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Help Your Child Enjoy The Piano
Here are ten things you can do to help your child enjoy the piano. Many of them need to be done before your child plays a single note.
Piano Is Easy
First
Find the right piano teacher. Unless the child enjoys spending time with this person, you are wasting your money.
Second
Don't get a piano teacher because they have a reputation for results. Get a piano teacher who the kids like. Ask kids, their parents and others about prospective piano teachers.
Third
Don't insist that they practice. Ever. That is the piano teacher's job.
Fourth
Ask them to play you a song. If they have a good teacher, they will be working on a song they like and will be happy to show off. I'm going to repeat #3: don't insist they practice. If they have to be nagged, something is wrong, and it is your attitude.
Fifth
Get a decent instrument. It doesn't have to be a Steinway, but you'd be surprised how many parents expect a child to enjoy playing a piano with stuck keys, no pedals, etc.
Sixth
A decent electronic keyboard, no matter how cheap, is better than a piano that doesn't work properly.
Seventh
Don't compare your child to any other, either to the child or yourself. The reason for this is that playing the piano is completely dependent on the stage of brain development. Thus, each child will be radically different in their abilities, just as they are different in personality.
Eighth
Play piano music recordings in the house. You don't have to explain, just have the sound of the piano present at times. If you can play, play.
Ninth
Don't take it too seriously. If you do, you will put pressure on the child, often with disastrous results.
Tenth
Praise your child's tiny accomplishments at the piano. You have no idea how difficult it is to play anything properly at the piano. A child should be praised simply for trying.
REFERENCES
Piano Teaching Style
If It’s Fun For The Teacher, It’s Fun For The Kids
Piano Methods and Children’s Personalities
The Backwards Piano Method
Reverse Psychology and Children’s Piano
Ten Rules for A Pleasant Piano Teaching Atmosphere
If You’re Having Fun, You’re Not Learning
The Difference Between the Worst and Best Piano Teacher
A Piano Teacher’s Emotions
A Pleasant Piano Lesson Atmosphere
The Use of Humor in Piano Lessons
Make Use of Your Student’s Sense of Humor
The Piano Whisperer
Fitting the Piano Method to the Child
Soft Piano vs. Hard Piano
Why I Teach Piano
Advice To A Young Piano Teacher
Teaching Children's Piano
Guilt Is The Wrong Way To Buy Attention
The Piano Teacher’s Tone of Voice
Knowing When To Back Off
Piano Candy: The Case For Bribery
Why Nagging Your Child To Practice Won’t Work
How To Make Your Kids Love The Piano
Teaching Kid’s Piano Is Like Herding Cats
Repeated Victory Will Make You Invincible
Ratio of Talk To Activity in Piano Lessons
On Which Side of the Piano Do You Teach?
Setting the Mood Of Children’s Piano Lessons
Why Kids Succeed At The Piano
Child Pianists Are Like Guide Dogs
The Purpose Of The First Five Piano Lessons
The Real Goal Of Children’s Piano Lessons
The Philosophy Of Piano For Kids
How Simple Should Piano Lessons Be?
Piano Toys You Should Bring To A Lesson
Fun Kid’s Piano
Joyful Piano Lessons
The Invisible Piano Method
A Patient Piano Teacher
Make Beginning Piano Simple
The Reverse Piano Method
Nurture Your Piano Students
Against Disciplinarian Piano Teachers
