You can be a piano teacher with superhuman powers, but if your students don’t go home and work on what they’ve learned in lessons, progress will be painful. And, when progress is painful (because they haven’t practiced), you will hear a world of excuses.
But you should not ignore their excuses.
Instead, you should treat them as a plea for practice help. In the infographic below we’re sharing the most common excuses piano students make for missed practice and what you can do about it.
Don’t forget to keep reading after the infographic. We’ve included several links to posts we’ve written that can help you deal with these excuses in your studio.
Looking To Dig Deeper Into This Topic?
1. Discover why my piano students are setting their morning alarm 30 minutes early.
2. Check out these 6 piano student safety nets to rescue any home practice session.
3. Here is a huge practice mistake that thousands of piano students are making.
4. Great lessons begin with great music, and TeachPianoToday’s PianoBookClub is delivering that music for just a few bucks a month. Learn more here.
5. Creating a “Practice Nest” – 5 ways piano parents can improve home practice.
6. Here is what your piano parents need to know about practice.
A touch of humour !
Before the recent two week holidays here in Australia, I had asked a student to ” take a look” at a new piece during the break.
First lesson back, I asked her if she had done that. I was taken aback when she gave me a resounding YES! This delightful child is very very vague, lives in her own world, doesn’t make decisions etc. I was soo pleased! I asked her how far she had got with it? She gave me a look of surprise, and puzzlement, it was then that I realised…… She had followed my instructions, SHE HAD LOOKED AT THE PIECE!
Sooooo , lesson here………. Be specific about practise! . Do not assume.
I may have mentioned before……. Laughter here is a daily ritual, we get plenty practise!
Love this! That sounds just like something my younger sister would have said back in the day ;). Thanks for the laugh!
Hilarious 😉
Haha! Sounds like the book character “Amelia Bedelia” who takes EVERYTHING literally!
Oh my gosh Miss Judy!! Too funny!! But so true. I also agree with encouraging practice before breakfast.
I have been trying for years to convince students to practice in the morning before the day gets hijacked by other commitments. Often the stumbling block is the parents who don’t want to add this to their morning routine. …And some kids already get up early for band practice at school or early morning ice time at the rink.
But if mornings are not going to be workable, there does have to be a designated practice time. Otherwise the week goes by and boom! …it is lesson time again.
I like the idea of a studiowide practice incentive. What kinds of things do y’all use?
I use “Beethoven Bucks” the kids can redeem for prizes, but what I’ve learned is that I have to set a deadline to “use them or lose them” otherwise they just sit there in their pouch.
Hi Nancy – we have quite a few free incentive programs on the blog. Here’s a few to get you started. You can also use the search bar on our blog for “incentive”.
https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2014/09/30/practicing-piano-students-wanted-a-wild-west-themed-practice-incentive/
https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2014/05/07/we-have-an-e-fish-ent-piano-practice-incentive-just-for-you/
https://www.teachpianotoday.com/2013/01/31/a-great-printable-incentive-program-for-your-tech-lovin-piano-kids/
Love it. Morning practice has always been a good start to my day, but sometimes it’s hard for to convince parents to wake up their children early to practice. Getting ready for school usually takes up the bulk of students mornings.
Recently I’ve been recording parts of lessons and having parents watch them with instructions on how to practice. Seems to get both the student and parent more motivated to practice throughout the week.
It can be hard to convince them – but I make a point of noting that guaranteed practice every day makes the most of the investment they are making in their child’s lessons. It only has to be 30 minutes and so most families can axe the cartoons in the morning and make it happen 🙂 Like your recording idea!
Nancy, what are Beethoven Bucks?
I have a star chart, each week names go up from the previous weeks lessons, students need to show improvement, try their best at their lessons, behave well, have a good attitude etc They love it! The last week of last term, everybody was on the star chart! They all deserved to be there! ( well…….. There was one who maybe didn’t ………however…….. Mmmmmmm…………….she is adorable! I could never become an examiner!…………………..
Judy you are HILARIOUS!!
Over the summer, I set up a competition between my students, ages 4-11. The Frog Hop Relay Summer Piano Practice Challenge. The student team working as a relay team combining their practice time against my own. They loved making me suffer. From the outset, I knew I didn’t have to win…just be a threat. Each week, I posted the results on my studio FB page with a silly video they loved. First week, I practiced 8 hours and lost. Second week I practiced 13 hours and still lost. By the third week, I was beat. They are begging me for another relay. I am now taking their combined totals and setting up two equal practice teams and let them compete against each other. I teach 10 students in this particular age group. Check out more details on my FB Studio page if you like….
I love this, Jan! I PM’ed you to get more information. We have 7 teachers and I think they’d all love to “compete” with their students. What a cool idea!
I forgot the website wouldn’t show… It is Jan Gray Piano Art Studio on Facebook.