11 Nov 2019
By Shelly Davis
PPP168: You Cannot Learn to Play Piano in 30 Minutes Per Week

PPP168: You Cannot Learn to Play Piano in 30 Minutes Per Week

Podcast, Practicing and Motivation, , , , ,
I was reminded recently that parents need to be reminded to encourage their children to practice at home. I have the privilege of teaching music part-time at a charter school near me and my third graders are starting to play recorder. The kids and I meet only one day each week and that is only for 30 minutes. I told the students, "You cannot learn to play recorder in only 30 minutes per week. If you don't practice at home, you will be confused in class and will quickly fall behind." The same thing is true for piano students. They cannot…
Read More
11 Mar 2019
By Shelly Davis
PPP133: What’s really going on when your piano kid says, “This is too hard!”

PPP133: What’s really going on when your piano kid says, “This is too hard!”

Podcast, Practicing and Motivation, , , ,
Doing new things can be challenging for all of us. Piano students are asked to do new things constantly. Once they master one concept, another is given to them without pause. Faced with something new, in this case a new musical concept to master or a new song to play, students have to exert a lot of conscious effort. They have to intentionally think about what they want their hands to do. That is hard work! Piano kids will often resist and not even try because they don’t feel they will be successful. Rather than try and fail, they choose…
Read More