The Secrets of Power Piano Practice

One of the best ways to improve your child’s progress is to improve the quality of their practice sessions.

For many students, a practice session consists of simply sitting down at the piano and playing their favorite piece from start to finish as fast as they can.

The secret to getting the most out of each practice session is to have a general structure for each session. You should discuss this with your child’s piano teacher to identify a structure that is consistent with their approach to teaching.


To show you how this works, let me share with you the structure I recommend to my students.

ACTIVITY #1: Fun Warm Up

A good way to start a practice session is for students to play their favorite piece for fun. This is really just to get their fingers moving and to get the session off to an enjoyable start. You should not make a big deal of any mistakes made during the warm up.

ACTIVITY #2: Technical Work

Technical work consists of exercises that help a child develop the coordination and technique they require to play the piano. When a child is just starting out, these exercises usually consist of simple patterns which help children learn to move their fingers.

ACTIVITY #3: Focus Piece / Focus Exercise

Rather than playing all their pieces, I suggest that at each practice session a student selects one piece to focus on. In addition to focusing on one piece, I recommend that the student focus on one particular exercise for the selected piece.

There are many different exercises that can be used to ensure that each session is different and engaging. Here are some of the exercises I use with my students:

Divide and conquer – This simply means that the student divides the piece up into different sections and concentrates on a particular section during each practice session. By practicing and perfecting small sections of a piece, students progress much more quickly than if they try and practice the whole piece each time they play.

Hands Separate – Another good exercise is to practice only the left hand or only the right hand of a piece. This is much easier than playing hands together and it is a good way to ensure that the child’s left hand is not neglected.

Vary The Tempo(speed) – In this exercise, the student plays the selected section at a slow manageable tempo in strict time with a metronome. When they can play the section without a mistake, they are allowed to increase the tempo by one notch. If they make a mistake the metronome has to go down a notch. This can become a bit like a game of snakes and ladders and is a lot of fun.

Vary The Dynamics – The dynamics of a piece relate to how the music changes in volume. It is an excellent idea to occasionally vary the dynamics of a piece so that a student becomes familiar with how it feels to play loud and soft. You can also ask a child to play a piece with different moods eg. Happy or Sad. This helps children learn that there is more to playing piano than simply pressing keys.

Record Your Child Playing – It can be a lot of fun for children to hear a recording of themselves playing. It is also an excellent idea to keep some recordings so that occasionally you and your child can sit down and listen to old recordings and appreciate just how far they have progressed.

ACTIVITY #4: Sight Reading

Sight Reading is the ability to pick up a piece of music you have never seen before and play it simply by reading the music.

Sight reading is a skill that students of all ages struggle with. I believe that much of this struggle is due to the fact that many students are not really taught how to read music.

Learning the note names and keyboard positions of the piano is not very exciting. It is simply a matter of rote learning -- very much like learning the times tables.

This is why I developed ‘Piano Is Fun’. The idea was to make the process fun by breaking it down into easy to manage sections and then providing students with an incentive to progress by rewarding them with colorful rewards each time they complete a lesson.

When students are just beginning to play piano, I suggest that each practice session end with a game of Piano Is Fun.

This not only motivates students to concentrate during the practice session, it also acts as a reward and is a great fun way to bring a practice session to an end.

You will probably notice that I did not put a time against each of these activities. As you have probably gathered. I do not like to regiment practice sessions using a stopwatch. I simply instruct parents to ensure that each practice session contains the four previously mentioned activities.

Lets stop and have a think about this for a moment. Picture two imaginary students. One named Tim and the other named Melinda.

Each time Tim practices he sits down at the piano and plays his favorite pieces from start to finish for half an hour.

Each time Melinda practices she does the following:

(1) Warms up with a fun piece
(2) Plays some technical finger exercises
(3) Selects a single piece and focuses on improving a particular aspect of that piece
(4) Finishes off by playing a game that helps her learn how to read music

Which student do you think will progress more quickly? I can tell you from experience that students who practice in a structured manner generally progress much more rapidly than students who practice in a random fashion.

It is important to remember that different teachers will have different ideas when it comes to how students should practice. The ideas above are some of the things I have found useful over the years with my own students.

You may like to print this article out and take it along to discuss with your child’s piano teacher. That way you can ask them how they would like your child to practice at home.

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Tips to help your child succeed in learning to play piano

When your child first starts to play the piano, they are usually very excited and enthusiastic. It is important to work with this initial excitement to help build a positive foundation for their piano playing.

Here are four great ideas that will help you get started:


IDEA #1: Get Involved

Make piano practice something that you and your child do together. When it is ‘Piano Time', sit down with your child and listen to and encourage them during their practice session.

Even if you know nothing about music, you can still act as an audience. Tell your child that their playing, “Sounds beautiful” When they finish a piece say, “That was wonderful! Can you please play it again for me?”

When you get involved and encourage your child with positive reinforcement this is what they learn:

Playing Piano = Begin with Mom/Dad + Having Fun + Feeling Good

Unfortunately many parents adopt the Army Drill Sergeant approach and believe that the best way for a child to progress is through strict discipline. When their child plays a piece, they say “You made a mistake in bar 7, do it again and this time get it right!”

