Can Piano Lessons Work Without Practice at Home?
I am big on practice. I have written books and blog posts and hosted webinars on the subject of how to get students to practice effectively between lessons.
I hear more and more that teachers are having difficulty getting some students to practice at all.
So can students make progress if they don’t practice at home?
I guess it all depends on how you define progress.
Let’s take Margie.
Based on my years of experience, Margie can make some progress coming to a piano lesson once per week. Here are some things that can almost certainly be learned if she never (or seldom) touches the piano outside of the lesson.
- The names of the piano keys.
- The music alphabet.
- Finger numbers.
- Correct piano posture.
- Some music history (stories of great composers)
- Musical genres.
- Correct piano posture.
- How to care for her instrument (keeping it clean and safe)
- How to identify treble and bass clef.
- Dynamic markings.
- Simple articulation markings.
- Tempo markings.
- How to find notes on the grand staff using mnemonic devices.
- Play a simple piece using finger numbers or notes written in.
- Play a simple piece by route.
- How to improvise using black keys only.
- What the pedals are used for.
- What the inside of the piano looks like and how the instrument works.
- How to Change Sounds on a Digital Instrument.
- The instrument families.
- Names of other instruments.
- How to clap back by imitating the teacher only.
- Margie can learn how to communicate with an adult.
- How to write down her assignments.
- How to dress and behave at a recital.
- How to be kind to other students.
- To treat my studio space with care and respect.
- If she can have a lesson more than once per week (which probably wouldn’t happen), some more information might be retained.
If Margie has music at school, she will learn a bit more. Things like rhythmic values and folk songs that she can try to play by ear. If Margie has a piano class at school or takes a second instrument, this will help her retain a lot more of the things I am trying to teach her.
And here are some things Margie probably will never learn if she does not practice outside of her piano lessons.
- Rhythmic values (ex. a half note receives two beats)
- To read music fluently, notes and rhythm.
- To play easily with hands together.
- To understand time and key signatures.
- Scales and arpeggios.
- To progress to a higher level of musicianship.
- Play by ear.
- Improvise beautiful music.
- Understand how chords work.
- Music Theory.
- To play in an ensemble or with a duet partner.
- To experience playing music that is satisfying and fun.
- If she never practices, she will probably become one of the millions of adults running around who say they have taken lessons for years and can’t play a thing.
So what’s a teacher to do?
If we have exhausted all of the strategies possible to get students to practice and they still don’t, or can’t, or won’t, what then?
Do we let them go? Put them on “The Last Chance Program?”
Do we slog through and keep them on the roster?
It’s a tough call, for a couple of reasons.
Number one, we all have businesses to run. Bills to pay, and families to feed. Students don’t grow on trees.
Number two, we like our students and their families, and we all want to avoid conflict.
Number three, you just never know, one day things could change. I had a student for five years! Dad wouldn’t let her quit. Lo and behold, one fine day, she turned around. Now she is one of my best students. (That’s a story in itself.)
I can’t decide for you, but I share my thoughts.
I have had a few students who did not practice at all, mostly this was due to sports and other activities that overwhelmed the kids and their families, and took precedence over piano lessons. For the most part, I let them go. For me personally, it’s just too frustrating. I also feel like it’s bad for business in the long run.
That being said it takes a while to get to the point of letting go. In the meantime, I focus on what I can teach students who are not practicing at home and do my best to turn the situation around.
The most important thing for me is to be honest with students’ parents. Let them know that their child isn’t making much progress and that their time and money may be better spent elsewhere. I want to be ethical.
If the parents are ok with the situation, you feel ok with it, and the students are reasonably happy. In the end, the choice is yours to keep students who don’t practice or let them go.
But whatever you decide, there are lots of great resources right here at Paloma Piano.
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