Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What are the important benefits of learning to play the piano?
- How do I know my child is ready for piano lessons?
- How do I find a competent teacher? How do I find the "right" teacher?
- What can I do to make the most of my interview with a teacher?
- My child has been taking piano lessons for a year or two but does not seem to be progressing or seems to be losing interest. Should I look for a new teacher?
What are the important benefits of learning to play the piano?
- Increased abilities in language arts and math (based on university psychology study with preschoolers)
- Increased coordination and flexibility (MD Rx for patients with arthritis)
- Expanded concentration
- Further development of self-discipline
- Further development of problem-solving skiills
- Exercise in following through on a long-term commitment
- Satisfaction of achieving a standard of excellence in a skill
- Greater self-confidence
- Added initiative and ability to participate in other musical activities
- Creative outlet for self-expression
- Relaxation from stress
- Further enrichment of student's life and that of their family
- Just plain FUN!
How do I know my child is ready for piano lessons?
- Some children can be ready as early as age 2 1/2 or 3 for piano lessons and many are ready at age 4 or 5 especially if older siblings have been taking piano lessons, but most children are not ready until the age of 6, 7, or 8. There are several ways to determine your child's musical interest and keyboard readiness.
- You can start by completing the "Readiness Survey" found in the "Prospective Student" section in the left menu bar. This survey gauges your child's interest level, cooperation level, learning readiness, symbol reading readiness, and music writing readiness.
- You can enroll your child in an early childhood group music class offered by a music school or by your local parks and recreation. These classes generally run from six to 12 weeks, usually require parent attendance depending on the age group, and introduce the child to fundamental (movement to music, singing, steady beat, low/high/slow/fast sounds, etc.) as well as more sophisticated (harmony, improvisation, keyboard readiness) musical experiences. Because you the parent are present, you will be able to observe your child's responses and potential abilities. Also, because the classes are usually self-contained and have a termination point, you and your child have the freedom to discontinue should you discover your child is not ready or is not interested in learning music at that time.
- You can choose to enroll your child with a private teacher who is experienced in working with very young beginners. Keyboard teachers who are trained in early childhood music programs such as Kindermusik.com, Music for Young Children, Musikgarten.org, Yamaha (Google Yamaha piano teachers), or Suzuki (Google Suzuki piano teachers) can offer an added advantage to assessing your child's readiness. These programs sometimes offer four to eight week introductory courses during the summer to help you and your child determine if you want to make a further commitment during the school year.
How do I find a competent teacher? How do I find the "right" teacher?
- Ask your friends whose children you have heard play musically and are enthusiastic about their music learning
- Consult music teacher association directories such as mtac.org or mtna.org. These organizations accept music teachers who have attained the proper music credentials and proven their knowledge about successful music teaching. These organizations also offer continuing music and pedagogy education for their member teachers and incentive programs/performances/scholarships for those teachers' students.
- Trust your intuition when you are interviewing with a teacher. You know your child's personality best. You also can gauge whether you as the parent or adult student can relate well with that teacher.
What can I do to make the most of my interview with a teacher?
- Make a list of questions relating to the student's musical needs and life situations (e.g., How are make-ups handled when the student has a schedule conflict? Do you teach jazz and pop as well as classical? Have you had experience working with an A.D.D. child? What is your philosophy about learning piano as a hobby? What is your philosophy about entering students in competitions? etc.)
- If you or your child have taken prior piano lessons, have a list of music books handy with the most currently used materials at the top of the list.
- Gather any evaluation (Certificate of Merit™, Guild, etc.) documents from previous teachers and sort with the most current keyboard proficiency level on top. Refer to them in your telephone interview and present them to the interviewing teacher when you meet in person.
- Decide if you and your child will need a sample lesson or a face-to-face interview meeting with the teacher. When you call, ask if the teacher is willing to include a 15 or 30 minute sample lesson with your child to determine rapport and teaching style. Offer to pay for that portion (sample lesson) of the interview time as a courtesy for the teacher's extra work and assessment. The teacher may require your child to perform his or her favorite piece if he or she has taken prior lessons. This and other tests aid the teacher in assessing the student's progress and current level as well as determining music strengths and weaknesses.
My child has been taking piano lessons for a year or two but does not seem to be progressing or seems to be losing interest. Should I look for a new teacher?
- Before deciding to look for another teacher, first make an appointment with your current teacher to discuss your concerns. Most likely, the teacher is aware of the situation and may already have a strategy in place. Discussing with the teacher your awareness of the situation allows the teacher to include you in his/her planning and thus ensure that your child receives double support. If the teacher is unaware, then s/he will thank you for bringing the matter to their attention so that a strategy can be determined and again, both teacher and parent help to sustain the child's interest and ensure his/her success in music learning. How is it that a teacher may become unaware? Sometimes, students who want to please their teachers will show interest and initiative at their lessons and will actually progress by the end of the lesson with the teacher. If the student is engaging during the lesson, the teacher may conclude that the slower rate of progress is that student's best effort, not knowing that the student at home may only be "putting in practice time" but not engaging or monitoring as s/he does at the lesson. A parent's input can correct this misperception and prompt the teacher to help the student set a higher practice standard. This might require more parent involvement with giving auditory feedback for the student so s/he knows the way he practices makes a difference just as it does at lessons. Effective student monitoring of their home practice will bring more successful playing results which often boosts interest. Also, setting performance goals might be a needed incentive for your child. If s/he knows s/he will have the chance to perform a piece in a month for an event, s/he may become more motivated to practice toward that goal.
- Discuss with your child about his/her interest in wanting to play the piano. Notice I did not say ask your child whether he or she wants to continue lessons. Most students want to play the piano but do not enjoy practicing the piano, especially when they encounter common difficulties with their reading, counting, or coordination skills in piano learning. Expressive piano playing is a very complex skill. Children often do not understand the consequences of their decision to stop an activity just because they find it becoming difficult to do. It is human nature to dislike something which (1) requires extra effort and (2) makes us feel inadequate until we have mastered the skill. All learning demands effort; some students struggle more than others with different aspects of piano playing. An experienced teacher recognizes a student's musical weaknesses and equips the student with strategies to tackle their obstacles to playing the piano well. If your child answers that he or she does in fact LIKE PLAYING the piano, then he or she can be advised that continued practice is all the more important to attaining that goal (of being able to play the piano well). Piano learning is analogous to hiking up a mountain trail--the climb is sometimes easy, sometimes grueling, many times takes perseverance and determination, one step at a time. You're not thrilled about getting stuck on a plateau, you're glad for the vista points along the way, but you can't wait to get to the top and when you do finally arrive, the view at the top is worth every bit of the extra effort!
- It is possible that even after discussing with the teacher and attempting new approaches and even new music over a given time period, that progress and interest still wane. If you have tried all possibilities with the current teacher or have realized that your child is not responding as well to the current teacher, then you certainly can exercise the option of finding another teacher. A wise teacher would even suggest to you that a change of teacher might be helpful for a better blend of a student's learning style with a teacher's teaching style. Sometimes, a teacher with more diverse skills to offer (jazz, rock and roll, improvisation, playing by ear, composition, etc.) might spark an area of interest within the student so that s/he is motivated to keep up with the rest of piano learning as well.