Now Accepting New Students!
New students are now being accepted!
We have recently opened some time slots on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and early evening.
You can sign in to our studio website at thetaylorstudio.musicteachershelper.com to see our currently available time slots.
Please use the following information to access our demo account
U: thetaylorstudio_student
P: demo2
If you see a slot that you are interested in, please log out of the demo account, and register your own account. You are under no further obligation it just lets me know that you might be interested in a particular time and learning more about our studio. You new account will not be active until confirmed by me. Once confirmed, you will have full access to our studio site for scheduling lessons, seeing your account balances, and even making payment on your account.
You can also download our studio brochure here.
Piano Practice is a Slow Cooker, not a Microwave
The most common parental complaint about children’s music lessons is that “practice time is a struggle”. Their child doesn’t want to practice, won’t practice, yelling begins . . . you get the idea. Most of the time, it’s not really the practice that they don’t like, it’s the fact that it’s WORK. And many times, they don’t see the immediate reward. Learning to play the piano is more like a slow cooker than a microwave. It takes quite a while before you start to see the results of all the work. This is why helping them learn to set goals for their practice time is important. How many people want to work on something with no apparent end in sight?
As a step toward learning to goal set during practice sessions, try this at your practice time today:
- Ask your child what the most difficult part of their lesson is this week (and ALL OF IT is not an acceptable answer, make them get specific, have them show you the part in their music, even if you can’t read it)
- Let your child know that today, you would like them to ONLY practice that difficult section. When they look at you like you are nuts, explain that you would like them to work on just that small section, and once they learn it, for today, they are done. (There may be stunned silence here, just keep going).
- Ask your student to tell you HOW they should learn this part of their music. Is it hard to play hands together? They should practice them separately and make sure each hand knows what to do, THEN slowly put them back together. Is there a particularly difficult fingering passage? Practice the small parts that make it up, through the finger shift on the keys, before taking the whole piece. Or, is it a young beginner who is having trouble just reading the notes? Have them tell you the note names before they try playing it. Let their brain focus on one piece at a time.
- Tell your student that they should begin and when they think that have it learned, they should let you know. Then, let your student go to work. (For the younger ones, be sure you stay close by so that you can answer any questions they may have.)
- Once your student says they have it, ask them to play it for you. Praise their improvement (as long as there is some, don’t let them get away with banging around on the keys for a while to make it look good). Then let them know you are proud of their hard work, and tell them they are finished with their piano practice for today. Then think of a piece that your child plays REALLY well (and that they really like) and ask them to play it for you before they go do something else. It will only help solidify their sense of accomplishment today.
This short lesson in setting a goal, working toward it, and then going on to something new, will help give your student the groundwork for future productive practice sessions, and even carries over into other schoolwork as well. “You’ve got a 450 page novel to finish in two weeks? Let’s break it down into smaller, nightly chunks, just like you do with your piano music.” (See how that works? ) It also shows them that you care not only about their practicing, but about the results that they are producing. A little bit of parental support can make a huge difference in the piano lesson experience for your child.
Weekend Events For Kids in Norman, OK
One of the best ways to keep your children engaged in music is to take them to live performances. In this day of on demand music, live performances offer your children the opportunity to see that there really are real people behind all those voices and instruments. Many places offer music for children free of charge (Yes I’m serious!) and they are often very entertaining. Here’s what happening around Norman this weekend:
Friday 11/6
The Pride of Oklahoma has a rehearsal on Friday afternoons at 4pm. Did you know you can go watch? For free! It’s a great opportunity to show your kids how the band puts it all together and that no one just puts on a show without a little effort. Fair warning – it can be rather loud, so the little ones may appreciate a hat to cover their little ears. Bring a blanket or folding chair (and maybe even some snacks) to the practice field behind the OU softball complex.
Saturday 11/7
The Downtown Arts Market is happening this weekend in Norman. With local artists and musicians, and activities for kids, it’s sure be a great outing for your family on what is supposed to be a beautiful weekend! Little River Zoo will be there all day, and the Kidoodle Kid’s Art Zone will be there from 11am-2pm. There are live music performances scheduled throughout the day as well. The Downtown Arts Market is held along Legacy Trail on Jones Avenue between Main St. & Eufaula (in front of the Santa Fe Depot). And best of all, it’s FREE and open to the public!
If you know of another event that should be added to this post, or if you would like your event included on a future posting, please contact me!