1. Provide opportunities for your child to listen to great music. This need not be exclusively classical, of course, but it is important to include some of the great repertoire for your child's instrument. The music list under "Piano Points" is a good starting point, and I am happy to make recommendations for further listening. You don't have to invest a lot of money in a classical library, though that is always nice- :) you can hear a great deal of quality music for free on Pandora or Spotify, (you could start by setting up a radio station based on a piece that your child enjoyed from my Music List) or you can check out CDs from your local library, as well as from my studio. I also heartily recommend our local classical radio station, WRR 101.1. Listening to a wide variety of good music will form a child's musical taste and make them a more discerning and conscious listener- and if they continue with their musical study, will provide them with a familiarity with much of the literature that they will be studying later.
2. Take them to concerts! There is something magical about the whole experience. Your child may discover lifelong inspiration when they hear a musician of excellent caliber, playing a beautiful instrument and performing moving and thought-provoking music. There are a wide variety of concerts available- free to Bass Hall, symphonies and concertos to solos or choral music, classical to jazz. Find out what moves your child musically, and then support that! Several of the universities around have excellent music programs, and you can hear their student and faculty recitals for free in a more casual setting. There are also free concerts at public and university libraries and area churches, which are usually advertised on their websites and on the radio. We also have several specialty groups in this area, for example those who perform Baroque (think Bach era) music on some amazing period instruments to small chamber ensembles to groups presenting outdoor concerts around the Metroplex. If you need help finding good, affordable concerts, please ask!
3. Make sure your child is set up to practice well- that they have a decent instrument, a quiet place to practice, and a dedicated time at which to practice. Try to work practice time into your family's schedule and routine. Making practice a way of life makes it so much easier for the student! Practice is not just an optional exercise, nor is it just about passing the pieces that week! Piano study is about building mental and physical skills, and like any other discipline, skill building takes practice! Good,natural technique, competent sight playing, or a comfort and familiarity with the piano will not come if they are only exercised at weekly lessons.
4. Consider an acoustic piano! I can't say this enough- while an electric piano may be enough to limp along, learning notes and reading skills, for the first year or two, you cannot hone technique and cultivate a beautiful sound on an electric piano. The mechanics are different, and what is required to produce certain sounds and articulations is also different. The acoustic and electric pianos are both lovely instruments, and imminently useful, but they are different instruments! That, and cost and space are surprisingly easy to work around. An upright piano is only a few inches wider than an electric, though it is a bit deeper. A used piano is often little more, if at all, expensive than a quality electric. And, an acoustic piano will last, whereas an electric absolutely MUST be replaced with an acoustic after the first couple of years of study. Suzanne, a fellow piano teacher, says it well:
"If you want your child to learn to play classical piano, you are really going to need an acoustic piano in your house. Really. You want them to fall in love with the sound and the feel of the instrument so that every note is a revelation. No love, no long-term relationship. That's how it works. Acoustic pianos aren't more expensive than a good weighted keyboard.They do take up space, and you have to pay $100 a year to tune them, but that is less than two tanks of gas. Keyboards are lovely, but they are a different instrument. If you listen to my friend, Keir Coleman Ward, who is a master of both the piano and the keyboard, you'll see what a keyboard can really do that a piano can't touch. For classical lessons, though, your child is not going to want to play Mozart and Bartok and Debussy on your keyboard after a short while, and they are going to quit lessons and you are going to wonder why they couldn't stick with it and it is going to break my heart when they leave my studio and I am going to miss them more than you can imagine. Buy the piano. Any piano that has 88 working keys and holds a tune. $500 on craigslist will do it. Don't wait to see if they like it first. They can't like what they don't get to play."
They can't like what they don't get to play- so, so true!!
More Parent Tips in part 2!
2. Take them to concerts! There is something magical about the whole experience. Your child may discover lifelong inspiration when they hear a musician of excellent caliber, playing a beautiful instrument and performing moving and thought-provoking music. There are a wide variety of concerts available- free to Bass Hall, symphonies and concertos to solos or choral music, classical to jazz. Find out what moves your child musically, and then support that! Several of the universities around have excellent music programs, and you can hear their student and faculty recitals for free in a more casual setting. There are also free concerts at public and university libraries and area churches, which are usually advertised on their websites and on the radio. We also have several specialty groups in this area, for example those who perform Baroque (think Bach era) music on some amazing period instruments to small chamber ensembles to groups presenting outdoor concerts around the Metroplex. If you need help finding good, affordable concerts, please ask!
3. Make sure your child is set up to practice well- that they have a decent instrument, a quiet place to practice, and a dedicated time at which to practice. Try to work practice time into your family's schedule and routine. Making practice a way of life makes it so much easier for the student! Practice is not just an optional exercise, nor is it just about passing the pieces that week! Piano study is about building mental and physical skills, and like any other discipline, skill building takes practice! Good,natural technique, competent sight playing, or a comfort and familiarity with the piano will not come if they are only exercised at weekly lessons.
4. Consider an acoustic piano! I can't say this enough- while an electric piano may be enough to limp along, learning notes and reading skills, for the first year or two, you cannot hone technique and cultivate a beautiful sound on an electric piano. The mechanics are different, and what is required to produce certain sounds and articulations is also different. The acoustic and electric pianos are both lovely instruments, and imminently useful, but they are different instruments! That, and cost and space are surprisingly easy to work around. An upright piano is only a few inches wider than an electric, though it is a bit deeper. A used piano is often little more, if at all, expensive than a quality electric. And, an acoustic piano will last, whereas an electric absolutely MUST be replaced with an acoustic after the first couple of years of study. Suzanne, a fellow piano teacher, says it well:
"If you want your child to learn to play classical piano, you are really going to need an acoustic piano in your house. Really. You want them to fall in love with the sound and the feel of the instrument so that every note is a revelation. No love, no long-term relationship. That's how it works. Acoustic pianos aren't more expensive than a good weighted keyboard.They do take up space, and you have to pay $100 a year to tune them, but that is less than two tanks of gas. Keyboards are lovely, but they are a different instrument. If you listen to my friend, Keir Coleman Ward, who is a master of both the piano and the keyboard, you'll see what a keyboard can really do that a piano can't touch. For classical lessons, though, your child is not going to want to play Mozart and Bartok and Debussy on your keyboard after a short while, and they are going to quit lessons and you are going to wonder why they couldn't stick with it and it is going to break my heart when they leave my studio and I am going to miss them more than you can imagine. Buy the piano. Any piano that has 88 working keys and holds a tune. $500 on craigslist will do it. Don't wait to see if they like it first. They can't like what they don't get to play."
They can't like what they don't get to play- so, so true!!
More Parent Tips in part 2!