ENGAGEMENT IS THE KEY

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The importance of daily engagement at the piano cannot be overstated. Mastery, or even simple proficiency at the piano cannot be achieved by coming to the instrument sporadically. Learning piano is different from other kinds of physical learning because it has a rich intellectual component. It is different from other intellectual subjects because it has a highly complex physical component. There is no way around it, learning to play the piano, or any musical instrument, simply requires more time to master than other pursuits.  Some students try to find time to practice "in the cracks", so to speak, in the intervals between their other activities, or only on days when there is an opening in their schedule. Practicing in the cracks not only makes progress discouragingly slow, it leaves untapped the best rewards playing the piano has to offer because it precludes genuine engagement. When considering piano lessons, consider your level of commitment to making regular practice happen. 

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Engagement is the key. One of the primary "extra-musical" benefits of studying the piano is the chance to learn how to engage with something with an element of difficulty about it, something  with a measure of seriousness. Engaging with the piano also means engaging with something larger than oneself. Learning to play the piano means learning to commune with some of the greatest creative minds who have ever lived. Learning to play the piano means learning to engage with some of humankind's greatest spiritual and intellectual utterances. When we play the piano, gradually, or suddenly, we find the world opening to us. The joy of this can be intense. The time a student invests in practicing the piano yields exponential dividends. 

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Sometimes a child will not want to practice. This is okay. Sometimes he or she may not want to go to a swimming lesson either, or do his or her math homework. He or she might complain of it being difficult or boring. Indeed. Learning a new language is difficult too, and the level of focus needed to do so can be difficult to maintain, which can lead to the perception of boredom. Learning to read a poem can have this effect too, as can learning to understand another's feelings, or one's own. The world is full of difficult things, challenging things, hard to understand things. To practice piano is to practice being with difficulty. Those of us who have practiced being with difficulty find that when life throws higher orders of difficulty at us, we have access to greater reserves of strength than we might have had otherwise. Requiring a child to practice daily, even if he or she doesn't feel like it, need not be invasive or emotionally scaring, any more than requiring that he or she complete a reading assignment. Not if it is simply an expectation.

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Just as with any other subject, sometimes a child will need help. Help your child practice. Don't expect him or her to simply know what to do or to always demonstrate the self-motivation to practice on his or her own. Often the struggles parents and children have around the subject of practicing can be mitigated if the parent practices with the child, even for a few minutes, rather than setting the child on a lonely and often bewildering task. When considering piano lessons for your child, consider the amount of one-on-one time you are prepared to spend with him or her at the task.