When this happens repeatedly, what the child learns is:

Playing Piano = Pressure + Being Yelled At + Feeling Bad

If this negative cycle continues children will start to look for ways to avoid practice and it is very likely that they will give up the piano to avoid this pain. The most important thing that you can do for your child is to make sure that playing the piano is a fun and enjoyable activity rather than a tedious lonely chore.

IDEA #2: Use A Time Trigger

An excellent way to introduce a new activity into your busy timetable is to associate it with a Time Trigger that already exists. For example, you and your child could agree that ‘Piano Time' happens straight after their favorite TV program or straight after breakfast. By using a Time Trigger that already exists, both you and your child will find it easier to incorporate piano practice into your existing routines.

IDEA #3: Create The Right Environment

It is very difficult to practice effectively if the TV is blaring in one corner and little brothers and sisters are running around the room. If possible, you should position your piano in a quiet, well lit room which is separate from the normal living area. In this way, when it is ‘Piano Time' you and your child can ‘escape' to your special room and enjoy your time together.

IDEA #4: Lose The Stop Watch

Try to avoid the idea of ‘30 Minutes Practice A Day, Everyday'. In my experience, piano practice is much more effective if it is not governed by a stopwatch. When children are just starting out, they may only be able to play for 10 or 15 minutes. It is much better for them to have a fun 15 minute practice each day than it is to force them to play for half an hour. Your focus should be on building a positive experience for your child not clocking up a specific amount of time.

As your child progresses, their attention span and enthusiasm will increase and the length of their practice sessions will naturally become longer.

If you follow these simple steps you will be well on the way to creating a strong foundation for your child to begin their journey into the wonderful world of music.

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Beginner Piano Lessons for Kids

If you want to teach your child to play the piano, there are several ways of doing it - you can find a piano teacher for them, look up how to play piano online or allow the child to lesson to play piano by ear. This is a healthy skill, as it helps the brain to develop. There are several skills your child will need to learn when playing piano or any other musical instrument. The necessary things for playing piano are proper positioning of the child's hands (otherwise bone injury could occur), proper posture, the ability to read music and the ability to sight-read, ie play a piece without practicing it prior. All of these help the child's brain to develop in intellect and creativity, and are critical to music education. The piano takes a long time to truly become proficient, so ensure that your child's up to the commitment.


The keys might look confusing to the child at first, but explain to them that the white keys are normal notes, and the black keys are accidentals. Also, teach them about the musical alphabet: the notes A through G, and tell them the accidentals are the notes between, which is what are played on the black keys. The black keys on a piano won't be used much at first, so start your child off on simple lessons, and teach them proper hand position and posture. Proper posture includes sitting up straight or leaning slightly forward. Also show the child that the fingers need to be relaxed in their natural position. Instruct them to curl the thumb slightly inwards so they're parallel with the rest of the hand.

The next thing for a child to learn on piano is basic scales. The most basic scale is a C scale, so show the child where C is - it's a key just to the left of two black keys. Then show them how to play up the white keys with right thumb, index finger, middle finger, and then repeat the process up to the next C. This is a full C scale.

This is the easiest way for your child to play a scale with one hand, and it'll teach them finger dexterity. Don't bother with anything like sheet music right now - instead, try to encourage your child to play a TV show theme on the piano, something like the basic Spongebob melody or whatever the favored show is. The important thing is to help them figure out how to play the melody by ear, or playing without music and instead just hearing it played elsewhere.

Instruction in reading sheet music can come later on, but it's best to take this part rather slowly. It can be complicated sometimes to a younger child, but as children learn very quickly they can pick up on the basics relatively easily. The child can then learn to read music and play along with it at the same time, and this can provide a healthy sense of accomplishment. At first you may want to consider piano lesson DVD's as they can visually stimulate a child's mind and hold their interest for a longer period of time. Learning any kind of musical instrument, especially piano, is a very rewarding activity for young minds.

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How Piano Lessons Benefit Young Children

By Cynthia VanLandingham

Piano lessons provide a wide range of benefits to young children. Here are my "Top Five."


1. Piano lessons help preserve and develop children's natural creative abilities. The best analogy of how children learn through music that I've found is from Donald Kroodsma's book "The Singing Life of Birds." Every songbird can be identified by the unique song it sings, but a baby bird has to be taught by its parents to sing the family song. Baby birds, like humans, just 'babble' at first. Mother birds sing the family song over and over to the baby birds as they try to repeat it back. At first, the baby birds are only able to sing back one or two notes, but they gradually learn to sing the whole song. And birds with two voice boxes even learn to sing their own harmony parts! Once baby birds learn the family song, they can start developing their very own songs. Similarly, I encourage students to compose their own music after developing needed skills. In my experience, young children in piano are a lot like baby songbirds!

2. Piano lessons help children perfect their natural learning processes. Music is a language, and children are programmed to absorb languages. Studies have shown that kids can most easily learn new languages when they start at a young age. Piano lessons help children develop the very same skills needed to accomplish language arts, like reading. In piano, students learn how to follow directions, scan written materials, think critically, create solutions and translate writing into action. For example, students must look at each note, measure and phrase and decide how to play each note to make the music come to life. Many children (including my own sons) have become much better readers after starting piano lessons. Further, piano lessons involves an interplay of both right and left brain activity that stimulates neural development.

