How To Make Students Practice

If I were to say that I never have problems with getting my students to practice piano, it would not be entirely true. Compared to other human activities, piano is very time consuming and almost any student or pianist has to be creative in motivating themselves. I also teach many students who are very active in life, and their time is very limited. Speaking for myself, I do not always have time to actually practice, I often only have time to play through music that I either must perform soon, or that I need to show my students. We just moved into a new house, and we also just had a new baby boy born on Independence Day. I am the first to understand that time is a valuable commodity.

Now, if I were a nuclear scientist (which I was planning to be about twenty years ago), I would be just fine. I would not need to refresh my memory or study further. But just as football players have to go day after day and do routine warm-ups, exercises and such, pianists have to go to the piano and play scales and exercises to keep being in shape. Practicing is not necessarily a difficult task to perform, however motivating yourself play piano every day is more challenging. It is especially important to explain this to younger students and their parents.

I often hear parents complaining that their child would not practice on their own. I think in many cases it would be so much easier for parents to schedule piano practices and be sure that their kids follow the set schedule. After all, kids do not decide when to eat or sleep, or whether they want to skip school. Piano practice has to happen on a regular basis. It is the same with adult students, except we have to oversee practicing schedule ourselves.

Over the years I was told many times that I should reward my students with a variety of different prizes, from candy to diplomas and little plastic figures that look somewhat like famous classical composers. I even had an article on rewarding success in piano. I think that the reward for playing piano is playing piano itself. And our successes in competitions and recitals are definitely icing on the cake. So as teachers, we need to find every opportunity available for our students to show the hard work they have done at the piano.

I also consider my own example to be extremely valuable, so I would always play in my own students’ recitals and play in lessons for my students. This way, they often get excited about music and piano playing. I also use recordings and videos of great artists to motivate and create more interest in my students. As a teacher I use every opportunity to try to set an example for my students on how to approach piano playing, more specifically, practicing. It is sometimes challenging, but piano teachers can have a profound effect on lives of their students!

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