Make Sight Reading Automatic with Note Naming Games!

"Gamify" Your Flashcards - Go Digital!

To begin with, using flashcards to name notes is great!  However, it can get tedious after a while.  A digital note-naming game is a great addition to your flashcard routine.  I think you will feel it is $4.99 well spent to download Note Rush, a great little app that works with the mic on your device to know if your child played the right note on the piano.  It has several settings, and covers all the notes, including all the ledger line notes, on the entire grand staff and piano.  I would recommend downloading it soon, and if your child is struggling, start with Level 1 and choose Treble or Bass Clef only.  Keep adding more notes as they get quicker until you are playing on a Level 3 with both Treble and Bass.  The goal is to eventually get very fast at finding notes on the whole grand staff.  In Orange Roots, we focus on the Level 3 notes, but you can branch out to ledger lines if your child needs a new challenge.  Here's a YoutTube tutorial so you can see how it works and easily recognize it in the app store.  

Get the Family Involved - Go Old-School!

If you need more than one way to mix up the note reading challenge, try some of these flashcard and Smart Staff games with your child during practice time:

Say It and Play It

While sitting at the piano, you flash a card and they say the letter name and play it in the correct octave.  Variation:  they say and play one card, you say and play the next, or race to say/play each card the quickest.

Smarties Staff

Page 31 of your Orange Roots songbook has a "Smarties Staff" where you can scatter candies and have your child name the note then eat the candy.

Point and Pound

Using the Smarties Staff on your music stand, and a pointer or pencil eraser, point to a line or space and the child names and plays that note on repeat "C,C,C,C" until you move to a new line or space.

Beat Circle Note Names

Set a metronome to 60-80 bpm in 4/4 time (or clap-clap-clap-pat your lap).  Flash a card for your student to 'say it and play it' on beat 4 every time.  For example, they clap, clap, clap, say & play a D, clap, clap, clap, say & play a G, etc.  You can speed up the metronome as they get better at naming notes, or switch to 3/4 time!  Variation:  you can switch up the rhythm they play the note on.  Have them play a beetle, caterpillar, butterfly or grasshopper.  Say the note name the correct number of times to match the played rhythm.

Around the World

Take your flashcards off the ring and lay them in a large circle on the floor, facing the outside of the circle.  Choose a card to start on, and you and your student walk around the circle in opposite directions, naming each note as you step in front of it.  It's a race to see who makes it back to the starting note first!

Set of Three

Take out one of each of the middle notes (C, D, B), then shuffle and lay all the flashcards out, staff side face up.  As soon as they spot a set of three, they call out the letter name and flip the three cards over.  Continue until all cards are face down (piano side up).  Variation 1:  Time yourself, then play again to see if you can beat your previous time.  Variation 2:  Play against a partner to see who can collect the most sets.

Jumping Beans

Use sidewalk chalk or painter's tape to create a 5-line floor staff inside or out.  Decide if it's Bass or Treble Clef and call out a note name for your child to jump to.  You may add a ledger line for ease in finding middle C, D and B.  Variation:  Find Two!  Are there two E's in Treble Clef?  Yes!  Find them both!  What else are there two of?  Are there two A's in Bass Clef?  Yes!  Find them both!  What else are there two of?  

Does it transfer to printed music?

Any of these games will be fun and helpful in learning note names and finding them on the piano, but sometimes a student can know their notes well on flashcards or in a game, and still not transfer the knowledge to printed music in the context of a song.  Occasionally, it is helpful to just go through a song they're learning and point to a set of ordered or random notes for them to 'say and play,' or have them look at the music and name the notes of the first line before they start playing...anything to get them thinking about how they DO know the notes on the page, and they CAN read music!

Preserving Music Programs in Public Education

I believe that music is an essential part of public education.  Actually, it is not just a belief, it is a proven fact - a fact that shapes who I am and what I do.  

Education through Music has a great compilation of studies available online.  

Studies have shown that when students have arts
in the curriculum they are . . .

