Over the last two weeks I've discussed the parent's and child's role in the journey, today it's the teacher's.  The road to learning anything new is never smooth.  There are ups and downs, struggles and joys and the teacher is there to accompany the learner through them all, the good times and the bad. 

These problems may be emotional and related to the child, or technical / musical related to the piece of music.  Children arrive for their lessons in various moods and states of readiness to learn and teachers need to be able to observe and adjust their teaching to suit the child.  This can be pretty hard to do as we are under time pressure and want to teach the child as much as we can in the time available, however sometimes it's just necessary to abandon the plan and go with how the child is feeling.

As teachers we have to be endlessly curious about how we can teach 'better' (helped by ongoing professional development, for example from The Curious Piano Teachers, or membership of Facebook groups for teachers); what resources we can find for our students; which piece will suit which student; how to find a piece a student has requested that is arranged suitably for their level.

Not only do we need to educate ourselves and our students (this has been discussed in earlier posts), but we also need to educate parents.  Many parents long to play instruments themselves and either didn't as a child, or did and gave up too soon and regret it, or did and became quite successful - whichever it is teachers need to let parents know what music education looks like today.  It looks pretty different from what they experienced as a child or think they already know and they may not recognise it as what they want for their child.  But it is what their child needs if they are to become fulfilled musicians.

Music education has moved on and these days high quality music education teaches the whole child all the skills they need to be successful musicians.  So children learn through movement, songs, games, rhymes, they learn to play by ear and from notation, they are encouraged to make up their own music and 'mess around' on the piano.  Learning an instrument is not just learning to decipher dots someone else wrote on a page.

I'm sure there are many roles that I've missed.  Can you help teachers become better by identifying any more? 

I'll be taking a break from blogging until after Christmas.  The purpose of these first posts has been to help educate readers about why music is important, what good quality music education looks like and how they can help their children succeed.  In January I'll look at a different topic. 

Children tend to love music, they like to dance, to sing and to play on instruments.  Really, they just have to show up at the lessons wanting to learn and curious to explore.  By all means try out instrumental lessons with your child, but if he or she doesn't want to continue, please don't make them.  Instead help them find what they do want to do. 

Parents can help by playing all sorts of music and even giving children the opportunity to try some out - advice here!   Peter and the Wolf is a good piece to introduce children to various orchestral instruments, as is Carnival of the Animals. 

Music is an entire language and just as children took years to learn to speak full sentences so will they take years to learn the language of music.  This doesn't mean it can't be fun, engaging and fulfilling (which is the teacher's job; we'll look at that next week), from the beginning but reaching the dizzying heights of Grade 8 is hard work! 

As well as showing up willing to learn, children need the parent's and teacher's support to develop:

• Commitment - to the outcome they want;
  
• Perseverance - to push through the hard times;
  
• Self discipline - to play their instrument even if they don't feel like it sometimes;
  
• Determination - to learn new things even if they are hard at first.
  

Please remind your child not to be afraid to ask if he / she doesn't understand something and also to let their teacher know if they are not enjoying a particular approach or piece.  Good teachers who have undertaken professional development can adapt their approach and can easily provide different repertoire to better suit the child.  We are not mind readers and while we can 'pick up' on undercurrents we don't always succeed.

So much of the child's experience in learning an instrument depends on the quality of the teaching and if the child can develop the attitudes discussed above and is supported by their parents they will be well on their way with their musical journey.  Next week I'll look at the final part of the triangle - the teacher. 

What is your child's experience of music lessons?  Are they developing the attitudes they need to succeed?  Is there anything you can do to help them even more than you are already?  If you missed the parent's role in the learning journey read it here.

So, you've signed your child up for piano lessons and just like every other extra curricular activity, you pay the bill, drop your child off on time and your job is done.  Or is it?

For a child to make good progress they really should be playing most days of the week.  Learning an instrument cannot be crammed, so please don't think you can just practice the day before the lesson - by that time the child will have forgotten 90% or even 100% of what they learned and the next day's lesson will involve a repeat of the previous week's lesson which, on an ongoing basis, becomes very frustrating for child, teacher and parent.  Of course sometimes life gets in the way and if you've had one of those weeks then do tell the teacher.

