How To Help Your Child Excel At The Piano

Learning to play the piano.

If you are wishing to have your child learn to play the piano, or it is an activity that they have expressed interest in learning, then of course you would like to have your child excel at the piano.

Where should I start?

First thing you are going to want to do is get an instrument. Whether you decide to purchase a piano or a keyboard your child is going to have to have an instrument to learn on. Your child will not be able to profit much by taking piano lessons if they are not able to practice on a consistent basis. If you decide to purchase a keyboard, make sure that it is a full sized keyboard, with weighted keys and a pedal. If you don’t you will soon find that your child needs a new one to accommodate the music that they are learning.

You are also going to want to find a piano teacher that has experience teaching piano, music theory, technique and wide range of music genres. Finding a teacher can sometimes take a little bit of time, since not all piano teachers teach the exact same things. Some prefer to stick with one genre, may or may not teach technique and music theory. If you find recitals important for your child then that will also be a factor to consider when searching for the perfect piano teacher.

I do feel the need to stress though, that if you wish to receive a great piano education, you really need to make sure lessons include music theory and technique. If it is lacking either of those, you will find that you are not able to reach goals that you may have dreamed of, and your piano education will be lacking in some of the most vital areas.

Learning to play the piano goes beyond lesson time.

Once you have your child established with their instrument and a good piano teacher you will find that the next step is helping your child develop a routine for their practice time. Even though their piano teacher may ask them to practice a certain amount of time each day/week, they are not able to make sure that their students are doing so. Practice is extremely important if you’re wanting your child to become good at the piano, even if you don’t have a desire for your kids to become a concert pianist putting in some practice time is still necessary for them to be able to play competently without help.

Although some students that I have taught seem to be able to grasp concepts with relatively little effort, as time goes on and their studies become more advanced they will find the need to put in more work to master pieces of music.

I want to be like that!

Often when your child sees someone perform, they think, I want to be able to play like that… it looks easy. The goal of performing music is to play it perfect and effortlessly, however, it takes a lot of work and time for the performer to gain those skills. Not only with years of training but also the work that they put in practicing on the music that you hear them perform.

Having an understanding that it is going to take time to become great at playing the piano, and by time, it does mean years to become a skilled pianist. It does help your child become a little more resigned to practice, even if they don’t wish to, and also know that it does not happen after taking piano lessons for a month or year. But if they are practicing they will see that they are becoming better and after a year of lessons can see how much progress they have made from when they first started.