To be strict about piano practice

But if they want to be a serious pianist, they will have to take control of it themselves and from an early age. It’s going to need to come from something in themselves. Same as sport, dance, art. They need to find the self motivation.

edit to add, my 12 year old is still working on his self motivation. But he is talented and plays piano, euphonium and bass guitar. He is in a highly regarded youth orchestra (in our country) and has taken no exams in any instrument. Both the orchestra and d his tutors are happy with this. He does practice but not every day and I don’t ask him to. Equally between tutor, school band and orchestra he is doing 5hrs a week just on eupho. Piano and bass are just for him, so he can practice as he chooses. Again no exams But totals minimum 7 hrs a week

OP, if he's literally just starting and can't already read music, 5 or 10 minutes every other day will be plenty initially. Long sessions when you can't "do" much yet are frustrating!

Have music in your home as a pleasure to be enjoyed. If you want your child to play an instrument, they need to enjoy what they're doing without the pressure of exams and grades.

I grew up surrounded by music and musicians of all types. No one taught me to play anything, I

learned because I had role models. My mum was still singing and playing and performing right up to get late 70s when lockdown stopped it.

I play several different instruments and sing. 2 out of 4 of my kids are musicians. The other 2 are musically inclined but aren't doing anything with it right now. We do all sing though when we get together.

Pick your battles.
Definitely not when they are tired, hungry or upset about something else.

You just ignoring the comments from people whose parents sucked all the joy out of learning?

Trust me as someone who hadn’t played for years, now whenever I get out a book to play, one of the kids who had zero interest 5 mins earlier is taking over the keys!

I don;t think it is inevitable that the enthusiam will wear off, it never did with my child. I never had to tell her to practice, she went to the piano the minute she got in from school, playing was her relaxation. She
only did 2 grades - grade 2 and grade 8 because her teacher thought exams would hold her back, so she progressed very quickly. The same applied with her 2nd instrument. You can't force a love of playing, but I think you can destroy it with rigid practice times and constant exams. If your child wants to learn so they have the pleasure of being able to play for their whole life, exams aren't necessary, if they want to be a profesional musician, they can just take what they need to get them into a music college (in our case 2 instruments at grade 8).
Music is supposed to be fun not a chore, and if your child loves it they will find the technical stuff and the practising fun too, just the same as if they want to excel at football or whatever, they'll happily go out and practice their ball skills without being asked.

Why cant they decide when they are older

’incentives’ never hurt. Star for each practice and maybe a gift when 50 are reached.

Sorry but I need to know more! I love Tim. I’ve read similar about him-although if he’s done grade 3 and I’ve seen him talking about all sorts of high grade music terms and chords etc I feel like he must be to read music somewhat!

Anyway- that’s amazing you got to meet him and talk about piano! I can only dream. He’s just the most amazing musician.

I did grade 5. I didn’t practise as much as I probably should have. Scraped my grade 4&5. I often did zero practise between lessons. But - as he said on that video, I do sometimes find the music online for a pop song I like and I can play it. Which is what I love now.

I am currently learning piano as a 44 Yr old and I love it..... but its my choice! I practice after work for at least an hour but sometimes it carries on if i get caught up.

My son got to grade 3 and had a lot of aptitude but his heart was never in it. Only practiced when reminded. Looking back not sure it was worth it. I think I’d see if they have some enthusiasm - if not, not worth it. Maybe give it a couple of years

I teach music and agree with this. 15 minutes a day at 7 years old with an option of two days a week off. Make a chart and tick it off. You do have to insist a bit once they embark on lessons as otherwise you are wasting money. Progress just won’t be made without practice.

The key for us was a brilliant teacher who my kids really loved. They practiced for her - she set expectations that they would practice.

Thank you. This is one of those responses on MN that I have taken a screen shot of and will encourage me to stick with the hard times in relation to hobbies / music for my kids when they are older

God. I hated being made to practice. It killed all of the joy of it for me. Actually so did the grades.

I retaliated with the loudest scales and appergios on repeat. Sonetime deliberately badly.

I don't know what the answer is but I suspect that if you have a gifted pianist for a kid, they will play and play and play. If they don't....well, then they don't love it do they and you're paying a lot of.money for nothing.

I think the key thing is the love of music and critically the right teacher.

DDs teacher encouraged a love of music - asking her what she had listened to that week, talking about theory etc.

She once told him that she sees piano keys on her ceiling when she's falling asleep and her fingers play the notes as she's falling asleep. He told her he was the same.

He helps her compose her own stuff too (and she's doing Grade 5 theory).

Like other PP have said, the main benefit for DD (autistic) is the emotional outlet it gives her - both playing and composition.

I’m both a piano teacher and a mother to a 7 year old piano student (not taught by me😁). Also have a 10 year old piano player too.

So as a teacher, it’s SO obvious which kids have practised and it honestly makes the lessons so much more fun and interesting and satisfying and therefore they practise more and therefore they get more enjoyment from it and therefore they improve quicker.

As a parent, I expect my kids to practise a couple of times a week and they get a star for every 5 mins they do, and then those stars are worth 50p each. So it’s very convoluted but it works 😁

Also, if they don’t practise, it’s still ‘better’ playing once a week in a lesson than never at all. Like going to the gym is better than staying on the sofa, but you’re not gonna get buff by going to the gym once a week. Mainly, if they’re not practising then the lessons could perhaps be seen as a waste of money for the parent.

I used to be an instrumental teacher. Different instrument. Honestly if you get them to practice once a week for 10 mins they will still be practising 100% more than about 50% of my students used to. Especially the primary aged ones. Everyone still used to progress to a degree.

The biggest benefit of learning an instrument at that age in my opinion is learning how to concentrate. I spent lots of effort refocusing the little ones during their lessons. They gain a lot from the lessons even if they don't get very good at the instrument.

DD(8)will usually need a nudge to practise but is happy to do so and I sit with her. We probably do 10 mins 5-6 days a week. She is about to take her Initial grade exam so we have been doing extra sight reading and aural to help confidence so maybe 15-20 mins some days.
DS (8) not interested in lessons at all on any instrument and I haven’t pushed this… although I think he would be fab at sight reading as he pointed out to DD that the notes were going higher on her sight reading!

We have a piano that has a silent setting. I highly recommend it