3. Piano lessons help children learn how to stay focused and achieve goals. Piano lessons help children set specific goals and then work towards reaching these goals. Each new piece of music a student learns requires a specific set of skills and playing habits. To achieve these goals students must learn to stay focused and study each note, measure and phrase to understand how to play the song. In doing this students learn to think critically and creatively as they decide how to make the music come to life. Staying focused over time develops good study habits that become natural. This is important because learning to practice good habits that match their goals shows children how to make their dreams come to life!

4. Piano lessons help children develop courage. It takes courage to face challenges without letting our anxiety and worries get the best of us. Piano lessons help students learn to accept challenges such as learning a difficult song, as well as to perform pieces in front of teachers, friends, and families at recitals. Lessons also help kids learn the importance of keeping a positive perspective despite difficulties. Learning to handle uncertainty and stress in a way that minimizes anxiety and maximizes creativity is a valuable life tool. We all need practice at this!

5. Piano lessons teach children to persevere. A key part of accomplishing anything difficult is not to give up easily. As children grow, piano lessons teach kids to try and then try again if they don't initially succeed. However, as Yoda explained to Luke Skywalker, the objective isn't just trying itself, but accomplishing the desired goal -- "Do or do not, there is no try!" Piano lessons teach students how to adjust their expectations if they can't initially master a tough song or skills, and to tackle these big goals by taking small incremental steps. In the end, just like the baby songbirds that eventually learn to sing, students learn that they can accomplish great things and reach their dreams through careful and consistent effort.

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Classical Music Improving Children's Development

Ever since a 1993 study revealed that college students' scores improved on spatial-temporal reasoning tests after listening to Mozart, the "Mozart Effect" has been the buzz phrase that won't disappear.

The researchers behind the "Mozart Effect" study, Professor Francis Rauscher and Dr. Gordon Shaw, made national news again in the late 1990s with an inspiring study that motivated people on a national scale to reintroduce music – especially classical music – into children's lives and education.

• After receiving keyboard lessons, preschool children in Los Angeles performed 34 percent higher on tests for spatial-temporal reasoning than children who were either trained on computers or received no special training.
• At the Wales and Magee elementary schools in Wisconsin, kindergarten students, after a minimal amount of keyboard lessons, scored 36 percent higher on spatial - temporal reasoning tests than students who received no instruction.

Although other studies have produced different findings, the Rauscher and Shaw studies captured the nation's curiosity. The prospect of classical music as a device for enhancing intellect and stimulating development fascinates educators, leaders, and families. Even skeptics are intrigued. In fact, a Georgia Program was founded based on the studies.

Raucher and Shaw's findings are not the first of their kind. Since the mid-1800s, research has suggested that classical music can have numerous positive effects on children's development and health.

Memory
Background music may aid in developing memory. Most importantly, memory recall improves when the same music played during learning is played during recall.

Emotion and mood
An Ohio study using the 30 variations in J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, found that children of different ages were mostly consistent in identifying the "emotion" of the variation as excited, sad, happy, or calm. Even children with no musical background were able to articulate the emotions expressed by the music.

The prodigy myth
Famous classical musicians are often deemed child geniuses. While Mozart is the most common example, there are others: Felix Mendelssohn wrote his first piece at age 11, and Frederick Chopin, the quintessential "romantic" composer, performed crowded concerts by the time he was 20.

While every child may not develop into a musical master, every child does have the potential to benefit from classical music – especially when music teaching takes a broad sensory approach.

Make the most of classical music

• Develop motor and rhythmic skills by having children invent their own instruments with classroom materials or recycled objects. Encourage students to organize small ensembles and perform for the rest of the class.
• Highlight a composer each month by providing biographical information and samples. Encourage class discussions that compare and contrast each month's composer with the previous ones.
• Invite children to hum and sing along with music to enhance language development skills. David Brin of classical music station KDFC suggests the CDs "The Mozart Effect: Music for Children" and Polygram's "Bach for Breakfast."
• Teach children the pleasure of music through dance. Encourage students to express themselves physically by stomping, marching, swaying, jumping, or shaking.

When appropriate, play consistent background music. Experiment to see which pieces children respond to the most. Below is a recommended list to get you started; it was compiled by announcer and producer John Clare, fromKMUW, a public radio station in Wichita.

Top 10 classical music list

1. Beethoven:Symphony #5
2. Pachelbel:Canon in D
3. Mozart:Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
4. Bach:Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire
5. Brahms:Piano Concerto #1
6. Mendelssohn:Symphony #4
7. Beethoven:Fur Elise
8. Mozart:Violin Concerto #3
9. Tchaikovsky:Waltz of the Flowers
10. Schubert:Trout Quintet

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When Should My Child Begin Piano Lessons?

A large number of questions that we get are about our opinions on when a child is deemed ready to begin lessons. While there are no hard and fast rules, there are some pointers and signs that you can use to determine when your child is ready for lessons.


