Like Learning to Talk!

“It’s so frustrating! I’m a supportive parent, but how can I get my child to practice?”

Parents who have had children enrolled in private piano study (or that of any other musical instrument) have sometimes asked themselves similar questions. In most cases, teachers themselves, though having studied and taught the piano for many years, are also discouraged by seeing many students come and go, with only a small percentage of them actually sticking to it all the way through the school years. It seems that only certain types of students, often those coming from musical families, make any meaningful progress. As for the rest, well, the scenario is well known. The typical pupil eventually gets discouraged, makes little progress, hates practicing, and after a while, quits.

Though trying hard at the weekly piano lesson to help their students to “get into it,” to practice regularly at home every day, teachers’ expectations are often not met.

However, a great deal more affects students’ learning than just the weekly piano lesson experience at the teacher’s studio. The entire home environment determines to a great extent what musical abilities will be developed in children.

What has been discovered about the vastly underestimated learning potential of “average” children and the secret to bringing it out is so powerful that it can turn around the success rate of any studio! The application of these techniques proves that any child, from any background, can learn to play the piano very, very well. In fact, any parent can, with a teacher’s guidance, apply this approach at home, making possible a more complete development of a child’s awesome musical potential.

With the Suzuki Approach, the parent is shown how to apply proven methods of getting children to practice everyday, and all the while having fun doing it:

Exposure, Imitation, Encouragement, Repetition, Addition, and Refinement – six basic steps to the mastering of many skills, including language and music (Behrend).

Through parental control of the home listening environment (playing the recommended recordings daily for the child, as well as musical works taken from the standard classical repertoire), the development of the child’s musical ear is promoted, making possible easy memorization of pieces, and simplifying the teaching of written musical notation.

There are no long practice sessions, with the risk of the child coming to hate practicing. Instead, multiple, short practice periods are assigned, to be supervised daily by mom or dad (this may amount to only 2 minutes, 5 times daily, for a 3-year-old child). By having a parent/helper present at every lesson and practice session, a child cannot learn any wrong habits. The result? Only correct playing habits are cultivated, making for easier and more expansive progress in the future, with no tiresome “unlearning” needed.

The parent/helper is encouraged to learn to play, too! Why? By having the parent work at home with the child, and knowing herself how to play the early pieces, the child can learn in much the same way as he learned to speak, through listening to others around him, observing, and positive encouragement from mom and dad.

The years from two to seven are the language-acquiring years (Behrend). Likewise, most Suzuki students begin studying at a young age (preschool, ages 3 to 5). This is a reason why a parent should have lessons before the child begins, must work with the child at home when practicing, as well as attend the lessons. Though at first “home work” may last only a few minutes several times a day, nevertheless, children at this age need such guidance and supervision. They do not normally have the self-discipline or the desire to make daily practicing a habit (after all, even 5-year-old kindergarteners see their classroom teacher every day.) Since the piano teacher is not present every day, there must be daily parental follow up at home. With this supervision in the early elementary years, continuing Suzuki students can become musically quite advanced before being hampered by increased homework demands upon entering secondary school.

The following are a few highlights of this approach, giving an idea of how and why it can be so effective for children of all backgrounds:

Parallels the child’s own language ability development
Parent attends class and learns to supervise child’s home practice sessions
Much listening to recordings of pieces to be learned (Auditory skill learning prime time age: 0-8 years)
Child taught to play by ear, at first (Muscle Coordination skill learning prime time age: 0-8 years)
Thorough mastery of one step at a time, please!
Music reading taught separately from playing, at first (Visual skill learning prime time age: 5-12 years)
When properly instituted, children can find much joy in practicing
Children eventually have many polished pieces ready for performance on demand at any time.

Common Questions Parents Ask About This Approach

Q: Is it true that, in this method, students are not taught how to read music?

A: Because of the differing ideal ages at which the ear, muscle coordination, and visual acuity are respectively “ready” for music training, the focus at first is on the separate development of each. Since the ear is ready at the youngest age (actually, the child’s ear has been functioning since the 7th month of pregnancy!), its training begins first, by much exposure to good recorded music. Next, learning to play the instrument (muscle control can be advanced enough for this by age 3) without having to concentrate on printed music is associated with the musically sensitized ear. Third, the learning to read music while playing the piano is finally emphasized. This step by step process makes possible the fun of being able to play well early on, without the chore of figuring out musical notation too soon. However, once a child has adequately developed the ear and playing ability, and has begun learning to read his own spoken language at school, music reading can soon be taught.

Q: Is this a group, piano-class type of method?

A: Though group experiences are very stimulating for children, and are often part of the curriculum of Suzuki studios, the focal point of instruction is the private lessons with child and parent. From these radiate all other aspects of the education; home listening periods, parent-supervised home practice sessions, music theory, music history, and piano group classes all revolve and interrelate through what happens at the private (or semi-private) lessons of parent and child.

Q: Can’t I just drop off my young child at the teacher’s studio for a weekly piano lesson?

A: Children can learn most effectively if their music instruction is patterned after the way they learned to talk. Since parents learned how to speak long before their children, it is very effective if at least one of the parents learns the rudiments of piano playing first. For this reason, the first six weeks of instruction are given to that parent, NOT the child! As in learning to talk, the parent will be setting the standard for the child’s own home learning environment. Once the child’s lessons begin, the parent must continue to actively attend the child’s class, taking notes and participating when called upon, so as to be able to supervise the child’s practice work at home on a daily basis. Remember, once a week the teacher teaches the parent, at first! That parent, in turn, guides the child at home the other six days of the week. Incidentally, some Suzuki teachers also offer private lessons to the parents of children registered in their program. Such parents who do so desire can enroll for their own separate private piano lessons in addition to what they are learning at their child’s class. This can only enhance the parent’s ability to guide the child during the home practice periods.

Q: Do I have to invest in a piano? How do I know if my child can really learn to play?

A: A child is as likely to succeed in learning to play the piano very well as he or she was able to learn to speak, provided that the same factors that contributed to the development of a child’s language ability are applied to musical ability development. The vast potential for both are inherent, but needs to be nurtured. Suzuki instructors endeavor to show parents how to do this nurturing. Of course, these proven principles must be applied to get the desired results! The answer to the above question should be yes, if the parent is willing and able to devote the time to work with the child at home on a daily basis.

CREDIT
The materials in the above post is an excerpt of my paper of December 20, 1996, under the auspices of Sheila Keats, submitted in partial fulfillement of the requirements for the B.S. in Music Education (NYU, 1998).

Articles containing additional information:
“No Shortage of String Players in Japan,” by Louise Behrend, pp. 7, 8.

“Eye Before Ear or Ear Before Eye?” by Dr. Mary Lou Shell, as reprinted in American Suzuki Journal, Spring, 1996, p.74.

#classical-music

IMAGE CREDIT
Piano Lesson, by rok1966 (mods & commercial use allowed; downloaded 18_03_03): https://flic.kr/p/7j4vxi