The Parent's Guide to Piano
A Comprehensive Guide to Music Education
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Piano Quotes
Postive Feedback
"Audiences have their effect on one's playing. I can sense that the communication isn't going well, but I don't know whether I'm not playing well or the audience is not responsive."
Vulnerability
The reason people fear performing is because they fear being open and vulnerable to an audience. But When a person is vulnerable they have the ability to build themselves up enormously.
Encouragement
Many parents fear that by encouraging and praising their child too much, the child will become overconfident, lazy and arrogant. Children do not learn to be lazy or arrogant from being told how wonderful they are, how well they are doing, or how special they are as people. They become lazy and arrogant from watching and modelling themselves after lazy and arrogant people.
A child should be instilled with as much confidence as they can possibly generate. Compliments and statements of recognition often last only short periods of time in a child's mind. They are soon forgotten and replaced by a person's own self-deprecating thoughts. Therefore, the frequency of praise should not be underestimaed.
Honest Recognition
Recognize and praise a child when praise is due. Focus on their achievements and teach them how to recognize the true extent of their accomplishments. Encourage them to accomplish more. Don't make up false stories. Simply recognize what they truly have accomplished and you will never tire of making them feel better about themselves and their potential.
Timing
This is for parents without performing experience.
When your child performs in front of an audience, no matter how big or small, you must shower them with love and praise. Tell them what you liked about their performance and instill confidence in them for the future. If they made a mistake, there is absolutely no point in focusing on it, grimacing, or scolding them. You are only inflicting more damage than you can ever imagine.
Believe me, if a child has a less than satisfactory performance, they will know it and the reality of that mistake will hurt them inside. Help them overcome this pain by pointing out the positives of the performance.
Dealing With Frustration
Often a child may become frustrated with the challenges they face in practice. This frustration often leads to feelings of inadequacy. It is your job to quash these feelings immediately.
You will know, often from vocalizations, poor playing, and other clues, when your child is frustrated at the piano. Step in and make suggestions that will help them focus on what they can do well. remind them how they arrived at that point and make parallels to the present challenges they face.
"I'm sure there are many artists who can't build successful careers because no one is encouraging or pushing them along the way."
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