- Parents will be expected to monitor their child’s practice. This especially applies for younger children who tend to need more guidance and support.
- Practicing at least 30 minutes daily and no less than 5 days a week is ideal and critical for consistent musical growth, positive attitudes, and improvement. Lack of consistent practicing leads to frustration and disinterest in piano and music on the part of the child.
- Here are some practicing tips:
- Ask your child about what they learned right after their lesson
- Ask them what pieces they most enjoy and ask them to perform them for you
- Help them find times that will consistently be used only for piano, and limit distractions during their practice time
- Keep the home piano in tune and in good maintenance. For acoustic pianos, piano tunings should be scheduled once or twice a year
- Have a metronome available, especially if it has been recommended. (I suggest this one from Amazon – Seiko Metronome.)
- Record a video of them playing to send to a family member or friend
- Periodically ask them to explain something in their music that you don’t understand or ask them to teach you one of their pieces
- Ask their teacher for recordings or Youtube videos of the pieces your child is playing so that you can become familiar with how they should sound – listen to these with your child
- Listen to the classical music radio station in car rides on 91.5 FM
- Take them to hear musical performances locally
- Encourage them to spend some time every day playing pieces they enjoy – but remind them that “playing” is different than “practicing”
- Remind them often that practice is hard work, but the results are well worth it!
- Never complain about their practice, even when they have played Old MacDonald over and over!
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Belinda's Piano Studio 