Practical tips to support your child's practice at home (1)

The last couple of posts have discussed the vital role parents play in supporting their child at home by negotiating a practice time and making sure it's stuck to.  For the next few posts we turn to practical strategies to help once you're at the piano. 

Make it a special time
In today's hectic world 1:1 time with your child is rare, so why not make practice time a special time when it's just the two of you and you can treasure the time spent together.  Put the phone and other distractions away, make sure siblings are occupied elsewhere, shut the dog out and really be present with your child. 

Along with Oprah and many others, Dr Christopher Fisher (father of two small pianists, piano teacher and academic) says your presence is one of the best rewards you can give your child.  Let your child know how special they are.  Remember, unless you tell them this they won't know it. Dr Fisher also suggests mentioning at random times (outside of practice) how proud you were of something they did in practice, it will light them up and motivate them.  ​

your presence is one of the best rewards you can give your child

Make it fun
A Suzuki teacher said that parenting is about paying loving, playful attention rather than education.  Practice needs to be filled with fun, laughter, fun and games.  Did you know it takes 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain, unless it's done playfully and then it only takes 10-20 - WOW!

The power of praise & constructive feedback
You already know this, but children crave parents' affirmation but it needs to be:

• honest
• specific
• about hard work

So ask questions - how could you make that better?  I wonder what that would sound like if you played it faster / higher / lower / etc.
Say 'I can see how fast you are progressing using that strategy'
Say 'I loved the sound you created just there'....and so on.  

Things to say!
The Curious Piano Teachers have created a set of practice cards for parents that are at the bottom of this blog post.  They include:

• 'I love the way you're sitting at the piano today, you look just like a pianist'
• 'I noticed how you counted aloud and clapped the rhythm before you started to play'
• 'You were very confident at the beginning of this piece and knew just where to put your hands and fingers'
• 'How could you play that differently' (higher / lower / faster / slower / more sadly / more excitedly)
• 'What could you do to make that sound better?'
• 'I'm curious to know what that would sound like played at snail speed'
• 'I wonder if you can play starting at bar.....'
• 'This might be a bit tricky, but what would that sound like played backwards?'
• 'How difficult would it be to get the right hand to play the left hand notes?'
• 'Let's go and find some unusual places around the house to tap the rhythm of your piece one'
• 'What would that sound like if you played opposite dynamics?' (volume)
• 'I'm going to sit down and when I hear the dynamics change I'll stand up'
• 'That sounded very steady and secure'
• 'That sounded a bit tricky, can you tell me why?'
• 'I'm going to set a timer for 1 minute.  How many xxxx can you play accurately in that time?'
• 'Call out aloud the letter names for the scale of....'
• 'Mess around and do your own thing at the piano for 3 minutes'
• 'Teach me to play something'​

I hope this has given you some ideas for practical ways to support your child.  There will be more next time!  

home-practice-cards.pdf
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