Thursday, September 1, 2022 by Anita Byers | Piano Parent Tips

from www.teachpianotoday.com/

PIANO PARENTS AS PRACTICE ASSISTANTS 

Piano parents don’t have to be nervous about helping out at home. They don’t even have to know how to play the piano to make a difference!

Piano parents really only have to achieve one, single goal: to get their children on the piano every day.

Most piano parents take this to mean that they need to nag their children about practicing piano. But this is definitely not the best way to encourage daily practice. 

The best way to encourage daily piano practice is to be an engaged piano parent.

Proactive piano parents have their own home practice tasks to complete, just as their children do. This creates a teamwork environment where parents and children are working together towards the common goal of daily practice.

14 PRACTICE TASKS FOR PIANO PARENTS

Regular practice routines will not happen without proactive piano parents. Here’s a list of Teaching Assistant Tasks that musical and non-musical parents can perform during home practice sessions.  

1. The Practice Bouncer: Keep family pets, siblings, and friends out of the piano room. Keep cellphones and TV quiet during practice sessions. 

2. The Practice Videographer: Take a video of a home practice session to share with your teacher on Tonara. 

3. The Piano Piece Request Line: Request your student to play a favorite piece from past practice sessions. 

4. The Lead Vocalist: Sing along with song lyrics.  Just make sure it’s a piece your child already knows pretty well.  Sing-alongs do not work too well when a piece is first being learned. 

5. The YouTube Liaison: Search out quality performances of pieces your child is learning and listen to them together. Have your child talk about what they notice and hear. 

6. The Piano Studio Janitor: Assist your child in getting and keeping the piano space in order. Clean the keys. Organize papers and books. 

7. The Concert Promotor: Encourage your child to play for friends and family members when they visit.  Send a video. FaceTime. 

8. The Timekeeper: Monitor any timed activities for your child. Remember that each piece in Tonara has a minimum number of minutes to practice.  Make sure the student clicks “start practice.”

9. The Sticker Giver: Give an unexpected sticker for hearing a piece being played extra well or when a difficult passage is mastered. 

10. The Role Reversal: Have your child teach YOU something they are learning: clap a rhythm, play a piano game, perform a simple duet. 

11. The Check-Marker: Make sure your child is completing all the Tonara assignments. When each is finished, they may mark the assignment as completed. Children love when they can check off all assignments!

12. The Lesson Note Reader: Make sure to begin each practice session by logging into Tonara and open the weekly assignments.  Help the student read any directions, watch video tutorials and listen to recordings. 

13. The Active Audience Member: Listen actively by giving only positive feedback to exercises and repertoire being performed 

14. The Frustration Interpreter: Discuss difficulties and challenges with your child as they occur and help them tell the teacher.  A student may message me on Tonara anytime during the week for extra help!