One cannot magically deem a child to "be ready" for lessons at any given point. More important is the idea that the child needs to be tuned into music from early on - from the age of 1 day is a great starting point. It doesn't matter whether you want to start a musical genius or if you simply want your child to be delighted with the wonderful sounds of serious music. Perhaps the single easiest and best thing you can do to get your child ready to begin lessons is to expose yourself and your child to lots of classical, jazz, and other forms of musically sound and well performed music together. An appreciation of good music will help get and maintain your child's interest.

How wonderful for the child to be hearing the music of Bach's Violin Sonatas or Partitas, to Chopin Etudes, Mozart's The Magic Flute, or Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony as well as the jazz/improvisational sounds of Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea, George Shearing or Gary Burton! One does not need to spend thousands of dollars investing in a huge CD collection; having a radio station tuned in to the sounds of the great classical and jazz composers is an excellent way to develop knowledge and appreciation of good music. With rhythmic patterns, harmonics, and melodic ideas already well established in the child's musical ear, the segue into lessons will be an easier process because the child can see a well-defined goal for the lessons.

There are varying opinions as to when a child should "officially" start lessons. Give a good deal of thoughtful consideration to the fact that, the younger the child is when beginning lessons, the more involved the parent will have to be with actively helping out with practice time, attending the lessons and being positively involved during the lessons. Generally, the child should be able recognize numbers 1-5, and understand the correlation between the numbers on the page and the finger numbers. If the child knows the alphabet letters of A through G, that is all that is required from a beginner. Most beginning books will spend a lot of time reinforcing these skills, so don't be too concerned if the knowledge is not always perfectly articulated.

Your child should be able to sit still for about 10-15 minutes while focusing on having fun at the piano. Under no circumstances should you expect a little one to be able to sit for longer than 10-15 minutes at a time while keeping a strong focus on any one musical concept. If your child can do these things, chances are you can start meaningful lessons for the child. Many parents get very frustrated because they expect their child to be able to concentrate for a longer amount of time. The child simply cannot, and lesson time and practice time becomes pure torture.

There are many musical concepts that can be taught via moving physically up and down the piano, playing notes at the highest and/or lowest parts of the piano for example, going up and down the keyboard saying the letter names of the notes aloud, going up and down the piano finding all the groups of two and/or three black keys, or finding the individual natural keys on the piano. Rhythm can be approached in a very active manner, having the child clap their hands and/or march in time to certain rhythmic notation. If your child's teacher doesn't do these things with the child, you can talk to the teacher about them or do them yourself at home before the studio lesson.

There are of course exceptions to any and all claims of appropriate starting ages for children. I have had excellent students start as early as just under three years old. Others were not really ready until later. Don't let your expectations and desires be the sole determinant of when the child begins lessons or how fast you feel they should progress. The most common frustration of the parents arises because they have forgotten that their child is taking the lessons and doing the practice. Remember, the child is a child, not a miniature adult. Your child's teacher must also recognize this seemingly obvious, but often overlooked, fact of life. When you interview the teacher for the first time, observe carefully the level of patience the teacher shows with your child and the ability of the teacher to generate interest in the child. If the teacher can't accommodate your child's needs and individual nature, look for another teacher.

Although having an acoustical piano is not mandatory for the beginning student, it certainly is beneficial to have for the child to experiment with and create. If money is a factor, there are many places that will allow a person to rent an acoustical piano (not a grand piano per se). If you choose to get an electronic keyboard initially, the keys need to be the size of a normal standard acoustical piano and touch sensitive, because nearly all beginning methods introduce dynamics such as forte (loud) or piano (soft) after a few lessons. Make sure the physical practice space has adequate lighting, ventilation, and a solid, secure seat. One can often find piano benches at estate sales, garage sales, etc., if your piano does not already have a bench. If you have an acoustical piano, please make sure that it is in tune; having it tuned twice a year will help. Remember that much of the life of a child is devoted to exploration of new things and concepts, so the more you can make the home situation like the studio, the more the child will be able to indulge his exploration instinct at home.

It's important to keep an open dialogue going with your child's teacher about how he is progressing in lessons. This is true for children of all ages, but especially for really young students. If, after some lesson time has transpired, your teacher feels it is best for your child to stop lessons for a while and wait a bit before restarting, it generally best to accept that advice, rather than force the issue or create a negative experience for your child. Wait six months to a year before restarting lessons. In that event, no one has failed and it doesn't mean your child will never be ready to begin lessons. Nothing negative should be thought of the concept of waiting a bit to restart lessons. In the meantime, keep the music flowing at home, let those notes continue to be heard. Then you can restart your child's lessons a little later with the child still having an interest and desire to learn.

If the previous exposure to music has been going on for a long time, and if the parent(s) have reasonable expectations for their child taking lessons, it should be a positive and life-long endeavor for all involved. Always feel free to communicate honestly and openly with your child's music teacher, if there are any misgivings or questions about what should be done, or if things are not going as smoothly as one would wish. However, please keep in mind that most of these discussions should probably be done away from the child, perhaps setting up a separate time for a phone consultation or personal time with the teacher sans the child.