Dr Andrea Creech of UCL found that students thrive where a good three way relationship exists between parent, child and teacher.  As a parent you can contribute towards this relationship by:

• Discussing how much you will be involved.  Obviously younger children will need more help;
• Providing a structured home environment for practice - for example playing at the same time every day;
• Taking an interest in promoting good teacher / student rapport;
• Listening to your child play and being his or her 'cheerleader';
• Not letting problems fester - address them immediately with the teacher before they become an issue. 

Dr Creech points out that parents need to be 'versatile'..... whatever does this mean?!!  The Curious Piano Teachers have written a whole blog post about this 'The Power of Practice: 7 Practice Hats for Parents' and it's summarised below.  There's also an excellent e-book from them, for you at the bottom of this post to help you keep track of your 7 hats! 

Schedule in playing sessions - how about setting a daily alarm to remind everyone when it's playing time?

Is the room warm and central (children don't like to be sent off to practice), is the stool at the right height, can your child read the teacher's notes,  is the light right, are there other distractions such as siblings playing computer games or making other noise?

You don't need to be a musician - sit down, listen and comment on any improvements - if necessary ask your child what they thought of the performance!  Praise achievements, give performance opportunities - for example when friends visit. 

Take an interest in the homework notes - if you don't understand them ask the child what they think, if you still don't then email the teacher - they will be delighted you're interested and love to help you. 

It's quite fun to get your child to teach you something they already know!

Remember, it's a three way relationship - keep channels of communication open with the teacher.  Ask questions, give feedback. 

Learning an instrument is hard.  Sometimes children just won't want to do it.  Negotiate with them to find a time that suits them better; pick just one thing to do; work out how to break tasks down; play an old piece; have fun messing about on the piano.  If it becomes an ongoing problem then speak to the teacher.  I always want to know what is going on and what I can do differently to help, but if I'm not told I don't always work out there is a problem - we aren't mind readers!

Avoid arguments at the piano and bribery.

Practice doesn't sound good.  It consists of playing the same bit over and over until it's correct - note, not the whole piece - if you're hearing the whole piece then your child is not practising properly.  This is a subject for a whole other blog post. 

I hope you've found this helpful, do share any experiences you have of being a piano parent below.  Next week we'll be looking at the child's role in the triangle. 

Over the last few weeks we've looked at the benefits of learning music; what good music teaching looks like; and how it is possible to measure progress without relying solely on exams.  Today we're considering the needs of today's children and how a novel approach to piano lessons incorporating all aspects of musicianship meets those needs.  Please do share if you think your friends will find this interesting. 

As renowned music educator Paul Harris says, today's children have a wealth of choice in terms of activities they can choose to fill their time and many of these give instant gratification.  Learning an instrument does not always give instant gratification and so, if taught by a teacher who doesn't understand music education thoroughly, it is not something children are going to choose to fill their time. 

Lessons with Surrey Music School offer children activities they can do well, 'now' - they learn to sing a song, they move to the beat, they spend all week singing the song and they play games together while singing the song - often they can't get it out of their heads!  When they know the song really well they work out the pitches (the sounds that go higher and lower) and work out how to play it by ear on the piano.  Because their ear is being developed through all this singing and playing they begin to work out how to play it. 

Children are then curious to know work out how the song can be notated (written down), so they are given resources to help achieve this and again, what could be difficult becomes easy. 

Children happily and independently working out rhythms to songs

The piano is a pretty exciting instrument to play and explore, so not only do children get to play songs they have learned to sing, but those taking our group programme at St Johns in Merrow also spend half the lesson exploring the whole piano through improvisation.

Children learning in this way not only get a really great musical foundation for the future but also get to play real music 'now'!  Of course we do not advocate having everything now, but this approach has the dual benefit of enabling children to make real music while developing all the skills necessary to become confident rounded musicians. 

Of course they will have to apply themselves, it will not always be easy, but it will be much easier than going the route of 'traditional' piano lessons which involve setting a tutor book in front of a child and expecting them to read and play without any musical foundation at all.  In these instances the eye takes over from the ear in the effort to decipher the notation and all thoughts of music making are absent in the struggle. 

Over the next few weeks we'll be looking at everyone's roles in the learning process - the parent's, child's and teacher's.