Statistics are sourced from Americans for the Arts

2x as likely to graduate than those who do not

3x more likely to win an award for school attendance

4x as likely to be recognized for academic achievement

Here are some intriguing facts from the NAMM Foundation:

DID YOU KNOW…?

• 

  83% of teachers and 73% of parents do not see music education as a luxury, and believe that cuts to music programs are detrimental to student success.

  “Striking a Chord: The Public’s Hopes and Beliefs for K-12 Music Education in the United States 2015”
• 

  According to Dr. Nina Kraus’s work with the Harmony Project, students who are involved in music are not only more likely to graduate high school, but also to attend college as well.

  Kraus N., Slater J., Thompson E.C., Hornickel J., Strait D.L., Nicol T. & White-Schwoch T. (2014), “Auditory learning through active engagement with sound: Biological impact
• 
• Students in high-quality school music programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of the school or school district.

  Johnson, C. M. & Memmott, J. E. (2007). Examination of relationships between participation in school music programs of differing quality and standardized test results. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54(4), 293-307
• And in case that's not enough evidence to support the claim that music is an essential ingredient in our children's education, here are 20 more important benefits of music in our schools.
• 
  
• So with all of this research out there, why is it even a possibility that schools would consider cutting back the arts and music programs in our schools?  Well there are lots of reasons, the focus on STEM and core classes and test scores, the pressure to have kids "college-prepped" and "career-ready" from the time they are in elementary and middle school, limited funding and resources to accomplish federal, state and district requirements, and the list goes on.  
• 
  
• But with music being the ONE factor that improves student outcomes across even socio-economic boundaries, it should be the area we seek to build and support first, not the one that gets most readily pushed aside. 
• This issue is a hot topic in my own school district right now, with additional state-mandated courses for middle schoolers requiring administrations to either increase the number of classes in their schedule or eliminate elective choices for students.  
• 
  
• At this point in time, it looks like our middle school students will either be able to take a World Language or an Arts elective but not both.  And for students who are in a Dual Language Immersion program, English Language Learners, or those who need remedial help, there will be only one semester elective available out of all three years of middle school.  This is just not an acceptable option for my students or for ANY students.  We have got to place highest priority on preserving the arts programs in our schools.  
• 
  
• For our middle school right now, this almost certainly means going to a 7-period schedule even though it messes with teacher teams and prep times.  I admire and respect middle school teachers above pretty much any profession out there.  I don't want to require any more sacrifices of them than what they are currently giving, but I know that they are passionate about the success of our students, and the opportunity to take an arts elective HAS to be a part of that equation.
• 
  
• Below is a copy of the letter I wrote to the school board and my state legislators about our own family's experience.  If your school's arts programs are being threatened by the addition of more required classes by the state of Utah, I hope you will also take the time to write your school board and representatives to let them know how important it is to keep arts and music as a thriving part of our schools.
• 
  
• To Canyons School Board, Superintendent and State Representatives,
  
  
  I and my 6th-grade Dual Immersion student are deeply concerned about the new required classes for 6th- and 8th-grade students, and the lack of options it leaves for middle school students who would like to pursue music and arts while continuing the DLI program.  While I believe that adding more required classes will have a far-reaching effect on our students and our arts programs at the middle and high school levels, let me first give you some insight on what it will look like for our family.
  
  
  My son Cole is a hard-working, dedicated student who identifies himself as a Chinese-speaking, trombone-playing Math ninja.  For unknown reasons (perhaps his duplicate record in Skyward from when we transferred to this school district), his Math scores did not come across when he moved from 5th grade at Draper Elementary to 6th grade at Draper Park Middle School.  Because of this oversight, he did not get placed in the Honors Math class even though his scores were such that he should have qualified.  He was sorely disappointed, and still is, that he has been placed on a "waiting list" to make it into Honors Math while other kids, including many of his friends, are able to participate.  While I have been in contact with the school over this issue many times, the Honors classes are simply too full to allow even one more student to participate.  And this is especially true because his team includes all the Chinese DLI students, who tend to be kids who take honors classes.  So the Math portion of Cole's identity has taken a beating this year, but we are working to keep it intact.
  
