Supporting your child on their learning journey

PIANO @ MUSICWORKS SG

SHOWING OUR SUPPORT AT HOME

Helping kids learn piano begins with a supportive home environment! Here are some tips…

Be Curious! Ask questions about what your child is working on. Listen to some of the assigned composers/singers/songwriters/musicians performances on YouTube or Spotify or Apple Music together. Look through music books, check out sheet music sites. Explore different genres and help feed their curiosity.

Make sure your child has the right resources, books and practice actions. Get the practice actions, lesson and theory books and sheet music as suggested/guided by the teacher.

Encourage other family members to praise your child’s efforts. Positive attention is a great motivator.

Listen to music at home and in the car. It really doesn’t matter what you listen to – rock, country, classical, pop, or indie – what matters is that you let your kids see you moving or singing along to it. Encourage singing and dancing as much as possible!

Head off burn-out. Kids may need to push through a tough stage, but at other times, a reward can help. For my student Ciara’s great effort in her lesson last week, for example, her Dad treated her to a reward.

Realise that it’s a process. There usually isn’t fast progress, but if students consistently practice, they will see wonderful results over time. This really is a case where slow and steady wins the race.

Empathising helps! Be supportive when they have a tough time. Music lessons are challenging and get more challenging every week. While your child may be picking up their lessons at a fast pace, they won’t always. There will come days when your child has a tough time learning something and gets frustrated. It helps to explain that everyone can have a tough time and to be patient. If there’s a growing attitude problem, try to identify the heart of the issue. Does my child really not like learning the piano, or is she frustrated because she can’t seem to master part of the song s/he’s learning? What’s the real issue?

Be wary of unrealistic expectations. People often vastly underestimate how challenging music can be. Take every development as a gift when it comes. Help your kids enjoy the journey and develop a LOVE for playing the piano - progress NOT the unattainable PERFECTION!

Encourage your kids to compose their own songs! Being creative in this way is not only fun, it instills deeper music intelligence, fosters general life skills, and increase self-confidence. A Manuscript book helps equip them, or print off online manuscript.

© 2019 JOANNA ROWE MUSICWORKS SG