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Five Ways Piano Lessons Benefit Children

1. Piano Lessons Help Children in School

The most talked about benefit children receive from piano lessons is that it also helps with their school lessons. Numerous studies available show children who play an instrument, score higher on both standard and spatial cognitive development tests alike. There are also findings that show kids who play piano, in particular, scored higher in math, especially on problems dealing with ratios and fractions.

In one particular study conducted by Dr. Frances Rauscher (a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh) and Gordon Shaw (a physicist at of the University of California at Irvine) tested preschoolers who received piano instruction. They found that preschoolers who received piano lessons scored 34% higher than their nonmusical counterparts in tests measuring spatial-temporal reasoning, which is the brain function used to understand math, science and engineering.


2. Piano Lessons Raise Self Esteem

Learning to play the piano is hard work and takes dedication. Not only does each song mastered increase a child's self-esteem, but showcasing their newly learned talents at piano recitals can boost their self esteem as much as winning a game in a sports competition.

Lessons also help kids to learn how to keep a positive outlook when facing difficult tasks. The understanding that mastering a new skill is a process that requires patience helps children to approach tasks with confidence, and not become discouraged or frustrated.
3. Piano Lessons Increase Coordination

Increased eye-hand coordination is almost a given for children that learn to play the piano, but there is more than that. Kids who play the piano have improved fine motor skills and, unlike other instruments, the piano requires both hands to work independently of each other, one moving fast while the other may be moving at a slower rate. All of these things help to increase a child's overall dexterity and complex thought processes.
4. Piano Lessons Help Children to Concentrate

Reading a piece of music takes a great deal of focus, causing a child to interpret a note and a rhythm, translate it into hand movements on the keyboard and then immediately go on to the next one. Reading and playing music allows them to think both critically and creatively, which is a skill that will assist them in anything they choose to undertake in the future.
5. Piano Lessons Help Children to be Well-Rounded

Regardless of whether a child plays the piano for a short time or for a lifetime, the long-term effects of their piano pursuance are many. Through playing the piano, children are exposed to classical music that they may otherwise have never heard. Kids may develop an appreciation for composers like Bach or Mozart that stay with them for life. In addition, the skills and knowledge they learn in piano may help them easily pick up another musical instrument later.

So, as I sit and listen to my little one, pounding painfully away on the black and whites, all I have to do is remember that as she continues to practice, she'll be creating a great deal more than a few simple melodies, which is truly music to my ears.

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How To Find The Right Piano Teacher

Learning to play the piano is like taking a journey.

On this journey every student encounters a number of imposing mountains that they must cross in order to reach their destination. There are also many traps and dangers along the way.


The best way to ensure the success of any journey is to hire a guide. The ideal guide is someone who has made the trip many times before. They know the best way to go. They know many hidden shortcuts and they know how to avoid the dangers along the way.

The piano student’s guide on their musical journey is of course their piano teacher.

Selecting the right piano teacher is one of the most critical decisions you can make. If you choose the right teacher, you greatly increase the chance that your child will go on to make the piano a part of their life. If you choose the wrong teacher, you can jeopardize your child’s musical journey before it has even begun.

The five most important questions that you should ask when looking for a piano teacher are:

QUESTION #1: Do They Relate Well To Children?

One of the most common mistakes parents make when looking for a piano teacher is that they look for the teacher with the best reputation and qualifications as a pianist.

It is very important to be aware that being a great pianist does NOT necessarily make someone a great teacher.

What you are really looking for is someone who is great with kids and who loves teaching.

I read recently that aside from direct family relationships, the longest relationship many people develop during their life is with their music teacher!

This is certainly true in my case. I spent 8 years with my teacher and during that time he became not only a teacher but also an advisor, confidant and friend.

This is what you want to find for your child – A teacher who can become their friend.

QUESTION #2: Do They Create A Positive Environment?

As we saw in Part 1 of this mini course. It is important to create a positive environment for your child to learn and grow as a musician.

Just as there are parents who adopt the Army Sergeant Major approach to practice, there are also teachers who adopt a disciplinarian approach to teaching. It never ceases to amaze me how many adults I meet who recount stories of being slapped across the hands with rulers and being verbally abused for not doing their piano practice. It is little wonder that most of these adults gave up playing piano.

Remember what you are looking for in a teacher is someone who creates an atmosphere of fun and excitement for your child.

QUESTION #3: Do They Have A Professional Piano Studio?

Your child’s teacher should have a professionally organized studio which offers a range of activities and games to enrich your child’s development.

One important question to ask prospective teachers is whether they have a computer lab. Today there are many wonderful computer programs available that help children learn to play piano.

QUESTION #4: Do They Have The Appropriate Qualifications?

In addition to relating well to children, it is important to ensure that the teacher you select does have the appropriate qualifications to teach piano. When you meet a prospective teacher you should ask to see their qualifications.

QUESTION #5: Are They Passionate About Music?

Your child’s attitude towards music will reflect the attitude of their teacher so it is important to find a teacher that loves what they do rather than someone who is teaching just to pay the bills. You can gauge a teacher’s level of enthusiasm using the questions you will find in the next section.
How To Find The Right Teacher For Your Child

The best way to start your search is to ask your friends and acquaintances whether they know of a good piano teacher in your local area.

What you really want to hear is, “My daughter’s piano teacher is great with kids. The kids just love her…”

Not, “My daughter’s piano teacher is an international concert pianist.”

