Part 6: My tips

If you are going to invest time and money in music lessons, find a good, qualified teacher.  Our teacher participated in Music Federation several times a year, where the students would learn harder pieces, and perform them in front of judges, who would evaluate their performance.  It sounds very serious, which it kind of was, but it wasn't that bad.  It was just to help them practice more diligently and help improve their skills.  They could earn trophies as they progressed. Once a year my kids would learn a concerto and perform it at Music Federation.  They all progressed faster because they were forced to learn harder pieces.  

You don’t have to practice 2 hours a day, and practice 365 days a year, to raise a piano player that will have great skills for the rest of their life.  I read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and oh my goodness, she made them practice 2 hours a day, even while on vacation.  That was definitely not happening with us. But what you do have to do is practice year round, on a pretty consistent basis. And you have to do deliberate practicing.  Not just play through their songs once and make a bunch of mistakes. I was constantly making them practice the harder parts a lot more. That is why you have to be involved and present during practice time.  You don't need to be able to play the piano - you can usually tell if they are playing the wrong notes.  

I would take out a pencil and count 10 white keys from the bottom of the piano keyboard and place the pencil on the 10th key.  Every time they played the harder measure with no mistakes, I would move the pencil down one key, until it got to the bottom.

I read Lang Lang, Journey of Thousand Miles - so interesting.  I then made my kids read the kid version - Lang Lang, Playing with Flying Keys.  

Each kids had a "pom pom jar" we kept by the piano. It was just a clear plastic jar.  I made a deal with my kids.  If they practiced 30 minutes a day, they would get to put a pom pom in their jar.  If they practiced 4 days a week, they would get 4 poms poms.  But if they practiced 5 days a week, they would get 7 pom poms.  Once the jar was full, they would get a reward.  Here is a list of some of the rewards they would get (that they would seriously get so excited about, especially in Elementary school).

Symphony bars
Hershey bar
Jamba Juice
Go to lunch
Bowling
Visit to the chocolate store
Baskins robbins
Shave Ice
Local bagel joint
Jelly Belly’s
Nickel arcade
Kids Pedicure
Martian matter
Sharpies
Embossing stamps

I listened to a great podcast:   All In Podcast. Guest Steven Sharp Nelson (he is the cellist in The Piano Guys). "Steven Sharp Nelson: “That Thy Performance May Be For The Welfare of Thy Soul”

I loved hearing about Steven and his Dad who would take him for a special treat after cello lessons.  

If you have never heard of Brooke Romney, she is one of the most insightful people I know.  Here is her Instagram post on music lessons:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C92YxaVA71f/?igsh=MWkxajk3c3dsdXNwdw==&img_index=10