How to Motivate Your Child to Play Piano

Have you ever had trouble asking your children to practice piano everyday, or have you ever heard them saying, "I don't want to go to piano class"? These are the most common yet most neglected problems that both teachers and parents are facing today. Often, it is the parents that want the children to take piano lessons because the parents know taking lessons will develop an additional skill for the children. This skill may become a useful tool for them in the future. However, many children do not want to attend piano class because they do not want to practice everyday or simply they do not find a purpose in going to these classes. The following will tackle the first problem as mentioned above and my second article will talk about how can the teachers and parents transform the children into saying "I LOVE piano class!"

"I don't want to practice every day."

Often, students do not like to practice every day because practice is equivalent to extra work for them aside from the day to day school. In fact, there is often enough homework from school that can take up the whole night for the children to complete. Thus, practice piano means there will be less playing time for them. However, have you ever thought do children really like to go to school everyday or sometimes they just go because it becomes a routine or a habit? This is the key to practice piano everyday. If the children practice piano everyday, soon enough, it will become a routine and it will be become a part of their lives like going to school. Thus, for beginners, the key is to ask the children to practice everyday. The duration of the practice can be short, for example, ten minutes. The purpose is to develop a practice habit and allow the children to practice everyday so it will become a daily activity for them. Since the materials at the beginners level is not difficult at all, practice for an hour everyday would not be beneficial to them. Instead, practice only ten minutes but everyday would help them to develop a habit and send a message to their mind that this is part of their daily routine.

Some of you may think, "I already know this, but the problem is to get them to even practice ten minutes a day." In fact, a lot of parents and teachers neglect one important aspect in helping the children to develop this practice habit: the parents need to sit down and practice with the children. This may some obscure in the beginning as some may think that since they have no knowledge of piano they cannot practice with the children. In order to sit down and practice with the children, the parent must sit in during piano class and learn together with their children. As the children is a beginner to piano, so is the parent. The parent will always pick up materials faster than the children in the beginning. Thus, the parent's role at home is more like a mentor than a teacher. The children will not be able to absorb all the materials presented in class. However, if the parents remind their children what they have learned in class, often, children can recall the memory quickly of what they have learnt in class. The key is to practice together. Once the children develop the practice habit, parents will not be needed to practice together with the child.

In summary, parents need to sit in during their children piano class and learn together with them. Then, parents need to practice at home together with their children everyday for ten minutes. Soon, the children will develop the practice habit and parents will not be needed to practice with them anymore. However, some parents may still have a difficult them getting their children to go to the piano and practice everyday, this is because the children do not see a purpose in practicing and they simply do not like piano. When they do not have an interest in piano, this is the main reason that they do not practice everyday. In my next article, I will be talking about how to motivate the children so that they will turn around and say, "I love piano class!"

David Liu, A.R.C.T

David Liu is the founder of Staccato Music School with over 20 years of piano experience. Students rank in Top 2% in Canada under the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) syllabus. 100% exam passing rate. The school offers piano lessons in Mississauga, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Markham. With many real scenarios, the school has successfully transformed many children from hesitating to play piano to practicing twice or even three times a day. For more information, please visit: http://www.staccatopiano.com/, or contact 647 463 0565.

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How to Motivate Yourself When Learning to Play Guitar

If you are learning to play guitar, or if you already began to learn guitar chords, chances are that you have felt bored and frustrated; perhaps you have felt that playing the guitar is not for you, you find it more complicated than you thought it would be... anyway, you are not alone. You are not the first one or the last one getting that feeling, it happened to most guitar players when they began.

The reason I know that happens is because I have felt like that too, and I still feel like that every now and then when I'm trying to learn a new song; the only difference now is that I know that it can be done and that in the end is a small victory for me, now I know that if others were able to do it, I'm more than capable to do it as well.

The hardest step is to begin, learning the basics and the fundamentals of the guitar, this is usually the part when most people quit, and the truth is that it can get tricky at first; it is only after you learn the chords that you can start playing songs and having fun with your guitar.

Let me give you a few tips that have helped me in the past and still help me whenever I want to try something different in the guitar:

1. Visualize yourself playing your favorite songs. If you are learning a new song or if you are learning the basics of the guitar and you feel that you are going nowhere, visualize yourself playing that song that inspired you to start playing guitar in the first place, this will be like putting gas on your tank and you'll probably get the feeling you once felt; this is a great way to motivate yourself

2. Remember why you wanted to learn guitar. This one is a lot like visualizing yourself playing your favorite songs; when you get that feeling that you don't want to continue, start thinking why you wanted to start playing guitar, maybe to impress someone, to be famous, perhaps you want to start a career as a musician or just because you want to play the songs of your favorite band, either way think about it and this will make you feel good about what you are fighting for.

3. Do not overwhelm yourself. Too much practice can lead into frustration as well. I think that playing an hour a day is a great way to improve really fast, but if you are feeling bored after half an hour, what you can do is make a shorter practice session, try to practice for fifteen minutes a day and eventually you will feel the need to practice more and you'll see that time flies when you are having fun with your guitar.

4. Give yourself a pad on the back after practice. After you've done your homework, give yourself a little reward, if you like chocolates, have a chocolate or anything you like, but only after you've finished your practice, this is great to keep yourself motivated.

Learning guitar is a great experience, try to practice every day to see results and the best advice I can give you is to find a guitar course, stick to it and you'll be amazed with the results you'll see. Good luck and have a great day.

George Balibrera is an experienced guitarist with over 12 years playing guitar. Starting to Play Guitar Can be fun and exciting when you have the proper method to learn. Buy Jamorama at the best price and start learning guitar right away or improve your skills as a musician. Remember, practice is the key. To your success.

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