3 ‘No Fail’ Tricks To Make Learning Piano A Breeze

One of the things I have to admit is, that while learning to play the piano or any other instrument at the very start can be amazing and the kids are all very enthusiastic; as time goes by and the material becomes more and more challenging, kids tend to want to give up and it becomes harder to keep them motivated and focused on what needs to be done. 

So in this post I thought I should talk about some general principles of keeping it fun. 

Like I said, these are very general principles but they always work like a charm for those that I have recommended it to, and so I hope that you will be able to find it helpful as well. 

The first and most important principle is to..

Make It Fun

Yes, that’s it. 

You have to find ways to make it fun and not something tedious that needs to be done. 

Don’ make it into a chore, rather make it something that they would want to do and simply can’t get enough. 

This can be harder when they have had very bad memories and experiences around practicing. 

But if you tie it to something they like or leverage something they like to make them practice, then at least you will be able to push them in the right direction. 

If they are new to to playing an instrument, then make it fun from the very beginning, stop before they want to stop and you will be able to keep the excitement going for a very long time. 

Play Games

This is very important. 

Things like music theory can become very tedious and boring to learn and therefore adding a new dimension like those with games and different quizzes will not only help with retention, but will also make learning fun. 

The games should be age appropriate, and should not feel too complicated for little ones, neither should they be too ‘babyish’ for older kids.

Depending on whether you have older or younger kids, one kid or many kids, try to customize the games in a manner that will keep them all engaged and will also help each and everyone learn according to their age and abilities. 

Celebrate The Victories And The Failures

When we make progress and have a victory, it always seems like there is no problem celebrating such a victory, but celebrating a failure, now that is a whole different thing.

I’m not going to harp on the ‘celebrate victories’ thing, because I know that you do it for sure. 

However, I will tell you this, don’t just wait only for the big victories but celebrate even the smallest victories. 

This is something that I learned from Carol Dweck, we are always going for progress not for perfection and if you see that your child is making progress, then that is a victory and a celebration is definitely called for. 

Now, that we’ve covered that, let’s turn to celebrating failures.

Doesn’t that sound a bit silly? 

Wouldn’t that give the child the wrong impression?

Well, yes and no. 

Yes, it will give the wrong impression, if it is done the wrong way. 

If you celebrate the failures just like you celebrate the victories then it will definitely give the wrong impression. 

However, if you take a totally different approach, and encourage your child every time she makes a mistake and talk to her and pat her on the back for all the things that she has already learned and done right, then that will not give the wrong impression. 

Rather, it will help her to keep chugging along without trying to give up. 

Do you think you can implement at least one or more of these ideas and if so, which one will you try out first?

I would love to hear, your take on things, how it worked out and what other ideas you have. 

So please don’t hesitate to comment below.