When Good Kids Stop Practicing

It’s inevitable that, at some point, every student will hit a rough patch in piano lessons. The kid who practiced every day without reminders and was always well prepared is suddenly “forgetting” books & fumbling through pieces. It happens. It’s part of the evolution of the music student.  And probably, one of the reasons you wanted your child to take lessons in the first place: to learn the fine art of persistence & hard work.

Work. That’s what it’s become isn’t it? At first it was fun & shiny & new. Finger numbers & alphabets, note names & rhythms. But now, we’ve kind of settled in to a routine. The weather is getting nicer outside. That new video game from Christmas that they still haven’t mastered is mocking them from the other side of the room. They have other, more important, things to do.

Or so they think.

You and I know that piano lessons are more than just playing songs. It’s improving fine motor skills, it’s building up their spacial reasoning skills, it’s learning to set goals and work hard to meet them. But they don’t see it. They just see a box, a bench, and those books.

So what’s a parent to do?

First, talk with your child. Find out what’s going on without being judgmental. Let them know you just want to know how they feel about lessons, playing the piano, their teacher, the music, etc. This is not time to shout and fight. This is a fact finding mission. Maybe it’s not anything to do with the lessons, maybe someone at school is giving them a rough time about playing the piano. There are lots of things that can factor in and the first thing we need to do is open communication with the student.

Once you have an idea of where they are coming from, take some time to try to work out a solution with your child. Try to find a common ground to build upon. Too tired to practice right after school? Let them have a snack, take a mental break, and then do their practice. It could be as simple as moving their practice time to another part of the day.

At the next lesson, approach the topic with your teacher. Teachers often know, even before you do, that the waters may be getting rough, and often try to change course before the storm sets in. But sometimes, the storm hits without warning, and it takes the whole crew to right the ship.  Let your teacher know what concerns your child has about the piano (or any other instrument for that matter).  And although not a pleasant experience, if the student has expressed concern with the teacher, it’s extremely important to let your teacher know.  We want to help your child succeed and  have fun while learning just as much as you do and we are willing to adapt our techniques to make this happen.  Together, we can make a plan for the future that puts us back on track.

And together, we can teach your child that open and honest communication is vital to any relationship.

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