I often attend workshops and conferences for piano teachers and have the opportunity to observe adjudication sessions with piano students from many different age groups. Expressive piano playing ALWAYS comes up during these sessions. Continue reading “Teaching Expressive Piano Playing”
Tag: practicing tips
Piano Practice Tricks That Will Change Your Life
I sometimes feel as though I can’t come up with another way to motivate my strong-willed child to practice. I’ve tried all the piano practice tricks. I’m out of creativity.
Or maybe you have a wiggly worm who can’t sit still longer than a few minutes and you aren’t sure how to get anything accomplished.
Or maybe you have a perfectionist who becomes immediately frustrated when she makes her first mistake during piano practice. Continue reading “Piano Practice Tricks That Will Change Your Life”
Independent Piano Practice: What It Looks Like & Your Role In It
You’ve arrived! Your student is practicing piano independently!
Truly, independent practice is reason for celebration BUT it doesn’t mean that you get to go watch Netflix whenever your student sits down to practice.
You still have an important role to play!
Watch my livecast here to learn what independent piano practice means for YOU — the parent: Continue reading “Independent Piano Practice: What It Looks Like & Your Role In It”
Transitioning to Independent Practice
In my March livecast, I talked about modeling an effective practice (which includes identifying and fixing mistakes) so that your student can not only make practice but also learn to one day practice independently.
As a student becomes a little older and more able to do things independently — read, play games, do a puzzle, complete a task — your child will be ready for you to back off a bit and give her some space while practicing. Your role will become that of a “guide” rather than a “fixer”.
The process of learning new music with a student who is in this developmental stage and beginning to make the transition to independent practice can be broken down to 3 phases. Watch my April livecast below for all the details. Continue reading “Transitioning to Independent Practice”
Fixing Mistakes At Piano Practice
One of the reasons piano lessons are such a big commitment is because in order for the experience to be successful, a parent must be involved in the process — especially if a younger student is the one learning to play — in order to help with fixing mistakes at piano practice.
My goal as a teacher is to help my students eventually get to a point where they are able to practice independently. This means they won’t require constant oversight from a parent during every single moment and will even be capable of fixing mistakes at piano practice on their own.
In order for a student to reach that point, the student MUST KNOW how to practice effectively. Which is why it is critical for parents and teachers to model what effective practice looks like. Continue reading “Fixing Mistakes At Piano Practice”
Identifying Intervals: Why It Matters
When a child learns to read there are many important components to becoming a fluent reader. A child must be able to identify letters and letter sounds, but if he is going to read fluently, he has to move past thinking of each individual letter and letter sound.
The same goes for becoming a fluent note-reader and music player. A proficient pianist isn’t thinking of all the individual notes when she plays a complicated piece of music (can you imagine having all those individual note names flying through your head as you played?!). Continue reading “Identifying Intervals: Why It Matters”
When Your Child Should NOT Practice Piano
Many of us piano teachers love to quote Suzuki, who famously said, “You should only practice on the days that you eat!” but the truth is…I actually disagree with this notion (gasp!). I believe there are times when your child should not practice piano.
I know, I know — so brazen to disagree with Suzuki himself. But my goal as a piano teacher is to encourage a lifelong love of learning. In my experience, if you are constantly forcing a child into practicing the piano when he and/or you are not at your best, you’ll be met with more resistance, less will be accomplished during a practice…and I suspect the “lifelong love” goal shall dissipate quickly. Continue reading “When Your Child Should NOT Practice Piano”
Motivate Your Child to Practice Piano: A How-To
Most of the questions I receive from parents of piano students through the years have been surrounding the topic of practicing piano – specifically how to motivate your child to practice piano.
Practicing piano is a HUGE topic, and there are so many important facets to consider. But let’s focus for now on how to motivate your child to practice piano. Continue reading “Motivate Your Child to Practice Piano: A How-To”
Scheduling Piano Practice: the WHY and HOW
So many parents of my students through the years will say things to me like, “I really just want Johnny to love piano so much that he practices on his own without me having to remind him.”
If your Johnny does this, that is awesome.
And also…rare. Continue reading “Scheduling Piano Practice: the WHY and HOW”
Adding Review to Piano Practice
My daughter’s FAVORITE time in piano practice is what we call “Review Time”. We save this for the end, and it’s always a fun activity that feels like a reward for her. She actually even thinks about it ahead of time, planning which pieces she is going to play for “Review Time.”
In this livecast, I talk about why reviewing familiar music and technique is an important piece of piano practice. I also created a fun printable game that you can download to help get your wheels spinning! Continue reading “Adding Review to Piano Practice”
