Piano Parent Tip: Everything In Its Place




Organized and good to go!
Photo by Pinot & Dita

  Happy Fourth of July! I hope you're enjoying good times with family, and I hope you'll take a moment to remember the sacrifices of our dedicated troops who protect the freedoms we celebrate today.

Here's a quick piano parent tip.

Designate a place for your student's piano books, and create the habit of always putting them in the right spot once practicing is done. My munchkin has a piano bag, and we try always to put the books back in the bag so that when it's time to go to the lesson, we can just grab the bag and go. No searching all over for the right books, and no showing up to say, "I couldn't find my lesson book."

Interestingly enough, this problem tends to crop up in my most musical families where several people share the piano. Music gets moved aside, mixed into stacks, and misplaced. In my own studio where I have teaching material, my own personal music, and my munchkin's music, it's very easy to have musical chaos take over! When the munchkin has left her music on the piano, and I don't have time to call her in there to put it away, I have to be very careful not to set it on top of a stack where it will soon be swallowed up by all of the other stuff.

Parents, you should make it the child's job to keep up with her own music, but don't totally abdicate responsibility here. I do know how frustrating it gets to help your child keep up with all of his school books and notebooks, sports equipment, and shoes. (It's the shoes in my house! "Where are your shoes?" is the bane of my school morning existence!) You still need to enforce the routine of always putting the books in the right place, and you still need to make sure that your child shows up to the lesson with all of the proper books. I have a parent with a good idea - she charges the student for the lesson when he forgets his music! Establishing a designated spot really helps.