the 'P' word and parents

after teaching for many years now i've observed what makes a good piano lesson, and it all leads back to the 'P' word...practice.

for starters i know the feeling of being that student that walks in knowing he hasn't practice anything since the last time he sat on the same piano bench in his teachers studio, i was a student once to you know. the question of "can i fake my way through this lesson?" looms in your thoughts.

i think of practice like this...if piano lessons once a week was an all you can eat buffet and you ate all you wanted until you were stuffed but after that you didn't eat anything till the lessons the following week you wouldn't be in very good shape, would you? instead you eat meals everyday to sustain your body, that is like practice. a little everyday is better than once or twice a week.

i want you to know that in my experience the students who do well are the ones whose parents are very much involved in their practice routine. kids usually left to practice on their own rarely make good use of their practice time and most of the time get distracted and don't end up doing what they're suppose to do.

the advantage with my setup as a teacher is that a parent is present at every lesson giving the parents an excellent opportunity to listen in and even be interactive in the lesson, to ask questions so they can understand what's being taught and even to learn enough to be their teacher at home (this is something i recommend that every parent take advantage of).

your child of 6, 8 or 10 may not understand the importance of practice but you can and can be their cheer leader at home to help them eat a good serving of piano everyday.