Having successful piano lessons
Having successful piano lessons leads to an easier time practicing and achieving a great result. When we take our kids to hockey, soccer, swimming, and other extracurricular activities, we ensure they have everything they need before we drop them off; the same philosophy holds true for piano lessons. As instrumental teachers, we sometimes neglect to tell parents what supplies children need to bring to their lessons. The result can be the equivalent of a hockey player showing up to practice without skates, making it slightly more challenging to get into the game. I thought this may be an excellent time to address this topic.
Parents can help their children have a successful lesson by helping ensure they are set up for their lesson correctly. One of the critical supplies needed for online piano lessons through Skype or Zoom is a desktop, laptop, or tablet computer. While some students successfully use smartphones, younger children may struggle with the smaller screen. If your lesson is through Zoom, ensuring the original sound for musicians option is turned on is critical; otherwise, Zoom will cut off the piano sound. If you or your child has selected to learn music not found in the lesson book, downloading and printing their music and ensuring it’s easily locateable for them at their lesson helps greatly.
In addition to the online setup, the most common items needed are, of course, the student and their collection of possible books covering repertoire, etudes, technique, ear training, sight reading and possibly theory, and a pencil and eraser for writing notes on their music. Since my students learn via Skype or Zoom, they also need access to a computer to download their lesson notes and access the student area of my website, or if they’re taking lessons from me on Outschool, they need to be able to access their student classroom. In some cases, if the student specializes in a unique subject, such as composition or music production, students may need a copy of some music notation or music production software.
Besides the materials needed for the actual lesson, practice is the other important aspect of learning. In some ways, other extracurricular activities are a little more simplistic regarding that. Show up for hockey, soccer or swimming practice several times a week, and that’s your practice. With music lessons, it’s more of a daily thing for at least thirty minutes or until you achieve your practice goal. Because you’re practicing more often and most likely by yourself, you need a different type of motivation, encouragement, or reward system. It’s like doing homework. Students who can do this generally do well academically. While studying music has some cognitive advantages, self-structuring and scheduling your daily practice, self-motivation, and determination benefit solid academic performance.
So, in the end, what parents should know about music lessons is quite simple: if the student shows up prepared and puts in the work, the results can be gratifying in a wide variety of ways, from being able to play the piano for friends, family, school, or church, to achieving high school credits for their time spent studying. Playing the piano can be a fun lifelong hobby. Until next time, have fun practicing and see you at our next lesson.
Student study area update
In other news, the student area of my studio website continues to roll out this month. Please keep checking back as more resources are added monthly. If you have any suggestions for learning materials that may help you or your child, please let me know, and I’ll see if I can add them.
