Advice to parents:
Aside from encouraging your child to practice, the most important thing you can do to help them learn piano and/or violin is to make music part of everyday life. Here are some ways you can do this:
- Listen to all kinds of music with your child, especially classical music. Encourage them to tap their foot or clap to the beat or even improvise their own rhythms. You can find exciting classical albums made especially for children. Put these on as background music.
- Sing with your child. Teach them songs you learned as a child, such as nursery rhymes and Christmas carols.
- Encourage your child to “pick out” familiar tunes on the piano. This means just trying out notes until you find the right ones.
- Encourage your child to play for family members. Let them put on their own recital for you. Make them feel like a star!
- Take your child to the music store, and let him/her pick out a piece of sheet music.
- Encourage your child to perform a piece for a school event.
- Encourage your child to participate in ensembles such as school and church choir or band. Participating in an ensemble gives students the opportunity to form friendships with other students interested in music and allows them to use their musical knowledge in different ways.
- Take your child to musical events like concerts or musicals.
- If your child has a sibling who also plays a musical instrument, encourage them to play together.