I’d like to offer some answers to common questions parents and students may have when starting the journey of learning to play the piano. Please, feel free to contact me if you have any additional questions!

What is my role as a piano parent?

You have a fundamental and crucial role! Even if you do not have any musical training or knowledge, you still have the power to influence the success of your child in their piano studies. Your encouragement and interest can have profound effects on how your child views the piano. My advice is to make music a part of your family life… listen to classical music while preparing dinner, attend concerts of both popular and classical music, be a part of home practice  a few times a week (sit, listen, and offer encouragement or congratulations when you notice your child has mastered a piece). Learning an instrument can be a solitary activity and oftentimes does not receive all the glory and attention that sports and other extra-curricular activities do, which is why young students need extra encouragement and support from their families.

Where can I find classical music to listen to?

There are many places you can find classical music to listen to for free. The Bucks County Free Library has a large collection of CDs available for loan. Some classical music radio stations now stream their broadcasts and have apps that can be downloaded for free, such as Classical Music Radio WQXR from New York and Classic FM from the UK. Speaking of apps, there are many free apps available that provide access to over a hundred classical music broadcasts from around the world, one such is Classical Radio+.  YouTube is also a great source of classical music performances by great pianists such as Horowitz, Arrau, Barenboim, Ashkenazy, Gould, and Rubinstein, to name a few.

What should I do if my child loses interest?

The piano is a very difficult instrument to master… as Vladimir Horowitz put it, “The piano is the easiest instrument to play in the beginning, but the hardest to master in the end.” Frustrations pop up often and it is important to catch them early and offer encouragement and support. Always feel free to contact me for any extra help whenever your child needs an extra explanation or advice. It is also of fundamental importance to make practice time a priority in order to see real progress. I strongly believe that working through difficulties and frustrations builds perseverance and grit, which, ultimately result in boosts in self-confidence and self-esteem when the difficulties are conquered. Children oftentimes have difficulty understanding the benefits of persevering which is why they usually require the guiding hand of a parent for encouragement.

How long should practice sessions be?

It is difficult to put a specific time stamp on a practice session… but I will start by emphasizing the supreme importance of daily practice. The student should be practicing at least 5 days per weeks in order to see real progress. What is covered each day in practice may vary in order to keep the practice sessions from becoming monotonous. In general, the student should be working on technical exercises, developing new repertoire, and maintaining pieces that have already been learned, even going so far as to memorize his/her favorite pieces. Young children (ages 5 and 6) and young beginners may at first practice for perhaps 10 to 15 minutes per day. Once a child is reading music off the grand staff, practice sessions should be at least 30 minutes. Practice sessions can be divided up into multiple sittings during the day, for example, 15 minutes of playing before school and 15 minutes before dinner. As the repertoire increases in difficulty, practice sessions inevitably become longer. Intermediate and advanced students can expect to practice 1 hour or more per day, depending on the pieces they are studying.

What can I expect from our first year of piano lessons?

There is a lot to learn in the first year of piano lessons and I try to make the process as interesting and fun as possible! Students can expect to learn at least four different rhythms (notes and rests), to name all the white keys of the keyboard, to aurally identify short rhythm sequences, to read notes around middle C on the grand staff, to understand and identify 2nd and 3rd intervals on the grand staff and by ear, and to learn about the lives and body of work of a select group of great composers. All this along with developing control over arms, wrists, and fingers in order to play music.

What is an appropriate home instrument?

Each student must have a piano at home for daily practicing. A tuned acoustic piano or a digital piano with 88 weighted and touch sensitive keys plus foot pedals are both great options. All acoustic pianos require regular maintenance (tuning by a professional piano tuner) at least once a year. If you would like specific suggestions of brands and/or models, please, feel free to contact me.

Why should my child take piano lessons?

The benefits of learning to play an instrument are well-documented and a quick Google search results in millions of possible reading material. Playing and studying the piano exercises multiple areas of the brain simultaneously. These areas govern not only the physical movements of the hands, arms, and feet and the sensory experiences of sight, hearing, and touch, but also the intellectual areas that handle mathematics, memory, critical thinking, and problem solving.

Playing the piano also develops the soft skills so necessary in every day social interactions and in our studies or jobs. Skills such as discipline, patience, delayed-gratification, mindfulness, determination, perseverance, dedication, responsibility, creativity, concentration, learning from constructive criticism, self-motivation, and self-confidence.

I recommend watching How playing an instrument benefits your brain, a short and entertaining TED-Ed video by Anita Collins for a more detailed explanation.

Why is it important to practice slowly?

Everyone loves to watch lightning-fast fingers speed across the keyboard and, to be honest, it is as fun to play as it is to watch! But speed can only be achieved from careful and mindful practice. One thing I remember my piano teachers always saying was to practice slowly. And indeed, if you practice slowly, you will improve faster! Slow practice allows students to solidify the rhythm of a piece, to work on its technical difficulties, to develop the dynamics properly, and to avoid creating bad habits. Increasing the speed of a piece up to tempo should occur gradually and always looking out for problems that need correcting. Avoid the temptation to speed up before it’s time… speed is not everything. So remember, practice slowly to improve quickly!