Rick Jones, a Yamaha piano & a free tshirt

F.A.Q

there are a few frequently asked questions that come my way every time a parent is considering piano lessons for their child...

1. is my child old enough?

there is no straight answer to this question, to put it simply, no two people are exactly the same. i have taught 4 year olds successfully and then not so successfully, then again i have also taught 7 year olds successfully and unsuccessfully. the truth is you never know until you try, piano is not for everyone however at the age of 7 it may not be the right thing but at the age of 9 it might be.

anyone who doesn't know, i suggest to try one month. if that month proves to be a success then we can move ahead, if it's not quite time yet, then we can put it on hold for 6 months or a year and then try again.

2. can my child make it through a 30 minute class?

at times a traditional 30 minute class can be too long for a young child to sit and pay attention, in this situation i see it as my duty to try and make things interesting. this is part of the reason i use the Hal Leonard piano series books to teach from, it makes piano fun for the young student.

at the top of the picture you'll see a cd, i love this about all of the Hal Leonard lesson books, for every song there are two cd tracks to accompany the one song, one is a practice track the other is a performance track. if this won't keep the students attention longer and make lessons and practice all that more fun at home i don't know what else will. 

the accompanying theory work book is full of coloring pages and mazes to make things a lot of fun. i just wish i had all of this when i was a kid.

if 30 minutes is still too long we can tailor the perfect length lesson to suit the student.

3. i don't know how to play the piano, can i still help my child at home?

i encourage all parents to sit in the lessons with us. this way as the child is learning so is the parent, after the lesson i'll ask mom or dad if they have any questions so i can make sure they're equipped throughout the week to help their child with their practice times.

lastly i re-emphasize this, take one month and see how things go, there's no pressure from week to week, month to month to continue but may just turn out that piano was the best decision ever, it was for me. 

thanks mum & dad

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