Success!

A question I get asked fairly frequently is "how old does my child need to be to start taking piano lessons?"  Typically I would say that a child being able to read, or at least grasp the concept of reading (left to right across a page), is important.  Also, it helps if their hands are large enough to be able to play up to five keys at a time.  

This little cutie isn't quite ready for lessons as his hands are too small, but he sure loves "helping" the big brothers!

Having those two things squared away, you may think, "Perfect!  Now my child can start learning!"  And yes, that is definitely the case.  However, there are a couple of other things to consider.

In years past, I have taught piano and taken on young students - ages 4 to 6 is what I would consider a pretty young student.  I have had success teaching only a handful of these children.  Why?  Well, one of the key ingredients in the success of a young learner is PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.  Oh yes, just as in most any other learning, parents are a vital part of success in learning music.  When someone asked me to teach their young child I would let them know that really, the only way we would be successful is if they (the parent) were willing to spend two to three hours weekly sitting down one-on-one with their child at the piano.  Some of my piano parents were willing to do that, and their child was incredibly successful and made progress.  Others did not, or at least were not as consistent.  Even my almost eight year old needs me to be available and close by during the majority of his practice time.  If he knows I am listening, or in the room with him, he is more likely to work harder and stay focused.  If I just set a timer (or not) and say, "Start practicing!" and walk out, he's more likely to play around doing glissandos and messing with the pedals.  ;o)  He says, "I like doing that!"  Of course he does.  It's fun!  And I would love to say "go practice"  so I can make dinner/do laundry/help other children with homework/etc. and have him make good progress.  It just doesn't work as well that way.
 

You may say, " I just don't know anything about music!"  To this I say, "Neither does your child!"  Haha!  Go to their lesson with them.  Learn along with them.  Beginning piano is easy and you can pick it up right along with your child.  By the time they get to where you'll have to take lessons too to keep up, they will probably be to a point where you won't have to be at the piano with them all the time.  You will know enough by then to be able to listen and know if they're making mistakes or not (especially if you're still attending their lessons).  

I know that attending lessons (when you could be running to the post office or pharmacy) is hard.  Especially if you have other children.  So, it may not be feasible for you to be with them at lessons, but having an open dialogue with your child's teacher is essential.  Making sure you are involved in the learning and practicing process will greatly increase your child's chance of success.  Again, beginning piano isn't that hard, and you can probably teach yourself - and let your child help you as well.  What fun for them to teach mom!  :o)

Sherman Symphony Orchestra Concert TOMORROW

  

I LOVE the Sherman Symphony concerts for many reasons.  First of all, they are relatively inexpensive for adults ($15 at the door) and students are FREE!  That means I can take all of my boys and they get the experience of a REAL and very talented orchestra for free!  I also love it because the music is great.  There is almost always a piece of music played that most people will recognize and then some other piece(s) that are wonderful but maybe not as well known.  The hall is beautiful and big (seating 1250-1300), but all of the seats are good.  I also love the symphony because my amazing husband is the conductor, but that's a biased reason.  The others are the important ones for you to know and reasons for you to love it too.  :)    

Due to Icemageddon, a number of scheduled events from the first week of December were forced to either be cancelled or rescheduled.  Thankfully, our own Sherman Symphony Orchestra's Christmas Pops concert was able to be rescheduled.  Although it won't quite be the same, since Christmas is "over," hopefully we will still have a good turnout. The concert will be held at the Kidd-Key Auditorium at the Municipal Building on Sunday, January 5 at 3:00 pm.  Tickets for adults are $15 and students are free.  You can purchase tickets at the door.  You can also buy tickets at their website shermansymphony.org.  The orchestra will play Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf at tomorrow's concert, in addition to many other well-known Christmas pieces - Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride" and the traditional Christmas Sing-a-long are both required at the Christmas Pops!
 








Typically Christmas Pops is held at Austin College in the Sid Richardson Gym at the Mason Complex.  There are tables set up and it is very family friendly - you can bring snacks, there is a coloring contest for all ages, and it is just a wonderful way to start the season.  This year, because of the ice storm, it had to be moved to accommodate the numbers usually attending the Pops concert.  All other concerts are held in the Kidd-Key Auditorium.  There are two more concerts this season on March 1 and April 26.  I hope you will check them out!

Practice Makes Perfect

My two bigger boys, ages 10 and 7 3/4, play instruments.  The 10 year old plays violin and has for about a year and a half.  The 7 year old has played piano for about 6 months and I teach him at home.  For a while we were having trouble getting them to practice regularly, as I know EVERY parent struggles with!  When I was growing up, we had an egg timer sitting on the piano and we were supposed to practice for 30 minutes.  Oh, how those minutes seemed to D-R-A-G by.  I remember sitting there wishing they would go more quickly and hoping my mother wouldn't hear the deafening silence of my non-practicing.  There would be tears.  Arguments.  Frustration on everyone's part.  It was not good.  In fact, my siblings quit piano at the earliest opportunity.  I do not want that for my boys.  Above all, I want to teach them a LOVE for music and the joy it brings.  I do not want it to be a source of dread and frustration. 

