What do you say when your child's music playing isn't pleasing to the ear?
Here’s a quick test for you:
Question: Your son or daughter has been practicing the same part on the piano for over an hour now. He/she still can’t get that part right, and you’re getting frustrated – not only have you spent a while helping your child, but practicing hasn’t shown any progress. What do you say to your child?
A. Honey, that sounds good, but not perfect. Haven’t we spent hours on this part? And you’re still not getting it right?
B. You’ve shown a lot of progress in the past few hours! That’s a hard part, but with a little more practice I know you can get it right. Just be patient and soon you’ll be flawless!
So what was your answer? If you chose B, good for you! If you chose A (the wrong answer, obviously), don’t worry – that’s what we’re here for, to give you some advice.
This is why B is the correct answer…
Children love attention, and they love it when you praise them for doing something right (even if they’re not doing EVERYTHING right). Even if a few hours’ worth of practice doesn’t clearly show progress, your child is already a few hours ahead than if he/she HADN’T practiced. So there HAS BEEN progress.
That question doesn’t apply to just music. Whether it’s studying, sports, or music, you can’t expect your kids to get things right the first few times around. They need to make mistakes, so they could learn. Your job is to encourage them to keep trying by praising them on what they’ve been doing right, not criticizing them on what they’ve been doing wrong.
So if you passed that test, keep up the good work. If you got the question wrong, keep trying. You’ll get it right eventually!
How do you encourage your kids? How do you praise them?
How To Encourage And Praise During Musical Instrument Practice [Music Noodle]
