Piano Lessons, how long before you know if they are going to be any good at it?

[Marne]

Dd1 (8) has almost completed her first term of paiano lessons, she has one lesson a week and practices once a week at home. I'm not sure how well she is doing (i'm not a musical person), she can play one song without her book (the pancake) but seems to be really slow at the other songs, she's just started using her left hand and if finding it a bit tricky. Does this sound about right for how long she has been learning?

[Xenia]

You need to sit with her for about 5 minutes a day whilst she practices. She will be good if she practices. Once a week is not enough and expecting them just to go and do it on their own is not very usual.

She sounds just about right but needs to do some practise each day (much better than once a week even if the once a week is very long).

[lingle]

Hi Marne!

nice to hear your dd has got started with piano lessons.

sounds like perfectly good progress to me :)

[silkenladder]

Xenia is absolutely right, she needs to practise much more frequently. Set a fixed time, eg. straight after tea, and use a timer if necessary (5 minutes is fine at first to establish the habit).

Progress really is directly related to practice.

[Marne]

I will try and get her to practice more, its hard as we have a keyboard and not a piano, space is limited so it means clearing a space and setting it up (its just me being lazy really), she seems to enjoy it when she does practice, she's picked up reading music really fast i'm just worried as her co-ordination is not great so i'm not sure how she will manage playing with two hands, we will see how it goes.

[toddlerama]

I'm a piano teacher and I have to say that if I found out one of my students was practising just once a week because the parent didn't want to set up the keyboard, I'd probably ditch them for someone else on the waiting list! It will require more input from you.

[Marne]

Thanks toddler- luckily there are no others waiting on a waiting list , things are not always that simple with dd1, she has Aspergers syndrome and seems to think that she knows everything, as soon as she has completed on song with no mistakes she doesn't want to go back and get better at it. She's completing all the work her teacher is setting her (some of it is written work), i don't like to push her too much or she is likely to get fed up and give up (take the easy way out). Maybe i will add piano practice onto her reward chart as this seems to be working with getting her to do her homework.

Its also frustrating for her when her younger sister (5) can just play by ear (she's not having lessons but loves to play).

[lingle]

That's very interesting that she's picked up reading so fast Marne. DS2 did as well. Ds2 and I do about 15 minutes a day before going to school four times a week but he decided to stop piano lessons (said "I only do piano with my mummy"). He's still progressing on this hour a week.

[lingle]

Marne - consider doing several "stage 1" books so she learns by stealth as it were.

[Marne]

Thats a great idea lingle, will give it a go. Will try and find somewhere to set the keyboard up during the week (the only problem being dd2 playing it at 4am).

[toddlerama]

Good advice from lingle there. If you are running a few books at the same level concurrently it might help hold her interest. Get her teacher onside with that approach too and it might get around her thinking she 'already knows this page' . This isn't limited to as prefers students btw, lots of kids don't want to perfect things, just race on. There is a balance to be struck between allowing them to progress as encouragement and teaching them that just 'ok' is a good enough result.

[Xenia]

She could wear head phones then if it's electronic and she might otherwise make a noise when playing outside of the time she practises.
If she has played without mistakes I do not think she needs at her stage to play again. If she has played all that is set may be she needs something harder. I am lucky if mine ever play their instruments without mistakes.

(My "practice" verb shoulkd have been "practise" above.. bad me, never get that wrong)

[Beanbagz]

My DD (10) started piano lessons in September and does 15-20 minutes practice every day.

With her guitar she does 10-15 mins a day and is just about to take Grade 2 whereas one friend who started at the same time is taking Grade 1 and the other is nowhere near ready for an exam.

I really think that practicing frequently makes all the differnce. Is there a place where you can leave the keyboard set up so that it's available all the time?

[ZZZenAgain]

I cannot play the piano but I suspect the key to mastering the coordination of left and right hands is going to lie in regular practice, as close to a little daily practice as seems reasonable to you. You say she practises once a week. Is she practising for quite a long time? If so, maybe that puts her off practising more frequently if she thinks practice means a long session. Generally whatever we try to learn, be it an instrument, a language or something else practising a little bit every day seems to be the most effective way to move on. I cannot judge her progress, have no idea about the piano, but I think if it seems slow to you, why not try getting her to do a little bit every day or nearly every day and see if she then makes greater progress.

