November Member of the Month

Nov MOM

Meet John, Yiching, and Alex, who is six years old. This musical family resides near Salt Lake City, Utah. When this musical family  isn’t busy working hard at their coffee shop/roastery they are having piano raffles to make practice fun!

Piquet

Q: What’s your musical background? 

I, (Yiching) took piano lessons at a Yamaha music school and with private teachers in Taiwan for about 8 years, until I was thirteen. My husband, John, played Euphonium in high school marching band for 2 years – instead of trumpet – because he says, “I was fourth trumpet in a three trumpet band.” He occasionally plays guitar. Alex has been playing the violin for three years.

Q: Anything fun or unique you’d like to share about your family? 

We’ve had our coffee shop/roastery for more than sixteen years, and Alex was in the shop with us everyday until he started walking around too much! Now Alex helps to taste new espresso once in a while.

Q: How do you structure piano lessons/practice for your family? Any tips to share? 

We homeschool, which allows for a flexible schedule (thank goodness!) Piano lessons or practice during “school time” are usually in between a math or science lesson, and a language or social studies lesson. If Alex is up for it and shows great motivation , he is encouraged to be on the piano until he wants to move on to something else. Music, both piano and violin, is an important part of Alex’s life. He does what we call, “piano raffle” to augment his practices. We write down all the songs he’s learned, put them in a jar, and we randomly pull them out and he plays all the songs. Sometimes he plays violin songs on the piano and piano songs on the violin. He really enjoys music.

Q: How did you learn about Busy Moms/Kids Do Piano? 

Alex had been playing the violin for a couple of years, and most of the time he learned songs by ear (per the Suzuki violin method), and was progressing very fast, and we realized he needed to learn to read music better, and to know more about music theory, in order to have a good foundation and learn the more complex songs efficiently. We thought that a well structured online piano program would best suit our family because of our schedule and Alex’s unique learning needs/style. We did research, watched sample videos and read comments, and learned that BKDP was what we were looking for. Carly had the most well thought out program and her lessons were informative and engaging. Alex loves Mrs. Carly!

Q: Do you have any stories you’d like to share about your musical journey with piano lessons?

Alex showed interest in music at a very early age. We’d always tried different things to engage him since he was very young, and it was when I played the piano that he was the most attentive. He seemed to hang on every note as if it was the most important thing happening in his world, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before he asked to learn to play music. This “musical bond” was created and I love that we can share this connection because of the piano. Now both of us play the piano at home and Alex would encourage my husband to play as well. Piano makes our hearts happy!

Q: What is your goal with having your child learn to play the piano? 

Alex loves music and having piano as part of his day helps with his musical journey, from sight-reading to finger dexterity to composition. Our goal is to support his love of music and having him learn to play the piano is one of the best ways to do it.

 

Alex plays the piano

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