Don’t get me wrong, it is possible to find a teacher who is a great pianist and a great teacher, but just remember what you are really looking for is a great teacher.

When you have a list of a few possible teachers, you should contact them and ask if they offer a free trial lesson. Some teachers will, some won’t. It often depends on how busy they are.

If a teacher does not offer a free trial lesson, ask whether you and your child can come and observe a lesson with an existing student. If a teacher says no to both of these requests then move on to the
next name on your list.

When you go along to either the free trial lesson or the observation lesson, take careful note of the following:

• How does the teacher interact with children?
• How do children interact with the teacher?
• Do the children seem to enjoy the lesson?
• Does the teacher seem to enjoy the lesson?
• How does the teacher handle a child’s mistakes?
• If you are having a free lesson, take note of how your
• child reacts to the teacher. Can you can imagine the two
• of them becoming friends?

After observing the above points, ask the prospective teacher the following questions:

• What qualifications do they have?
• Do they offer a computer lab?
• Do they organize regular recitals?
• Do they organize end of year concerts?
• Do they have group lessons and activities?
• Do they enjoy teaching?
• How will they work with you to help your child at home?

Don’t be afraid to let prospective teachers know that you are trying out a few teachers in the area. It is in the best interest of everyone that you find the best match between teacher and student.

Remember you are looking to establish a relationship that may last for many years so it is worth taking a bit of time to get it right.

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Teaching Your Child About Music

For the past several years a theory called the Mozart Effect has been gaining ground among those that study child behavior and many are surprised at what can be accomplished thanks to a little bit of classical music.


The theory’s author, Dr. Alfred Tomatisin, believed that when music is introduced as early on as the late stages of pregnancy it has the ability to set them above their peers both mentally and physically.

In regards to why many believe Mozart is the musician of choices, Tomatisin believed that “The structural and not overly emotional expression (of Mozart’s work) helps clarify time/space perception. It is not over stimulating and the structures of the rondo, sonata-allegro form, and variation form are basic ways in which the brain becomes familiar with the development and familiarity of ideas.”

The theory also suggests that a child’s music education should not stop at simply listening, but that learning a musical instrument is even more valuable. According to recent studies on children and music education:

• First graders that were given daily lessons on how to play an instrument regularly scored higher on creativity tests
• Students who have been taught to play an instrument have the ability to make decisions faster than those that were never taught to play music
• Teens that were taught an instrument at an early age were 73% less likely to have discipline problems
• Playing an instrument requires a level of concentration in a young child that is later translated in their ability to focus on homework and test taking.

While the reasons behind teaching the benefits of music and how to play an instrument at an early age are clear, for many parents knowing the best way to accomplish the task can be difficult. Long before a child is ever able to handle an instrument their education can begin by surrounding them with music.

As we’ve seen with the Mozart Effect, it’s never too early to begin exposing a child to different styles of music. As the child begins to crawl and make their way around the house, take their curiosity for new sounds and show them how to create short rhythms. Whether it is a simple clap of the hand or the bang of a metal pot with a wooden spoon, encourage the child to express his or her self by participating in the impromptu jam session right along with them.

If the child is a toddler take their love for coloring, pasting, and cutting and show them what it’s like to create a musical instrument of their own. A paper plate, a handful of string, and few bells can easily be combined to create a tambourine. Meanwhile some rubber bands and an empty tissue box can be transformed into a working guitar in minutes. Not only will the child benefit from making something with their own two hands, but the instruments will provide a lesson on how music is created.

Radio, CD’s, and television are each ways to expose your child to a variety of musical styles, but for toddlers who are expressing an interest in a particular instrument nothing beats the experience of a live concert. Once the concert is over, quiz the child on what parts was their favorite and find out if a particular instrument stood out in their mind from all the rest. Ask them if they would like to learn more about the instruments they saw and possibly take lessons.

By introducing your child to music at an early age you are teaching them the joy of creating something that is uniquely theirs. This love of music will follow your new baby from the time they are born through their adulthood as they learn to focus on the tasks at hand, make decisions faster, and avoid issues with discipline. In no time both parent and child will learn that the ability to play an instrument is a gift that will last an entire lifetime.

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Why we are shutting children out of classical music

William Hogarth - The Graham Children

An entire generation has grown up alienated from classical music. How has Britain allowed this to happen? And can the damage be undone? By Tom Service


I am a 33-year-old classical music critic. In my 25 years of going to concerts (and since my 20s, writing about them), I am almost always the youngest person in the audience. Everywhere I go, from Bournemouth to Inverness, concert halls and opera houses resemble conventions for the blue-rinse brigade. Another thing: I've noticed that bus and train stations now pipe canned classical music, day-in, day-out, through their speakers as a way of stopping young people hanging around. So toxic have the associations become, that this experiment actually works: there is evidence that playing Beethoven and Mahler has reduced antisocial behaviour on the transport network. An entire generation, aged between 10 and 30, seems radically disenfranchised from classical music. How, and when, did this happen?

