WHEN SHOULD I STOP PIANO LESSONS?

First, let us consider the goals of formal piano study (aka "piano lessons").

GOALS OF PIANO LESSONS

• Healthy, balanced development as a human. No matter the age of the student. 

• Love of Music

• Life Skills

• Time management

• Curiosity

• Hand eye coordination and other neurological development/refinement

• Expression

• Communication

• Emotional regulation

• How to fail. Grit. 

• How to succeed. Grace. 

• Knowing that to struggle is to learn

• Finding your passion, even if it’s not piano

• Knowing at least one adult who loves spending time with you, who isn’t your relative

• Self Reflection and Evaluation

• Piano Skills

• At least one favorite piece you can play the rest of your life anytime you see a piano

• Even better, enough basic skills to fast track your way into band, choir, theatre, other instruments or higher levels of piano study. 

• Best! A set of piano skills including technique, theory, and reading to equip you for playing whatever you want from now on. Every student (and/or their parent) dreams of this result, but in reality it takes a LOT of time, and we can’t be experts in everything without flunking out of school or losing our job!

• Friendship

• Hugging me whenever we happen to meet. Texting me about a concert you enjoyed. Telling me about the Thing you found your passion for. 

NOT GOALS. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

• Shame everytime you see a piano the rest of your life

• Fear of asking to return to lessons later

• Guilt, so much guilt that you start convincing your friends and siblings that piano is worst thing ever

• Humiliation

• Blame

• Hiding from me at the supermarket

I LOVE MY JOB, AND I LOVE MY STUDENTS

• I don’t just love talking to students- I love talking to their parents. Best is when we can sit down for a chat in my studio, ideally in the summer. 

• I’m a great resource for families trying to figure out what to drop, even when the result is dropping piano

• Often in a conference we can discover why a student wants to quit or avoids practice. Sometimes it is fixable without quitting.  Just as often, a student wants to quit but is embarrassed to tell me or worries they will disappoint me or their parents. 

• The middle grades are developmentally a hot spot for these conversations

• High schoolers often know their favorite activities, they just need help with time management. 

• Younger kids might have tantrums, we can figure that out too!

• Growing up is hard. Parenting is hard. Let me help!

Coming soon: WHEN SHOULD IT START PIANO LESSONS?