So, my husband and I haven't done timers.  Or arguments.  And there have been way less tears and lots less frustration than I could've imagined.  We have come up with a system that has worked surprisingly well.  We have tied their technology usage to their practice time.  They LOVE to play on the computer, Wii, my iPhone, or watch shows on Netflix and we call any of this usage their "Tech Time."  We are "the meanest parents ever" and only let them have "Tech Time" on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays for 20 minutes each.  They are required to practice their instrument every day (with some exceptions) until they have practiced well.  Like I said, we don't set a timer.  Some days they practice longer because they need to work harder on a piece, or they are just enjoying playing.  Some days, like just before lesson time, they may breeze through their work pretty quickly.  We listen to their practicing and hold them accountable, but we do not tie them into a rigid time frame.

I am not saying that setting a timer is wrong or bad.  In fact, at some point in our children's musical instruction we WILL set a timer.  This is just the way we do things for now.  My piano teacher was adamant about my parents making us practice with a timer 5 or 6 days a week.  That is what they were told to do, and that is what they did.  I do think setting a time to practice is good and for some kids, setting the timer so they will sit longer than "play-through-my-song-three-times-and-I'm-good-to-go" is what is best.  Please make guidelines that work for you and your family.    But at this point, consistency is key.  Making sure they get in there most every day and practice is more important than the length of time.  #1 usually practices for around 30 minutes without a timer.  #2 takes less time, but he is 7 and a beginning piano student.

If they complain or act disrespectfully when they are reminded to practice, they may lose minutes off of their Tech Time.  Since I teach #2, he will sometimes get frustrated and show it.  I know that this would not happen quite so easily or often if he had an outside teacher.  In an effort to cut down on him having such a short fuse with me, we have instituted the rule that if he gets upset or disrespectful, he loses minutes of Tech Time.  Now, if I am pushing him too hard and he gets upset and I realize that it's really my fault, I don't take time away from him - I just try a different approach, just as I would do for a student who isn't my child.  He was getting to the point where anytime I would ask him to do something over again or try to instruct him he would shout "I KNOW, Mama!"  As if he really knows everything about piano already and I am simply annoying him!  Haha!  I remind the boys all of the time that I do not expect perfection, I just want them to try hard and practice and they will improve.  And they really do!  

#1 takes violin with an amazing teacher.  She is encouraging and patient, and he has really progressed quickly.  She also allows him to play music that interests him.  Just now he is working on the "Cantina Song" from Star Wars.  He has also played "Hedwig's Theme" from Harry Potter and the Darth Vader theme.  She lets him play these things because he does work hard on other assigned pieces.  I think allowing students to play things they like helps them keep an interest.  Hot Cross Buns just isn't that fun for a 10 year old to play!  She has simply written the melody line to these pieces he loves and has let him play them as extra songs - after he has practiced his other music.  Because of this, he sometimes stays in the living room playing the extra songs for a long time - even playing them on the piano as well.


All of these things help teach and foster that love for music.  Even if we are using technology as a bribery tool to get them to practice.  In the end, they go into practice time with a happy heart and come out making good progress.  AND they are then rewarded with something they love.  Win win, right?!?  

The Beginning....

Let me start by saying, this is all new to me.  Well, I have tried to blog before, but I haven't really stuck with it.  However, my dear friend Kathy over at  9peasmom has been gently encouraging me to start a new blog.  So, I'm giving it a shot.  :) 
My husband and I are both musicians.  He is the conductor of our city orchestra as well as a music professor at the college in our town.  He is an accomplished pianist as well.  I am trained to teach elementary music and taught for four years before my first son was born.  I am a vocalist and have taught beginning piano for many years (although I am NOT a pianist).  I took piano as a child and youth and I am a good teacher - a wise man once told me "if you know more than they do, you can teach."  I have taken a break (mostly) from teaching piano to spend more time with my children.  
Since my husband and I live and breathe music, we are teaching our children to also.  That is the main purpose of this blog.  I want to share what we do to teach our children a love of the arts - music, art, theater, architecture, etc - and how it makes life more beautiful.  I think that music and art are wonderful tools not only to encourage a love of beauty in life, but also helps in many ways with educational learning.  From an incredibly young age, we are receptive to music.  I want my children to have as much exposure to these things as possible.  Like many people, we started playing music for them and reading to them before they were born.  We took them to different concerts, museums, etc. at a young age.  I get questions all the time about how we "make" our children behave so well at church, restaurants, concerts.  My answer is, we have taken them to these places since they were babies.  This is what we do, this is how we act.  That is just what we've done.  However, there isn't a "cut off" time for these things.  You can start anytime.  You can start NOW.  There are plenty of opportunities for exposing your family to culture.  I will post about free and low-cost opportunities for this as often as I can.

This is a photo of the boys and me at the last symphony concert in October.  I love seeing them all dressed up for the performances.  They look so handsome!
As I begin this journey, I welcome questions and feedback.  :) Thank you for reading.