You can experience this void at the heart of our musical culture through the things that aren't there, the sounds you can't hear. There are the performers who didn't have the chance to realise their talents because their primary school had no money for instrumental lessons; the talented children who are under-served by the school system because there are no proper instruments for them to play, or orchestras to play in; and there are the musicians you're not hearing in our professional ensembles, because their parents weren't rich enough to pay for a specialist music education or independent school. Successive governments have failed schoolchildren when it comes to classical music. One of the world's leading soloists, 31-year-old viola player Lawrence Power, told me he is indebted to a chance encounter with a viola as an eight-year-old at his state school in Buckinghamshire. Without his school's peripatetic viola teacher, his career would probably never have got off the ground.

The same is true for hundreds of British musicians in their 30s who play in our orchestras all over the country. Like the generation before them, these players benefited from the network of local authority Music Services in England and Wales, set up between 1950 and 1975. The idea was simple, but brilliant. Music Services were responsible for the provision of instruments and instrumental teachers, as well as high-quality singing teaching, in state schools in their county. Because there was a requirement for the local authority to fund its Music Service, that provision was largely free for everyone. The flagship for each Music Service was its county youth orchestra, the training ground for the vast majority of the professional British musicians you see and hear in concert halls today, and the first real exposure many would have to the repertoires of classical music. And most of it cost children and parents precisely nothing.

In the private sector, music education was always an extracurricular activity you had to pay for. At a private school in Glasgow, I was lucky that my parents could afford piano and cello lessons, and that the school let me take A-level music, despite the fact that I was the only pupil in the class. But had I been in the state sector in Scotland in the 80s, I would have found similar opportunities to the Music Services: each of the 12 regions of Scotland had at least one crack youth orchestra, and each co-ordinated instrumental teaching from your first day at school to your last.

The genius of the Music Services scheme was the way you were plugged into it at an early age. If you had the talent, you could pursue a path from primary-school recorder band and secondary specialism, through the hothouse of a conservatoire such as the Royal Academy of Music in London, and on to professional musicianship.

More importantly, for the vast majority of children who experienced it (today's 30 to 70-year-olds), classical music was something that was theirs - not a foreign and forbidding culture. Music Services didn't just train performers: they created listeners and amateur participants in the art form. It's not rocket science: audiences for classical music today are older because they are made up of people who played it as children; younger generations have never had that chance.

Ironically, it's the supposedly "difficult" new music of Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis that is now pulling in younger people: the BBC Symphony Orchestra had its biggest crowd of the season for last month's concerts of Xenakis's thrilling, elemental music at the Barbican in London. A younger audience of contemporary culture aficionados - engaged by the connections between the musical avant garde and pop, film, art, and architecture - is willing to experiment with new music. Far from blue rinses or an over-privileged elite, this is the kind of trendy, youthful crowd you would also find at an experimental electronica gig or performance-art happening. Meanwhile, audiences for the core classical and romantic repertoires just keep getting older.

If the Music Services idea sounds familiar, that's probably because it reminds you of El Sistema, the much-admired scheme that has given free music education to half a million children in Venezuela. Two small-scale, El Sistema-style projects have recently got off the ground in Scotland and England, but in principle there's little about these that is genuinely new. In effect, each of the 150 local authority Music Services in England was a mini-El Sistema. What went wrong?

It all started to curdle in 1988, with the Conservatives' Education Reform Act. This deemed Music Services "non-essential", so that local authorities in England and Wales no longer had a statutory imperative to provide the service at all. A handful of Music Services folded completely. (In Scotland, there was a similar, if not quite as seismic shift in 1996, when 12 regions were divided into 32, resulting in a loss of musical co-ordination whose effects are still being felt.)

From 1988, local authorities delegated the money that would have gone to Music Services directly to schools, who could choose what they did with the cash. Faced with a choice between buying a few trombones and painting the ceiling, buying maths text books, improving sport facilities, many schools drastically reduced their music provision. While Music Services continued to exist in England and Wales, there was now a crucial, crippling difference, in that they charged parents more for lessons.

The effects have been devastating. Classical music, always freighted with the misconception that it is music for an audience of toffs and geriatrics, became the preserve of an economic elite. If your parents couldn't afford the huge expense of a childhood of instruments and lessons, you had a vanishingly small chance of making classical music part of your life. Yes, there has always been a thriving system of specialist music schools in this country, and yes, there are scholarships available for fee-paying schools for the most talented children, but these are the exceptions.

There's an easy way to take a litmus test of where we are with classical music among schoolchildren today. Of the members of the National Youth Orchestra this year, who are all 18 or younger, just 32% are at state schools; 30% attend specialist music schools, while the majority, 38%, come from fee-paying schools, most with some sort of scholarship. To put it bluntly, the NYO is a musical elite, made from a social and economic elite. (Notice how, in the run-up to 2012, the government is keen to champion its National Sports Centres for "elite athletes", but much less comfortable with the idea of "elite performers" in the arts.) This social makeup is not the NYO's fault: it's right that only the most talented young musicians should play in England's flagship youth orchestra. Later this month they will play the Royal Festival Hall in London, the day after Gustavo Dudamel's Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra finishes its residency there; the two orchestras bear comparison. The private-school provenance of so many NYO players is testament only to systemic failures in government when it comes to providing musical opportunities for all young people.