When you do something a lot, you tend to become good at it and when you are good at something, you tend to like it which leads you to want to do it a lot. It is a kind of circle effect. If your teacher is satisfied and dd is learning to sight read fast without even really doing much of it, she may have a real knack for the piano.

[silkenladder]

Would your dd react well to calculating her practice schedule? I encourage my students to practise very methodically in order to fill their block of practice time. One of my students leapt on the idea and came back the following week with a piece of paper showing the times for each exercise and piece I had set him, all adding up to a grand total of 14.5 minutes practice .

Btw, I can still remember how hard it was learning to coordinate right and left hands playing the piano at age 6. Our brains naturally like to mirror movements of our hands (which is why the "pat your head, rub your tummy" game is so hard), but once it clicks it will suddenly become much easier.

[Xenia]

I certainly think even 5 minutes of practice on a day they don't want to do it but to keep up the habit of it is much better than one long practice a week and it can also help if you always do it at the same time every day.

[mopsyflopsy]

I'd like to disagree a little here, based on our experience.

My dd (9) started playing piano about 3 years ago and, about half a year later, the violin and is taking her Gr 5 exams in both instruments this Spring. She LOVES music, really enjoys practising and making up tunes. Yes, she does practice most days but not every day and sometimes only 10 minutes. What I'm trying to say is that she is very musically talented and is therefore making quick progress.

However, my ds (8) has been playing piano for over 2 years and has not yet got to gr 1 level. I encourage him to practice most days but he's just not that interested. He also plays very 'mechanically', not musically. He'd rather play with his electronics kit or lego. We will probably let him stop once he's reached gr 1, unless of course he wants to try another instrument.

So, to answer your question OP, I think you know fairly quickly whether a child is musically talented/interested!

[mopsyflopsy]

And Xenia, I don't think you need to sit with them at all when they practice. Like homework, it is THEIR responsibility imo. Of course, you can show your interest and ask them to play you something they've learned once a week or so, but no, I don't think you need to sit with them at every practice. My dd actually likes the fact that music is 'her' thing (I'm very unmusical and don't play any instruments, so I couldn't even help them).

[Xenia]

I agree that it depends on the child but most aren't rushing to practise on their own and if you can persuade them to practise every day or sit with them for 10 minutes whilst they do it you tend to find they are morely likely to practise.

It is slightly different in our case as I like accompanying them on the piano (this iso bviously for other instruments) - well I endure it up to about grade 5 and then I reap my rewards when they are grades 6 - 8 as we get to play music every day which I like and is of a good enough standard. The downside is that they are always best at the accompanied pieces as we do them more and the dull studies get neglected.

[ZZZenAgain]

your dc are so lucky to have you accompany them on the piano. Wish I could do that but I cannot. I know a family where the mother studied violin, the father piano. They both went on to study something else afterwards but of course they play to a high standard, as do all the adults in their family who seem to have all gravitated towards music as a career. The mother told me they regularly play together at home: grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles and the children. I bet children would love that.

[Colleger]

Practising once a week! You're wasting your money then as she'll never get very far.

I do think it is good to sit with them. Music can feel lonely for some children and the experience needs to be as positive as possible.

[richmal]

I would certainly sit with her, if only to check she is following what was said in the lesson.

[mayanna123]

I try to let my kids practice on their own, just like they do their homework by themselves. Their music lessons take place at school so I wouldn't even know what they are supposed to practice (well, the teacher does write down a few points in a notebook). So I'd say yes to encouraging them but I would certainly not sit through all their music practice (I wouldn't have time for that either ).

[Riversidegirl]

What is your priority? To let her do something for enjoyment OR to give you something to brag about to your friends?

Sorry to be so blunt but my guide, as it's extra-curricular, would be one of the above...unless you are really skint.

Does the piano teacher have good references? It may be that he/she is not inspiring your child to put much effort in.

I speak from personal experience.

[CoteDAzur]

I don't know if your DD's AS has anything to do with it, but she should have been playing with both hands from early on. I started playing the piano at the age of 6 and was immediately playing (very simple melodies) with both hands.

Re your question in thread title: She will never be any good if she practices only once a week. She will be very good if she practices several hours a day over a year of two (of course, not feasible). To learn to play her instrument, she needs to practice every day, even if for a few minutes.

[HandMadeTail]

When he was 8, Lang Lang practised for 8 hours a day. Just thought you might be interested.