some point along the road to success, the fact that their parents are interested and care about what they are learning will help so much in keeping them focused on the task ahead.

In today’s world there are so many interesting and fun distractions for young children. What child wouldn’t prefer to play “Nintendo” or watch TV to practicing the piano which is at this point frustrating to them? Only with the wonderful interest of the parents in their success in the endive learning piano will a child is willing to leave the fun and games for the more frustrating task of practicing. The few moments they take out of their busy day to ask the child if they will share this week’s assigned piece with them will pay off with a handsome reward for both now and in the future.

Anxiety about the child success will have the completely opposite effect on the child. If the parent is anxious about the child succeeding the child becomes tense and fearful. They will try not to practice because they fear they will not please their parents, something that does not bring the child happiness or success.

We all know that siblings quarrel and argue amongst themselves and it is something as a teacher we take in stride. There is only one part of this type of behavior that we must address as teachers. When a brother or sister teases or criticize your student about his/her taking piano lessons or how he/she is playing, you might need to work with you student to help him/her handle their feelings. As most young students are struggling with learning to play such teasing may be hard to shrug off and can have devastation effects on a student.

Personally I try to handle it with the student first with a little gentle psychology. Since every person in the world is unique and special I talk to my young student about how wonderful it is to be special and unique, not like any other person in the world. As such a person he or she will do things much different than anyone else in the world. I stress to them that they must be proud of what they are able to do, that their progress will be unique just like they are and can not be compared to anyone else’s. It is not always easy to convince my little ones that it is truly great that they are struggling to learn music and they will be good one day. If a sibling is giving them a hard time about not being good or if it is a boy, being a sissy to take the piano it can be truly difficult to keep a positive focus about music and lessons. One thing I have found very helpful is to invite an older student to come in and play something really “neat” for the younger one and talk to the younger student a little bit about his/her own experiences in music. This is a real positive approach.

I truly like to build up good feelings and confidence within my young students, so will only turn to the parents to speak to the older child who is doing the teasing as a last resort.

I want to share with you some of the many lessons I have learned from my years of teaching piano and music. Many of my students over the years have started with me at age 5 and 6. I have started students as young as 4. I have learned that they are very different to work with than my student that have started when they are 9 or above. The students that are 7 and 8 when they start are an interesting blend of traits I find in my younger and older students. For this age group so much will depend on their maturity at the time they start.

One of the most important factors I have learned is truly important to learn to deal with in my young students lives is the effects of stress. It can come from stress in their parents’ lives, their siblings’ lives or in their own. Since stress does not come just from what is happening in the child’s life, it is very important to visit with the parents when possible. These does not mean that you should be “nosey”, but you can pick up a lot in the sound of the parents’ voices once you have gotten to know them a little bit. It is amazing what this will reveal to you when you put it in a practical frame work of your own life experiences. How do you react when you have had something stressful happen in your life? Are you the easiest to live with? I don’t tend to be anyway. How about when you are really tired and feel like you just can not get everything done. Though we many try to cover up these stress when it comes to interactions with our children, it is next to impossible. Older children have developed a way to reason these things out and are somewhat better, in most cases, to not let it completely disrupt their lives, but for the children in the age group of 4 to 6, they just have not matured enough to do this. Instead they will come to you nervous and anxious, getting upset at any correction or raise in your voice tones. When you see this you need to be gentle and understanding with them. Your main goal for them is keeping them in music, so you succeed with them, yet they are so sensitive that lack of understanding in these moods can turn them away from music all together. If the mood continues for more than a couple of weeks it would be wise and beneficial to call the parent and talk to them in general about how you feel the child is progressing, listening to see if you sense parental stress might be causing the problem. If you feel it is appropriate you could discuss with them the child moods at his last lessons. As you are a teacher the parent should be willing to share with you what she or he feels might be the cause.

I can not over-emphasize the importance of getting to know your piano families. This is so important to your success with each individual child. Children are very sensitive little individuals. The structure of their home environment does affect their learning ability. No, I am not suggesting that you be a “nosey” individual, but you do need to keep your “ear to the ground”. There is so much that you can pick up by casual conversations with your students parent. A few moments spent with the parent that drops off or picks up a child could give you valuable insight into your student’s world.

What are you looking for:

1. Does there seem to be stress in the parent’s voice?

2. Is there quarreling among siblings?

3. Is there interest in the child’s progress or anxiety?

4. Is there a positive attitude or a negative one?

5. What is your student’s placement in the family?

6. Are there some children in the family that do not do as well as other?

7. What are the age differences in the children of the family?

8. Or are you working with a single child?

9. Are both parents involved in the child’s life?

There are many other aspects we will discuss in future visits, but these will give us a good start. But, first I want to give you time to think of these yourself. I will give you my views on each in our upcoming visits.

Have a great day and may your experiences in music education bring you great happiness.