But you don't even have to look as far as Venezuela to see how different it could be. A couple of years ago, I saw a class of seven-year-olds in Helsinki enthusiastically learning Finnish and maths by performing sophisticated little songs with astonishing tuning and rhythm. And this wasn't a music school - just a typical Finnish state primary. Finland only developed its curriculum in the postwar period, but it works: today, the Finns are classical music world-beaters, and their education system has produced more great instrumentalists, conductors and composers per capita than any other country on earth.

Yet if you look at the statutory requirements for music in schools in England and Wales, things shouldn't be so different here. Since 1988, music has been part of the National Curriculum. That means there is a requirement for primary and secondary schools to give music lessons to all children up to the age of 14. But it's still not happening, not in every school. If your headteacher happens to like music, and there is money for specialist teachers, you might be lucky; but it's equally likely that music will hardly feature in your timetable. Teachers are lumbered with the government's numeracy and literacy targets, so music and the rest of the arts and humanities are squeezed out of the school day (a conclusion confirmed by damning Ofsted reports published this year, as well as an independent Cambridge review of primary education).

The Labour government knew things were bad by the late 1990s, and they have initiated a raft of schemes over the past decade to try to fill the gaps: the Music Manifesto, Wider Opportunities, In Harmony, Sing Up! - a project that aims to make singing part of everyday learning in every primary school in England and Wales. In 2001, David Blunkett, then education secretary, said that "over time, every child should have the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument". But over quite a long time, as it turns out: it took the government another six years to announce any money to buy new instruments, as part of a £332m settlement for music education, to last from 2007-11. That might sound like a lot of money, but the £40m earmarked for new instruments won't go very far - not when you divide it between every child in the country.

I won't deny that there is a lot of good work going on out there. At a recent music education conference in Manchester, Abbott Community primary school showed what singing can achieve. Children aged six to 11 led each other in songs about every aspect of school life - with the whole school singing, not a specially chosen choir. But at the moment, these are isolated schemes rather than nationwide policies.

What the government hasn't done is effect the most obvious solution of all: a national revitalisation of the Music Services. Here is a ready-made answer to the problems of renewing classical music's role in society. Make them statutory requirements for every local authority, and give them the responsibility for rebuilding the network of classical musical possibility that used to resound throughout the country. Classical music will always be perceived as an elitist art form so long as we continue to deny children the chance to make it their own. It needs real political will to reverse that poisonous perception, and we need to get a move on. We've already lost one generation - we can't afford to lose another.

• This article was amended on Monday 13 April 2009. Naked ageism: "Everywhere I go, from Bournemouth to Inverness, concert halls and opera houses resemble conventions for the blue-rinse brigade".

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How To Introduce Your Child To The Amazing World of Music

The key to helping your child succeed in playing the piano is to expose them to a wide range of fun and exciting musical experiences.

Here are some ideas to help you get started:



IDEA #1: Go To Concerts

For a child, the process of getting dressed up and going to see a concert in a professional auditorium can be a life changing event.

I can still remember the thrill of seeing my first concert when I was four years old. My Mom and Dad took me to see a production of ‘Peter And The Wolf’. Sitting between my parents and seeing an orchestra for the first time was like looking down onto a different world.

In addition to classical concerts, expose your children to musicals, jazz, folk music and ballet. The more the better but remember to keep it simple. The concerts shouldn’t be too long or complex.

After each concert, stop off for a snack on the way home and discuss the concert with your child. Ask them what they liked and what they didn’t like.

This does not have to cost you a lot of money either. Keep an eye out for free concerts being performed by community or student groups. Even professional orchestras and dance companies often have special price concerts for children.

Children playing musical instruments in Scotland. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/Murdo Macleod

IDEA #2: Listen To Music In Your Car

Young children are like sponges. They are constantly absorbing information from the world around them. One of the best ways to help your child develop their ‘musical ear’ is to play classical music in the
car while you go about your daily activities.

IDEA #3: Celebrate Achievements

When your child achieves a milestone such as playing at a concert, do something special to celebrate their achievement.

One idea for rewarding your child is to buy them a book and make a little certificate on your computer to paste on the inside cover.

This is a great way to let your child know that that you value their hard work and that you are proud of what they have achieved.

IDEA #4: Get Your Child To Play At Family Events

Once your child has been playing for a little while, ask their teacher if they can learn to play happy birthday.

Then next time it is someone ’s birthday, get your child to play the piano while everyone sings. Not only will this be a very special present for the person who is celebrating their birthday, it will also give your child a real sense of self-confidence and importance.

IDEA #5: Have A Movie Night At Home

Create a fun family event by hiring a musical video or dvd. Buy some microwave popcorn and make a big deal of closing the curtains, bringing out some cushions to sit on and making your lounge room into a mini cinema.

Some of the classic musical movies include:

The Sound Of Music
Mary Poppins
The Wizard Of Oz
Jungle Book

Remember the key to making this work is not really the movie. It is the fact that the whole family is sitting down together with popcorn and a drink and sharing the fun of the music.

I hope these ideas will get your creative juices flowing. Any fun activity which involves music will help your child to develop their sense of musicality and help them to appreciate having music in their life.

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