Meet the Idris family from small town Pennsylvania! Dewi, Denny and their 11 year old daughter Abigail.
Q: What’s your musical background?
My Husband (Denny) and I grew up without any formal musical education.
Denny self taught himself guitar when he was in highschool.
Actually, I (Dewi) had a piano lesson for like.. 2 classes (if this counts) with private teacher, but on the third meetup, she quit (Gasp!) Not because of me, but because she found out that she was pregnant and had bad morning sickness and (this is not related to musical background, but… anyway..) A few months later my mom signed me up for dance class. After just one class (guess what?) this teacher also quit with the same reason (I know…I know.. you must be thinking that I was some kind of a wizard-fertile-machine kid back then, me too :D). Back to music, I know one song that I can play on the piano, Beyer no.8. That song introduced Abby to piano and made her want to learn piano.
Abby has been playing violin since she was in 3rd grade, she is starting 7th grade now, so she is pretty familiar with reading music. She is also a member of the junior symphony orchestra in our county.
Q: Anything fun or unique you’d like to share about your family?
Our family runs a small restaurant, so our life is basically in the restaurant. We live there, eat there, and only go back to our house to sleep. The fun part is, on weekends, when the restaurant is not open yet, Abby and I like to try some recipes from Pinterest. She likes to makes everything with matcha or chocolate, she is crazy about matcha and chocolate! The result of our experiments are sometimes good and yummy, but some other times are total Pinterest fails 😀
Q: How do you structure piano lessons/practice for your family? Any tips to share?
The main reason I signed up to Busy Kids Do Piano is so Abby has something productive to do after school while I am working, instead of just going straight to electronic devices. So, I always told her to practice piano everyday after all her school work is done, at least for 15 minutes. To be honest, I just let her practice by herself. Well, at first I promised myself to supervise her for at least a few minutes while she is practising, but it never happened for it is almost a year now (confession of the year). So, thank God for the monthly challenge, it motivates her and for me is a chance to see her progress. As for summer break, the schedule is kind of messed up a little bit, but finger crossed, school just started so hopefully everything back on track again.
My tip is just let it flow, don’t push them to hard, just let them enjoy and love what they are doing, and the result is usually better than if you force them. Well, unless you want them to be a professional piano player, force them to the MAX! Ha…Ha… Kidding.
Q: How did you learn about Busy Moms/Kids Do Piano?
From a Facebook suggestion.
Q: Do you have any stories you’d like to share about your musical journey with piano lessons?
Abby said, one time at school during study hall, all the chorus kids went to the music room. That room has a piano, and she played Beauty and the Beast from Busy kids bonus module. All of her friends gathered around the piano and wanted her to play more songs for them
Q: What is your goal with having your child learn to play the piano?
A short term goal, as I mentioned earlier, was the reason I signed up. The goal was to avoid electronic devices and have more productive activities after school, so mission accomplished! Ok, in a serious way, maybe when she already knows a few songs, she can perform in the restaurant to entertain the dine-in customers. I think, this will be an opportunity for her to build self confidence. The most important goal is for her to enjoy, have fun playing piano, relax, and love the music.
