Why Do Our Children Quit Piano Lessons?

Have you ever heard somone say, "I used to take piano lessons as a child, and I wish my parents would have never let me quit"? I'm guessing that you have at least once.

This has became a common mantra that I hear often, not only as a music instructor, but as an individual. I started asking some of my students as to why they think their kids want to learn how to play the piano. Here's a few of the reasons I recently discovered:

Reasons Children Should Start Piano Lessons

1. My child is always singing and dancing
2. My child gravitates to anything that makes sounds
3. My child stops to listen to live music 
4. My child enjoys sing alongs, whether in a group, or a TV show they are watching 

Challenge #1 Parenting Expectations

Parents enroll their child into piano lessons and wonder "if it might stick."  Common expectations of a parent:

1. My child will learn how to read 
2. My child will practice with minimal coersion 

If a child doesn't practice on a regular basis, they begin to think, "I just don't think he/she is really into music. I think that's why it's getting harder and harder to get him/her to practice."

Objective Is To Have Fun

In reality the child needs to have fun playing music, which is the responsibility of not just how we teach, but what the teacher is teaching.  Also, children are more likely to practice because it's fun, and though it's important to learn to read, in the beginning we should focus on enjoying playing music, and the reading will follow.

Understand Your Child's Motivation 

Have you ever taken a personality test and realized your husband or wife is your exact opposite? What you also realize is that they are motivated very differently then you. This is the same scenario for your children.  Here are a few motivations:

• Performance Driven (applies to introverts too!)
• Creative (songwriting or composition)
• Structure (loves to see patterns)
• Combination of all of these

Once we realized that students were motivated so differently, we created programs that would help them have fun and be motivated to practice outside of class.

Here is my only disclaimer: Kids and adults inherently do not want to struggle, but anything in life that is rewarding requires it. 

Hope this helps! Give us a shout with questions. You are always welcome to try out one of our demo classes to see what motivates your child when it comes to learning and practicing the gift of music.