  
  Probably the most exciting thing for a kid entering middle school is the chance to make a choice about what elective(s) they will take.  The transition from elementary to middle school is a tough one:  new friends, bigger school, more requirements from more teachers, many students, no more recess, etc.  It is a lot to expect from an 11- or 12-year-old kid.  So they pick an elective and find friends with similar interests.  It helps them find some release from the other pressures of their daily routine, while providing valuable and enriching experiences that round out their education and build their identities.  Band has been that piece of the puzzle for Cole.  He loves playing an instrument, he loves the fun and engaging teaching style that Mr. Voght offers, and he loves the association with other kids who also enjoy learning music.  He would be pretty devastated if he no longer had the choice to participate in Band.  Also, making Band a before/after school only offering would be extremely difficult to maintain, not only for my child, but for so many others who are already over-involved and sleep-deprived.  It is not really fair to expect more time commitment than what these kids are already giving.  It is not realistic to expect our music programs to survive this kind of a blow.  Cutting elective choices will be hard on students, music teachers, and music programs, even at the high school level - I don't think our middle school or high school will easily recover from this.  If Cole has to drop music, there's another piece of his identity that gets displaced.
  
  
  From the first time we heard about the possibility of a Chinese dual immersion program at our elementary school, we worked and campaigned and rallied to get it to come to our school.  Cole was a part of the inaugural year of DLI at Sage Creek Elementary in Springville, Utah.  When our family came up against the need to move, we based our search for a new home on proximity to dual immersion schools because we were committed to continuing Cole's DLI experience.  We ended up in Canyons School District, but not in the boundaries of either Lone Peak or Draper Elementary.  We worked our way up the waiting list until we were accepted as out-of-boundary students to Draper Elementary.  I have formed carpools or personally driven my two DLI students - first Cole, and now Sadie, my 2nd-grader - to and from Draper Elementary every day.  Cole sees a Chinese tutor after school once a week, we have participated in Chinese summer camps and hosted Chinese foreign exchange students.  We have fought for and are committed to making the most of our experience in the DLI program.  I cannot abide the decision we are up against right now.  Do we have to sacrifice every other fun part of Cole's education in order to continue to be a part of the DLI program?  I do not want to require this of him.  He should not have to choose between Band and Chinese.  He should not have to sacrifice one more piece of his identity at this precarious time of life when we should be helping him to build that identity, not fracture it.
  
  
  I hope this gives you some insight into one student's experience, but his experience is not so different from other kids his age, and especially other DLI families.  We are students and parents who are deeply invested in the education of our children.  We are families who are willing to make sacrifices for future opportunities and for the benefit of our children.  But our children should not be required to give up every other fun or exciting educational opportunity in the pursuit of one goal as is the case with our DLI kids right now.  Even the non-DLI students will have to choose between taking a World Language or an arts elective.  This is simply not an acceptable choice.
  
  
  From my perspective as a private music teacher, a parent, and someone who devoted all my university studies to discovering the links between music and learning, I absolutely believe, and there is plenty of research to back me up, that sacrificing arts electives is the last thing we want to do in order to improve the quality of education, student involvement and outcomes, and even the academics and test scores of our students.
  
  
  Please consider implementing the 7-period schedule at Draper Park Middle School in order to preserve our arts and music programs for current and future middle school students as well as high school students at Corner Canyon.  Thank you for your consideration.
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  Marianne Barrowes
  Parent of one CCHS graduate, one CCHS choir student, and two Chinese DLI student musicians

Plug In to the Power of Chords!

