I wish I had the time to do a study; it would be titled “The Effectiveness of Piano Practice as Determined by Physical Piano Placement and Parental Involvement.” Although I’m not feeling too guilty about not having the time to devote to this… as I’m pretty sure I know the answer (as do you).
As piano teachers, it’s painfully obvious to us that students need a) a decent instrument to practice on at home, b) that instrument to be somewhere that is desirable to spend time and c) parental encouragement and often involvement in home piano practice. It’s “painfully” obvious because these three criteria are often not met in the homes of our piano students. Piano practice can often suffer as a result.
If you can’t afford to be choosy in terms of who you teach, the issues with decent instruments and piano placement are often not something that is easily remedied… but with our new free piano printable, the “parental involvement factor” is easy to inspire!
Play Piano With Me, Dad!
This week, my young piano students will be sending a super special invitation to one of their parents to join them at the piano for their week of practice. No parent can resist a heart-felt request from their child… and the fill-in-the-blank areas on this letter are designed to tug at the heart strings just enough to pull them in the direction of the piano bench! It’s an easy activity to implement in your piano studio; simply print (Mom version or Dad version), fill it out with your student during their lesson time and have your student deliver their letter by leaving it somewhere special where the parent will be sure to find it (much more effective than them saying “here” and tossing it over the seat of the car after piano lessons!)
We’ve blogged before about the importance of family involvement in piano practice. By including other family members in your piano students’ learning process you are not only giving them motivation to practice, but you are also strengthening the entire family’s commitment to including music in the lives of their children; and for piano teachers this is a huge step in a very good direction! Our Level 1 Technical Exercise book (TEDDtales) makes it easy for parents to get involved. Click the image below for more info.
Joyce says
Great idea!!! Will try that this week!
Stacey says
Hehe, so cute!
Jeannie says
LIKE IT!
Natalia says
LOVE THIS!!
Carolyn Nelson says
I love this idea to help involve their parents. As some of my students live with their grandparents, can the title be changed to Grandma or Grandpa?
Andrea says
Hi Carolyn – you have permission to copy the letter and change it as needed to include Grandparents 🙂