Posts Written Just for Piano Parents
Hearing your child play music is one of the most wonderful sounds in the world! Imagine your son or daughter sitting down at the piano and playing beautifully. Classical music, Jazz, music for holidays and celebrations. Envision you child really playing, really enjoying the piano for a lifetime. What better gift could you give? Here are 10 ways to make that dream come true. Continue reading
School is starting and you may be thinking of signing your child up for piano lessons. Maybe you play yourself and you know how awesome it is or maybe you don’t but you would love for your child to learn. There are many great reasons for your child to learn to play but there may be some things that are holding you back. Let’s take a look at those reservations one by one and how to overcome them, so you can feel comfortable and enroll your child in piano lessons. Continue reading
Studio Policy- An annoying list of rules and expectations that a piano teacher would rather not bother with, usually presented as quickly as possible at the start of lessons, which students and parents may or may not be asked to sign and may or may not adhere to depending on how forcefully the teacher enforces said rules and expectations. The official Studio Policy is often printed on disappearing paper or featured on an obscure page of a Studio website. Either way, nobody likes them. Continue reading
Before we begin the count-down, let me set a little scene. I am a piano teacher mom so we have a studio in our home. It’s a room that has my Kawai baby grand piano and all of my other music stuff. It’s where I teach all of my students. My boys also like to “practice” in the studio. Which works out just fine. I have always encouraged my boys to practice their instruments. Continue reading
Piano teaching is one of the few completely unregulated jobs left in the U.S.. To be a piano teacher you need not apply for a license or have any specific credentials. Literally anyone can hang out a shingle declare themselves a piano teacher! So it’s important to do your homework when selecting a teacher for your child because finding a great teacher can be tricky. Continue reading
School will soon be out, summer will soon be here, what does this mean for piano teachers and students?
Summer is finally coming. Great news for kids and school teachers to be sure. But for parents?? Summer can be a mixed blessing. While the pressure of school work being off of children and families is a relief, trying to organize vacations and keep kids busy over the summer can be a challenge. Life for parents is so demanding! It’s tempting to just want to take a break from all of the activities that take place during the school year. I am often asked if students should take piano lessons over the summer
my answer is a resounding yes! Here’s why; Continue reading
I found this article on Forbes it is very interesting.It’s sure to be music to parents’ ears: After nine months of weekly training in piano or voice, new research shows young students’ IQs rose nearly three points more than their untrained peers
The Canadian study lends support to the idea that musical training may do more for kids than simply teach them their scales–it exercises parts of the brain useful in mathematics, spatial intelligence and other intellectual pursuits
.“With music lessons, because there are so many different facets involved–such as memorizing, expressing emotion, learning about musical interval and chords–the multidimensional nature of the experience may be motivating the [IQ] effect,” said study author E. Glenn Schellenberg E. Glenn Schellenberg , of the University of Toronto at Mississauga. Continue reading
Is it really necessary to have a teacher? Can’t I just learn to play the piano online? I have yet to come across anyone who has really started as a beginner and has learned to play using a strictly online course. Here are some of the reasons I think it is important to have a teacher; Continue reading
There are many reasons to learn how to play a musical instrument. Here are a few:
1) Music study is good for the mind; many studies show that over all children who study music do better in school.
2) Music study builds concentration, and focus. Having to practice and learn to read and play music requires a high level of mental engagement.
