Skip to content
Teaching Kid's Piano Is Like Herding Cats
Sometimes teaching kid's piano is like herding cats. Impossible. Think of a child at the piano as an animal, a sweet, bright little animal that needs your help. The best advice I ever saw for training animals (or children) was from the Horse Whisperer.
He showed his method for getting the horse used to having a rope around their neck. Instead of jerking the rope suddenly to show who's boss, the Horse Whisperer first gently put the rope around the horse's neck, and then laid the rope on the ground, without holding it. When the horse noticed the rope, he tugged ever so gently on the rope.
The horse looked up momentarily and noticed that someone had a rope. The horse grew to accept the rope without resenting the trainer. The rope was never used suddenly or with unexpected force.
Piano Is Easy
Let Kids Be Kids
That is the type of common sense necessary to train both horses and child pianists.The first thing the wise trainer does is to allow the horse/child to be just that, a child. I don't correct kids constantly. That would be like jerking the rope.
I choose my battles carefully. Once lessons get going, my constant concern is fingering. Try to get the kids to use common sense fingering. The rules alone are not enough. A child, like a horse, needs a little freedom to run.
Don't Force Fingering On Kids
I prefer to have kids seem to discover fingering for themselves, and I do this by gently but humorously tugging the rope (correcting) whenever they make a genuinely poor choice of fingering. Some piano teachers are on that rope every second, correcting fingering, posture, hand position, rhythm, sight reading, hand to hand coordination, on and on.
And you wonder why kids quit the piano? Kids tire very quickly of the rope jerking relentlessly unless you learn to do it judiciously and always with humor.
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
Help Your Child Enjoy The 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
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
