Sharing Love While Encouraging Your Child To Practice - Mozart’s Monthly Memo-Volume 38
February 17, 2024
This Memo includes
Feature Article: Sharing Love While Encouraging Your Child to Practice
Student Hall of Fame
Practice Tip - How to play a song fast - Check out our video!
Parents Ask Pam - My child will miss their lesson today. How do we schedule a make up?
Feature Article -
Sharing Love While Encouraging Your Child to Practice
By Pamela Cornell
This month is all about love. Love for sweethearts, love for family, love for friends. Valentines day is the special day to celebrate, but how can we share love in our everyday activities for every other day? More specifically, how can you show love to your child while helping them practice the piano every day?
One statement I hate hearing from adults is how much they wish they could play the piano. They had lessons as a child, hated practicing, and eventually their parents gave up and the lessons stopped. No one likes that story. Not the parent and not the child. It truly sounds horrible. There is a better way!
Whether you are a parent that plays an instrument or not, you value music education and want the best for your child. You have signed them up for lessons and at first, your child was super excited! But now some time has passed and the initial excitement has given way to daily drudgery. Your child still wants to play, they just don’t want to practice. You want them to continue, but you also hate the daily battle around practicing. What can you do?
Here are 5 steps to make daily practicing a loving experience between you and your child.
Children learn by example. Do you play an instrument? Do you practice or play for fun? When your child sees you playing or learning to play an instrument, it can motivate them to want to do the same thing. It doesn’t matter if you are beginning or advanced. They will see your commitment, your struggles through the hard parts and your success once you’ve worked through it.
Listen to classical music. Listening to music is such an important part of learning to play an instrument. Not only does it develop the ear, but it also helps with motivation. When you hear an advanced player play something beautiful on your instrument, it is natural to be excited and eager to be able to do the same thing. I had a first year piano student bring me a copy of the piece, “Flight of the Bumblebee.” He was several years away from learning that piece, but it was his motivation! He had seen a young person play it and loved how the fingers flew across the keys. He couldn’t wait to be able to do the exact same thing!
Stop calling it “practice,” instead call it “play.” Playing the piano sounds way more fun than practicing the piano. Even as a seasoned piano player and teacher, I would much rather plan piano play time instead of piano practice time in my daily schedule. Just changing that one word changes my own motivation. Imagine how much more it can help your young child. Besides, at least one-third of your “practice” time should be fun playing time anyway. It is all play time!
Instead of a timer, set a goal. Play time is done when the goal is achieved. Also, choose a goal that can be accomplished within 30 seconds to 2 minutes. When the goal is accomplished, plan a reward. Rewards could be playing a fun song, playing a song in a silly way, or playing a fun musical game. The reward is still part of the play time, it is just a way to break up “yucky” parts with fun parts.
Let your child choose. So much of practice time challenges is getting your child to do what you want them to do. I’ve met so many children that want to play the piano but fight and argue about practicing between lessons. Back off and let them take control. How much will depend on their age. Some will still need structural boundaries or reminders but here are some ways to give your child choices during practice time.
Let your child choose:
How many days they will practice each week. Give them a choice between 3 - 5 days. Make a chart so they can mark off each day they practice. If they reach their goal, they earn something, a choice for dinner, a play date, or maybe a special sticker.
Which pieces to play or activities to do. Students typically have songs they have already learned, songs they are currently working on, musical games, and weekly worksheets or theory pages. Some of these may be in their current lesson, some may be from previous lessons. Sometimes students want to do something completely different, like learn a song not from their teacher, or sound out a melody they have heard. Anything musical should be acceptable. If nothing else, your child is developing their ear and finger dexterity. But more importantly, they are taking control of their own musical education and motivating themselves to continue.
How long they play. In truth, some days we are more motivated than other days. Your child may spend 30 minutes playing old music and two minutes on their current lesson. That is okay. Again, it is them developing their own motivation. Since it is now called play time, many activities not generally associated with practice also count.
The end goal is to have a positive experience with your child, while encouraging them to continue playing every day. Not only will the day to day sharing and encouragement show your child that you love them, but the end result of them having a musical education and skill will also show love! Please comment below about how your practice experiences have become more loving.
Student Hall Of Fame
Our students are making great progress! These students have accomplished new goals this last month.
Welcome to our new students and welcome back to returning students - Ada N, Alanna M, Alix D, Anaaya B, Anna Z, Anvith R, Arthur G, Atlas K, Aubrey R, Bavana G, Caleb M, Carolina J, Cedar E, Clark H, Daniel H, Desmond S, Eleanor G, Eliam G, Harper M, Hazel G, Ian D, Ilham N, Isabel F, Ivaan A, James D, Jesslyn S, Kaia B, Kartik J, Kaylee L, Landon C, Lily Y, Lina D, Logan G, Magnus T, Matias P, Max L, Mila G, Nora P, Nora C, Ocean X, Princeton D, Ruby H, Savanna P, Simon Y, Soliana W. and Yitian C.
