Piano for Kids

Last Sunday I held my 38th piano recital for my students.  This is always a very exciting time for me, but one filled with anxiety.  I want each student to feel good about their performances.  That does not say that I expect perfection, no human has that, but I want them to feel good that they got up in front of an audience and did the best they could.  Almost all the students had both of their parents in that audience.  For the parents it is always a wonderful chance for them to hear not only their child/children perform, but to listen and study the progress from the beginner to the polished student.

The Piano is a complex instrument to learn, requiring that a student learn a new language, Note Reading (that in and of its self is a big challenge), the concept of timing (very math oriented), make both hands and all the fingers get involved and move smoothly up and down the keyboard, plus all the other techniques required to truly perform a musical arrangement with great proficiency.  To learn all of this takes time, patience, persistence, practice and a willingness on the parents not to want their child to quit piano..

Any teacher has experienced the decision of parents that a child should quit after a couple of years because they “just don’t practice and aren’t making any progress”, or the child wants to quite and the parents allow it.  I have had so many students come back to me who have quit early wishing they had continued or that their parents had insisted they stick it out.  If given time any individual will learn to play with a very special love and enjoyment for it.

So I thank each of my parents for their tremendous support and for keeping their children in music long enough for the child to have a chance to learn the material and develop the skills necessary to play and enjoy the piano all of their lives. 

An only child presents challenges that are often times unique to that child’s situation.  It will be very helpful to gain as much information as possible without preying into the families private lives.  The knowledge will greatly help you understand your young student and tailor your teaching to help the child make good progress in his/her piano education.

If your young student is the only child a couple have been able to have the parents could be very protective of the child.  They could try to do too much for the child because this is their only chance to be parents.  The parents might expect a lot out of the child, which can make the child anxious that they might not please his/her parents.  The desire to give ever advantage possible to their only child the child might be over extended and involved in too many activities. Any of these will have an affect on how the child responds to you and your teaching methods.

Once in awhile an only child is an unwanted accident which the parents tolerate as a fact of life, but they never get too much into the parenting thing.  The parents in this case might have the child involved in every activity they can think of to keep them “out of their hair.”  The child might be hungry for attention and try to distract you from teaching with questions and stories of what is going on in his/her life.  In you they have an audience and lots of individual attention.  This is a rare situation, but if you teach enough students you could have this situation cross you path.

Understanding your young students help you so much as you tailor your lesson structure to each of them.  No two children are alike and each comes to you with a very special set of needs.  Listening and learning about your very young student will help you greatly to be the best teacher possible to each of your students.