Creating Complete Musicians
In the Let's Play Music method, we begin our piano playing by learning the primary chords.   Musicians know these as the I, IV and V chords.  But in Let's Play Music, we color code them and call them Red, Blue and Yellow chords.  We start from the very beginning teaching our students to hear, recognize by ear, sing and play chords for several reasons.  The overarching reason is that our goal for our students is total musicianship, and a total, complete musician will be able to use chords and chord theory to improvise, transpose, and compose music.  Starting early with chords trains our students' ears, hands, and eyes to hear, play and recognize chord notation until chords become second nature.  Chords are the building blocks of music, and having both the theory knowledge and a developed ear gives students an innate sense of how each chord functions, and how they come together to create beautiful music.

Starting Out:  Training Ears and Eyes

Before we even touch the keyboards, we spend a year with 4- and 5-year-old students (our "first years") training their ears to hear these chords, recognize which chord sounds right with a given melody, and notice patterns and chord progressions.  We play chords on the autoharp while reading color-coded chord maps, and we sing broken chords using solfege ("do-re-mi" syllables) learning to recognize the three "pieces" that make up each chord. 

At the Keyboard:  Training Fingers
Have you noticed that we love to come at chords from every angle?  As we begin our second year of Let's Play Music, we take our chord knowledge to the keyboards, and begin by learning to play the "Red Chord" (C Major chord) on the piano.  We learn to recognize the notation, and to use correct fingering to play the notes.  We learn how to make that chord minor by changing the middle note - now we can play Halloween songs!  Then we add the Yellow Chord, and then the Blue - we learn to recognize chord notation whether it's "stacked up" in block form or broken in pieces.

We continue to discuss the three pieces that make up each chord so that we can recognize each chord no matter which of its "pieces" is on top or bottom.  But during the second year, we use the regular cadence positions for each chord and talk about chords in terms of "shape" a lot too:  "snowman shape" for the root-position Red Chord C-E-G; "top-heavy" shape for the Blue Chord C-F-A (3rd on top, 4th on bottom); and "bottom heavy" shape for the Yellow Chord B-D-G (3rd on bottom, 4th on top).

At Home:  Helping Chord Theory Stick 
It's perfectly okay that some of these concepts may take a little longer to sink in.  That is why repetition is so important. Using this same language at home and asking leading questions will help your children know what to look for when identifying chords.  "What note is on bottom of that chord?  Is it a middle C or not?"  "Does that chord have a 3rd on top or a 3rd on bottom?  Is it top-heavy or bottom-heavy?"  "Both intervals are 3rds?  So the whole thing is stacked up nice and neat in snowman shape?  So what color is it then?"  Lots of leading questions will help you to know what they know, and help them to cement the concepts they are still learning. 


Knowing Chords = Knowing Music
Once your child has learned just three primary chords, suddenly the possibilities of songs they can play has become endless!  Did you know that 90% of the music we hear and listen to is made up of these three chords?  By playing a chord accompaniment and singing along with a melody, we are creating music that sounds much fuller than just a one-note melody line.  Plus, once we learn to play chords with our left hand (also during the second year) we are already able to play a melody with a chord accompaniment AND sing along!  Not bad for just a few months of piano instruction!  However, their real ability and total musicianship goes much deeper than what you are seeing or hearing on the surface!

In the third year of Let's Play Music, we add to our chord knowledge by learning F Major, G Major, C minor and A minor cadence chords.  We teach our students (now about 7 years old) to distinguish between root position and inverted chords, to find the root of a given chord, to take a given chord through all its inversions, to name all the triads in the key of C, and other chord theory.  We also teach students in both second and third years to play and improvise "stylized" chords:  marching chords, broken chords, even "calypso style" rhythmic broken chords.  

We are giving them all the tools they need to improvise, compose and create anything they want to musically!  This - the ability to take music in any direction, to create with it, use it at will, really own it - is the essence of why we sue a chord approach in Let's Play Music, and why it works to create total musicians!

For more resources on chords, check out these Making Musicians posts:
Learning Chords:  Fingering and Muscle Memory
Block, Broken, Marching:  Love those Chords!

