Piano Is a Year-Round Sport: Making Practice Work When School Starts
Every August, the family calendar gets rewritten. School starts, activities…
Every August, the family calendar gets rewritten. School starts, activities…
You do not need to spend a fortune to start piano lessons, but the instrument you practice on shapes everything about how you learn. Here is what actually matters: 88 keys, weighted hammer action, and touch sensitivity.
Many pianists taught to read music letter-by-letter progress slowly through scores, silently naming each note: E, G, B, D, F. They can decipher any piece eventually, but fluent sight-reading remains elusive.
Motivation seems like it should be simple. You either want to practice or you don’t. But decades of research in psychology reveals a more nuanced picture.
One of the most common requests from piano students is to skip ahead. “Can we learn this piece instead?” “I don’t need scales; can we just work on repertoire?” “Why do we have to learn this before moving on?” The impulse is understandable.
Your hands are shaking. Your heart is hammering against your ribs. In that moment, it is easy to believe that your body is betraying you. But that surge of adrenaline is not your enemy.
Every piano parent has been there. Your child sits down at the bench, plays through their piece once (maybe), then announces they are done. You know the recital is in three weeks. You know what their teacher assigned.
One of the most common questions I get from parents in the Clearwater area is: Is my child old enough to start piano? It’s a great question, and after years of teaching students of all ages, I have some honest thoughts on the matter.
I’m excited to announce that I’ll be sharing more of my piano repertoire online. But before I do, I want to be transparent about the approach I’m taking and why it matters.