If you have two or more piano students in your household, your piano may be getting a work-out. Here are some tips for making sure everyone has the time on the piano that they need.
Make a Plan
It’s important to choose a consistent time of day for music practice even when there’s only one piano student in a household. When there’s more than one, it becomes even more important. Since it’s hard to schedule things down to the minute when children are involved, you may have more success if you block out certain times of day, such as before school, after school, and after dinner. Each child gets their own “piano zone” when they have priority for practice time. This doesn’t mean that no one else can use the piano during this time, but the child with priority gets the piano if they want it.
Recruit Junior Practice Partners
Depending on the age and maturity of your children, you can recruit them to help each other with their piano practice. Teaching someone else almost always helps you to learn better yourself! Plus, practice games might be even more fun with a sibling than with a parent.
One fun game for two piano students to play is Practice Safari. This game is best if one student is more advanced (Unit 8 or beyond). One student is the Safari Guide, the other student is the Safari Explorer. To play this game, the Safari Explorer will pick a song they’re working on learning. Choose a section from the song (2-3 measures) and then roll the dice! The number they land on will determine how they practice the section. The Safari Guide will help the Safari Explorer play their section correctly and guide them through any corrections they need to make. Be sure to monitor junior practice partners and make sure that the experience stays positive and fun.
How do you motivate piano students to practice?
Positive reinforcement can go a long way when students are learning piano! Be sure to celebrate their successes and praise their progress along the way, no matter how big or small the achievement. Setting clear and achievable goals also helps motivate piano students to practice. You could make a goal of finishing Unit 3 by the end of the summer or decide to learn one pentascale a week so that they’ll know all major scales by the end of the year.
Introducing variety to the practice routine also helps break up the monotony. We encourage our piano students to play piano games, improvise, compose, or practice learning notes with flash cards during their practice time. For beginner students interested in composing, check out our Keys to Composing packet! Another great motivator for practice is, of course, piano recitals! If a student knows they have a recital to prepare for within a month, they’ll be more motivated to return to the piano to prepare.
Making New Habits
While establishing a new practice routine, give a lot of attention and reward until the habit is formed. Start with a short-term reward program, something like, “If everyone practices the piano this week the way we’ve talked about, we’ll all go out for ice cream on Saturday.” It is okay if they don’t get it right the very first time, but if your kids go too long without reaching the reward, you’ve set the bar too high. Aim for something you’re pretty sure they can do with a little effort, and then increase the challenge.
What is the most efficient way to practice piano?
The most efficient piano students have a clear goal for each practicing session. It can be a goal like, “Today I’m going to practice these two difficult measures as many times as I need to make it smooth!” or it could be, “Today I’m going to write three measures of music.” Speaking these goals out loud helps define what the student wants out of their piano practice.
Another important part of efficient practicing is to practice slowly! Many students like to zoom through their pieces as fast as they can. Why? Well, it’s fun! But playing a piece fast often leads to incorrect rhythms or missed notes. To play piano efficiently, a student needs to go slow to correctly capture all the rhythms, dynamics, and notes. With time, the student can gradually increase the tempo while maintaining speed and accuracy.
Get a Second Keyboard
Having a second keyboard gives you the advantage that two students can practice at once. Of course this solution isn’t for everyone, but it can help out a lot if there’s competition for the family piano. Our family has really enjoyed having an acoustic piano as well as a keyboard with headphones in a separate room. This way both of our boys can practice at the same time, and it is also possible to practice early in the morning or late at night without disturbing other family members or neighbors.
Encourage Playing Together
If you have more than one child learning the piano you have a magnificent opportunity to help your children learn to play together. Encourage them to sit down at the piano and improvise. In my family growing up, a favorite piano game was to create a thunderstorm on the piano. One of us would play the low notes for the thunder, one would play the high notes for the wind and the rain. The storm would start out soft, then get louder and louder, and then die away in the distance. We’d switch places and the storm would start all over again. You can also help your children find sheet music for piano duets to learn to play together.
Be a Musical Piano Family
Sharing music together can bring a great sense of joy and family unity. With a little planning and creativity, sharing a piano together can be part of the fun.
Happy playing,
Joseph Hoffman