ne of the hardest things for me about practicing piano as a kid, was that it sometimes felt lonely. I’m not the only one. With traditional piano lessons, kids are usually sent into another room, away from the family, to practice by themselves. When I was a kid, I wanted to be with everyone else, not sent off to be alone to practice. For a lot of kids, being sent away to practice feels like a time out. A punishment. No wonder they don’t want to do it.
Playing alone is important for kids. We all want our kids to learn to be independent, explore new ideas, be self-driven, creative, and motivated learners. What comes first though, is feeling safe, secure, wanted, and connected. Next comes feeling inspired. All of these things come from you, your child’s favorite grown-up.
Musically speaking, here’s how it happend for me. “Playing music” at my house was tons of fun: that was when everyone joined in spontaneously, making up things, or singing along while my sisters played the hard music that I couldn’t wait to learn myself. This inspired me to voluntarily take time by myself to try to figure things out. Then when I did get to have official piano lessons, my brain was full of questions to be answered. I LOVED theory class. I would come home and practice because I wanted what other people had – the ability to play cool music. I spent hours alone, digging into my older sisters’ sheet music, trying to figure out what my teacher hadn’t yet taught me. I learned so much this way, because I wasn’t forced, I was inspired. By my favorite grown-ups.
Practicing my assigned lesson material however, was a different story. Sometimes it was a slog. I would hear my mom from another part of the house call, “Is that your lesson?” What if there was a way to make the assigned lesson material more fun?
This is why I’ve designed Baby-Led Piano® to be played together – parents and kids having so much fun. Starting as young as possible gives your baby the best chance at learning from you, while their brain development is at its very highest. This is the best way to develop lifelong habits, a deep love of music, an intuitive sense of musical concepts and theory, and the joy of creating music with the people they love the most – you!
To be clear, brand new babies don’t play songs on the piano, just like brand new babies can’t talk yet. They’re taking it all in, and as their development allows, they both talk, and play the piano. Baby-Led Piano® is not about creating child prodigies, but helping normal kids to be their best selves while still being kids.
Here are things you can do:
- Play the piano a little every day.
- Be obvious about how much fun you’re having!
- Let your child do what they do, and join you at the piano when it looks like fun.
- Allow your child to show you what they’re doing. Don’t turn it into a “lesson.”
- Lather, rinse, repeat, FOR EV ER.
I encourage you to keep playing with your kids, even as they get older. Practicing doesn’t ever have to be lonely, as long as there’s someone there who also gets it, and who loves spending time with you!
The very best part is, when you play music with your littles, not only are you setting your child up for success in all of the other aspects of their lives, you are helping to create a bond between you and your child that lasts a lifetime. Does anything else really matter?
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