Tips for Piano Success
Sometimes, after a music student has been in lessons for a while, they might lose focus on goals that they may have for themselves and their musical future. I wanted to share some great tips to help the student to continue to accelerate and to make their time playing much more fun! Here are a few tips I know will help!
I hope that these tips are a help to you! We strive to help our students in every way that we can. Let us know if you have any comments or questions.....just shoot me a text!
- Invest in a good keyboard or piano: Having a good instrument that works well for the student is a key to success in music. If the instrument is holding them back in some way, it is a worthwhile investment to upgrade to something more suitable for them. If you have questions about different keyboard models out there and what would be a good buy, let us know! We continue to invest time into researching good deals for students.
- Play music you enjoy: The student will be working on songs that are in their lesson book each week and learning songs in there. These songs build on each other and each one has a purpose for teaching new music techniques, principles, and are the foundation for continuing to advance. The student will also get great benefit from finding other music to practice to add to their practice time each week. This might be songs that they like, have heard in a movie, or even a classical piece they've heard before. If you have questions of where to find suitable music at their level, let us know and we can help!
- Perform and much as you can: When my children were younger and had been taking piano lessons, they were excited to routinely do a "mini-recital" at home for the family, especially if relatives were visiting! Music is something you should want to share and not keep to yourself. The student should take every opportunity they can to perform for others. It helps to build public confidence and helps to positively push them to do well on their songs. We provide several opportunities each year for recitals for students and sometimes will do "mini-recitals" during their weekly lessons with other students to help build confidence.
- Listen to piano music: Listening to a professional recording of piano playing can be a great motivation to learn a new song, emulate playing techniques and styles, and spark creativity! It also helps to actively listen to the music and notice unique things about different playing styles.
- Practice slowly: When the student is learning a new piece of music, it is critical to practice slowly and correctly first, and then add speed when the mistakes are no longer there. My husband mentions to students a phrase he learned in the Army, "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." Do it correctly slowly and add speed when you've got it down well!
- Try to memorize the song: A great way to add to your repertoire is memorize the piece of music you are working on. With doing this, you can now play it without having to get your books out. I've notice that I tend to enjoy pieces more after I memorize them because I can focus on my technique and delivery even more.
- Get extra critiques: Our studio is part of the Music Teachers Association and this allows our students to participate in competitions and also have their pieces critiqued by judges. There are several events that take place each year and in some of the events, you are also tested on music theory to see how well you are learning! Ask us how to get signed up and we can even give you some practice tests for music theory to work on too!
I hope that these tips are a help to you! We strive to help our students in every way that we can. Let us know if you have any comments or questions.....just shoot me a text!