100-Day - Play the piano for 100 days in a row - Jordan P*. and Samuel S. (*indicates first time meeting this challenge!)
5X5 - play the piano for 5 minutes, 5 days in a week, for 5 weeks in a row - Elaina S*, Isabella N, Janice L, Jordan P, Joses C, and Samuel S. ( * indicates first time meeting this challenge!)
Listening - Listen to an hour of classical music every week for 4 weeks in a row - Logan G.
50X - Play their new piece 50 times in the first week - Claire F, Matias P, Nora P, and Ruby H,
Completed their piano lesson book - Ira W, Jacob S, Jaya K, and Olivia D,
Practice Tip
Want to play a piece fast? The secret? Slow and accurate! It doesn’t matter how slow, as long as you play it many times correctly. Focus on correct notes, correct rhythm and the same fingering every time. The more you play accurately, the easier it is to play fast.
Upcoming MOM Events
Want to see all upcoming events? Check out our calendar. It includes when the next Crescendo Kids class begins, school closure dates, piano parties, and recital dates.
FREE Online Piano Party! Students share their own music as well as participate in musical games, creating music and learning some music history. Each party is a little different with new lessons and a special guest instrument. Come, meet our piano teachers, play some music, and have fun! All ages and musical levels are welcome. Parties are available to non-students, former students as well as current students. Click the link to sign up. Piano Party Sign Up
Sunday, Mar 3, 2024, 11:00 - 11:45, ages 3 - 12 years
Parent Information Meetings - Have questions about our online piano class program? Want a tour of our practicing app? Click the link to schedule your free meeting with Miss Pam. Parent Info Meeting
Crescendo Kids CLASSES -
North Kirkland Community Center - Tuesdays or Thursdays - visit kirklandparks.net
Winter:
Registration is over
Tuesdays, January 16 - April 2 (no class February 20)
Thursdays, January 18 - April 4, (no class February 15).
Spring:
Registration begins March 19, for Kirkland residents and March 21, for everyone else.
Tuesdays, April 16 - June 18
Thursdays, April 18 - June 20
Spartan Recreation Center in Shoreline - Mondays - visit shorelinewa.gov/registernow
Winter:
Registration is over
Mondays, January 22 - April 1 (no class February 19)
Spring:
Registration begins March 26, for Shoreline residents; March 28, for Lake Forest Park residents; and March 29, for everyone else.
Mondays, April 8 - June 17 (no class April 22 & May 27)
30 - Minute Private Online Piano Lessons - Did you know that many of our teachers also teach privately? Now you can continue your child’s musical education, or your own, with Move Over Mozart. Click here for more information. Private Lessons
New Crescendo Kids Online begins Tuesday, February 13 and March 12. Our piano classes are fun and easy to do! Perfect for beginning students ages 3 1/2 to 12 years old. Students are put into one of 4 classes depending on their age and musical ability.
Crescendo Kids Online Sign Up
Pre-Reading - Ages 3 - 5 years, or students not yet reading,
We use a color-coded method for the students to match their five fingers to five keys on the piano. New songs using only those 5 notes are given each week.
Primary - Ages 5 -7 years or older and brand new to music,
This group is for the very basics of piano playing. Students learn to play simple rhythms, correct hand position, and the names of the white keys on the piano.
Beginning Elementary - Ages 7-12 years or younger and reading notes,
This is for students just starting to read notes on the staff. Students are taught how the staff relates to the piano and how to translate the notes to making music. Also, having the students memorize a few key notes on the staff will help greatly with their ability to read music.
Advanced Elementary - Ages 7 - 12 years with previous piano lessons
This group already reads notes on the staff and can immediately identify many of the notes by name. They will learn more advanced technique and music theory beyond the initial basics of learning to play.
Parents Ask Pam
Have a question for Miss Pam? You can email, text message, or message on Facebook your questions. She will respond immediately to you, and your question might be featured in future newsletters.
Q: My child will miss their lesson today. How do we schedule a make up?
A: I’m so sorry! We do not teach make up lessons. (For online lessons, 24 hours is required to cancel or reschedule.) However, we do have a great alternative. If your child misses a lesson, they can always send a video through our practice app. Then the teacher can comment on their progress and update their assignments. You can also text the teacher questions anytime through the practice app.
Your Comments And Questions
We want to hear from you! What questions do you have? What do you like best about this memo? How has our online lessons benefitted your child? Please leave your questions and comments below or email Pam directly at misspam@moveovermozart.net