3) Music study gives people the experience of working toward long term goals. It takes and patience time to prepare a piece of music that is ready to be played for others. Continue reading
“What is the best age to start piano lessons?” this is a question I am often asked by parents who dream of giving their child the life long gift of playing the piano. I believe that it is good to start learning the piano at a young age, but how young is too young? and, is it ever too late to begin learning to play the piano? If you ask ten different teachers, you’ll probably get ten different answers, but here are my thoughts about when to begin piano. Continue reading
Before we begin the count-down, let me set a little scene. I am a piano teacher mom so we have a studio in our home. It’s a room that has my Kawai baby grand piano and all of my other music stuff. It’s where I teach all of my students. My boys also like to “practice” in the studio. Which works out just fine. I have always encouraged my boys to practice their instruments. Well anyway, one day, one of my sons, whom I’ll call Johnny (his real name) was in the studio “practicing” his violin. I had a friend over and she was really impressed with this. “Wow! Johnny is really practicing hard” she said. “No he’s not.” I told her. “What do you mean?” she asked “I hear him, he sounds great”. “OK. Yes, he sounds great”, I told her. “He’s very talented, but he’s not practicing right now, he’s playing, but he’s not practicing” My friend turned her right palm over and raised an eyebrow as if to ask, “What’s the difference?”
Alas, what is the difference? Continue reading
Piano Teachers and Piano Parents Take Heart! Encouraging kids to keep going with piano lessons is no easy task. But the benefits of music study are beyond measure. I recently came across a fantastic article on the American Music Parents website. The article is entitled “Preparing children for the Creative Economy” I found it very interesting.
We all know that the worldwide economy is changing, This isn’t the first time, the last change was from a largely agrarian work environment to an industrial one. The work paradigm that Boomers and Gen-xérs grew up with is quickly evaporating. The idea that you study hard go to college and immediately come out and find the job you had been training for is now no guarantee. Today’s young people are entering a new economy, “The Creative Economy”. Continue reading
Once you have decided on piano lessons for your son or daughter you will need to find a teacher. Fortunately, there are many fine teachers out there. Of course you want to find a good teacher so that your child will learn and have a wonderful experience. This begs the question what is a good teacher? Continue reading
The true cost of learning the piano is…(drum roll)…are you ready for this? You’ll be amazed. The true cost of learning the piano is $169.95!! How do I know this? It popped up while I was online. In fact I see this ad everywhere. It seems the internet gremlins know that I’m a piano enthusiast so I am constantly solicited by people selling piano stuff: on my Facebook page, in my email, everywhere. Everyday I see this ad! It says “Master the Piano in 4 Weeks”.* Really? 4 weeks? And it only costs $169.95. Sounds too good to be true. Continue reading
I love it when families make a big deal out of their child’s first music lesson. Because, it is a big deal. Giving you son or daughter music lessons is giving them a gift that will last a lifetime. It isn’t easy or inexpensive, but it is in a word…wonderful! I know kids don’t always appreciate having to practice, come to weekly lessons and participate in recitals but you should feel great about being a “music parent”. I obviously took lessons as a young girl and at that time it didn’t dawn on me to say thank you to my mom and dad for taking me to music lessons. But I sure am grateful now! I’ll tell you why I’m thankful for my music lessons, and why your child is too. Continue reading
Hello and welcome to PianoParents.net.Whether you are just beginning on your piano parent journey or are a seasoned piano parent I hope you will enjoy this website.
I have another website and blog for piano teachers. I love writing for my piano teacher blog, but as a parent myself I found myself writing a lot about things that are of interest piano parents. So I decided to start a blog just for the parents of piano students.
Piano lessons are a gift that can be enjoy for a lifetime.. Playing the piano is truly a wonderful thing but it isn’t easy. It’s one of the most intense projects that can be taken on. It takes years to learn to play. There are bound to be ups and downs but it is well worth the time and effort.
Piano Parents are super special people. I know. I see parents just like you bringing their kids week after week, year after year into my studio for lessons. Making a huge sacrifice of time and money so that their kids can learn to play.
So I’d like to say thank you. Not only to the parents of my students but to piano parents everywhere. I know that kids may not always appreciate taking piano lessons but I can tell you that I almost never meet someone who doesn’t wish they could play. and I never have had anyone say they were sorry they learned to play the piano.
Enjoy the blog. Feel free to contact me with any questions or post ideas. If you like the content please go ahead and share it.
Thanks a million for reading,
Doreen