To be strict about piano practice

My son plays the drums which means that practice can be difficult around long days with before and after school clubs as for the neighbour’s sake we say not before 9:30 or after 7pm. But he does have to practice for a minimum of an hour a week. How he splits that up is up to him. He normally chooses to do 4 15-20min sessions. His teacher always knows if he’s practiced less than that.

It made a huge difference to my DD’s progress if I sat with her when she practised. Think we did 5 days a week. And the more she saw progress the happier she was to practise

As a total novice learning from YouTube I would suggest 10 mins practice of scales and such and 10 mins trying to learn something they really want to. Either way round to mix it up. I can't be arsed learning scales and such but have watched and watched and watched videos and can now competently play 3 pieces of video game music that I enjoy listening to. Try and catch them at a time they are relaxed ie after dinner, that's when I find I'm at my most adept.
I appreciate my set up is radically different but even if they give it up its never too late to pick it up again

I was forced and I absolutely hated it and it led to me and my mum having huge rows, it needs to be enjoyable it’s a hobby!! Why does he need to do it every day! That’s mental. A few times a week is fine he is only seven, he isn’t Elton John about to go on tour

I was forced to practice.

I don’t force my DD to practice. (She’s 14 and will sit grade 6 soon. She spends time between grades actually playing, as in experimenting etc.)

We spent time with Tim Minchin a couple of years ago who didn’t have formal lessons after 12 and can’t read music and it doesn’t seem to have set him back. He told DD never to practice, only to play. He’s right.

if you want your child to love music, take the pressure off.

I have two dc at post grade 8 (one wants to be a professional pianist).

I think daily practice is essential if they are going to get to the point it is enjoyable. That said, not all of it has to be focussed practice, scales and so on don't require always all their attention and so can be done while watching something on youtube or listening to a podcast.

But ultimately, they have to love it or there's no point. I would set a minimum they have to do every day, and if you find after a while that they never do more than that and that doing that is a struggle, you are wasting everyone's time and your money by insisting they carry on.

My parents never forced me to practice and play the piano - I had classes once a week but if I didn’t feel like it they wouldn’t take me. Same for every art or sports I ever started - now I am an adult with no skills or hobbies despite the opportunities I had. I wish they were stricter and I certainly will be with my children.

PS are you being too Tiger Mum - no - music requires regular practice and they can't know that at their age so you have to instil it - it's just finding the right balance between developing a habit and putting pressure.

It’s difficult, isn’t it. Do you have a piano or a keyboard? If you have a keyboard, headphones would sort any noise issues.

My dc is keen to do lessons. Occasionally she’s less keen to practice. I say that while she wants lessons, she has to practice at least 5 days a week. Sometimes it’s enough to suggest just 5 minutes of practice. That leads onto a longer session. Sometimes she practices for ten minutes , sometimes for considerably longer.

You could look at getting some piano books with music your dc would find fun to play. It can act as a motivator and something to practice if your dc doesn’t fancy to practice the homework pieces.

As for strategies when it gets hard, I always remind her that she had to learn to read once. And she had to keep going and keep working at it, but it was worthwhile. I also remind her of how far she’s come in piano- how 6 months ago she would have found X piece so tricky, but now it’s easy, so the same will happen with the new piece.

It’s early days for us and I dont have all the answers. I’m hoping she sticks with it. I just keep being enthusiastic and her biggest cheerleader. So far I’m lucky as she loves piano and recently she has been very keen to practice. I hope your child enjoys it too.

I said 15 minutes 5 days a week. I think it's good to have 2 optional days off. Didn't set any fixed time or anything but just checked if done. It wasn't always, but as you rightly point out, fights would be counterproductive. I did remind every day - sometimes twice - but tried not to nag - and as my child got older they got more disciplined about fixing their own routine.

At a certain point (secondary?) if they are not motivated to keep up the discipline after having had it inculcated into them over a couple of years, I think it's time to have a break or let go.

My DC learned violin and piano. Practice was every evening after dinner. It wasn’t negotiable. I used to sit with her, every single time, to encourage her.

DD is learning an instrument that I play but I work and DH is retired so we do 2-3 days with me, 2-3 with DH just checking she's done it and 2 days are ok to skip if it's a late night after an after school activity (she had 3 on Monday including her flute lesson and didn't get back till 9).

We do 10 minutes a day before school. My kids wake up at 6am though 😭
8am is fine for neighbour noise imo