My First Piano Adventures 6

My students seemed glad to be back at lessons after the winter break. Wendy the whale made a big splash this week

We tried to hold the last note to see how long we could hear it. The sound was as long as Wendy's tail.

A. listens and listens while the sound fades away. Wendy is a black note song. These pieces on the black notes help to promote a rounded hand position. Five to six year olds still have trouble coordinating their two hands. This can lead to frustration so creative reasons for repeating a song are helpful. "When we get to the end of the song lets give Wendy a short tail this time."

N. makes sure his two keys play at the same time. Wow, that means bringing 4 keys to sound all at once.

Everyone seems to love Shepard Count Your Sheep. Played with tenderness this piece is lovely. Here M. does a beautiful job.

Oh my, Old PigDonald made an appearance this week. Did D. still remember how to play that piece? Inviting stuffed friends can make an excellent reason to repeat, repeat, repeat. Little fingers can only learn how to relax when playing if they get to play often, hence, repeat.

You’ve likely heard about Amy Chua’s new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.According to Mrs Chua, Westerners are lax on raising their children.  Here is a response to her book by a successful professional artist.

Artist J Kirk Richards- "I grew up in a musical home. Not practicing was not an option. My mom even wrote a book about her experiences raising eight musical children–how to get your children to practice (a book which has sold thousands and thousands of copies over the years.) Here’s my own list of things I will be eternally grateful to my parent’s for:

• making me practice even when I was kicking the piano–looking back it was a great way to learn discipline

• practicing with me until I was disciplined enough to practice on my own

• when I expressed a real interest in art at the age of 13, my parents didn’t let me quit music. they made me continue for another year to prove my interest in art wasn’t just a fleeting distraction.

• when the time came, they fostered my new interest by finding an art teacher to replace my music teacher

• my parents always encouraged me in my interests. when friends and their parents expressed doubts in my future as an artist, my parents were solidly supportive

• the whole time, my parents let me have a normal “Western” childhood (well, a normal childhood without an atari or a nintendo:))

Okay, so I’m not going to call my kid “fatty” or “lazy” in order to get them to perform, but there are three things I solidly agree with: 1. kids would rather play than work, 2. they won’t really know the joy of a discipline until they’re really good at it, 3. if they are ever going to be really good, parents have to provide motivation to get them through the hard times."