Teaching In-Tune Singing

Many of the activities in Let's Play Music and Sound Beginnings are meant to teach children to match pitch and sing in tune.  Singing in tune is a foundational skill for complete musicianship, and one that can bring enjoyment for a lifetime.  This skill usually develops naturally in children, but occasionally there are kids who struggle to match pitch, to enhance their vocal range, and to carry a tune.  What then?

In my experience, it is often boys who take more time to learn to sing in tune, and I have a couple of my own children who have had a hard time with this as well.  Their instinct as boys is sometimes to sing it lower than the "mommy model" that sounds higher than they think their range should be.  I've noticed with one of my sons, that he does better when he's not on the spot (like in the shower and he thinks no one is listening) or when he's being silly (singing opera or silly camp songs in a boisterous voice).  When he overthinks it, trying to get it right, that's when it goes downhill.  The main thing he needs is confidence that he's doing fine, and then he does fine.  I honestly feel like his dad and I may have spent too much time pointing out the times when his singing was off in a somewhat misguided effort to help him get it right, and that backfired.  The more often you can just spend happy time singing together, the better.  

Carpools and road trips are great 'captive audience' moments to sing silly songs, improvise questions and answers, or  practice harmony!

Rather than drawing attention or focusing on sounds that are a little off, there are ways of helping them sing in tune that are less harmful:

• Spend just a second (meaning one or two attempts) asking, "Hmm...did what you just sang match what I just sang?" then sing again and let your child self-correct to match you.
• Audibly "scoot" your voice to match his pitch, then re-sing in the range that he chose, and may be more comfortable with.  Once he can carry a tune in that range, you can adjust and try starting higher.
• Vocal play and "sirens" will help break children out of a narrow range and get them using their head voices.  Repeat nursery rhymes using both low and high, silly voices.  Make sounds like a ghost, an owl, a fire truck, etc.  Have a quick conversation using "Mickey Mouse" voices!  Then come back to what you were singing and see if their range is less restricted.
• Sing in an opera voice!  Or use an echo mic and be a rock star!  You'll be amazed by how adding a silly element - especially if it encourages loud, full-voice, confident singing will get them singing in tune.

Any time you are doing these kinds of activities, you will not want to spend too much time or focus on correcting mistakes.  Give it a try (maybe two, but probably not more!) then move on with what you were doing, whether or not they are singing exactly in tune.

Another of my sons gravitates towards singing harmony, and has a hard time singing melody along with other voices.  Probably partly because of the same idea that masculine voices should be lower.  Or maybe even because his smart little brain is searching for a better challenge than just "singing it straight."  Sometimes we just want them to know how to sing it the way we think it should sound!  BUT singing harmony is also an awesome skill to have, so another tactic to promote in-tune singing would be to teach the lower harmony on a few songs.  

For Red and Blue semesters, try singing "Mi-Re-Do" along with the entire Three Blind Mice song, or "Sol-Sol-Do-Do" along with all of Scotland's Burning.  You can also do "Do-Sol-Do" during Are You Sleeping?.  These short, repeated melodies are called ostinato and are a great way to promote early harmony skills.  They give kids a short, simple melody to learn while at the same time providing an extra challenge by having them sing against another melody.  All of these songs mentioned here can also be sung in a round, as well as El Gallo from Blue semester.  Try these too!

For Green and Yellow semesters, start with Solfege Seafriends.  (Is your child's favorite the Alligator or the Whale?  Maybe see if he wants to try one of the higher friends once he has a lower one figured out.)  Also try the lower harmony "Oh Sally's" on Pick a Bale of Cotton.  We don't work on those in class really at all, but they are fun to pick out by listening to the CD.  Again, this is better if it's something you casually point out while listening to the song, "Do you hear the lower part they're singing on 'Oh, Sally'?...I wonder if we could sing those same notes and make harmony...Let's try it!"  (Or you sing higher while your child sings lower, then it's more of an individual challenge instead of always following mom's lead - appeal to his independent nature.)  Some other rounds from this year are Horsey, Horsey and Row, Row, Row Your Boat, or you can sing the "down, down, down" ostinato with Snowflakes are Falling or "tick-tock" with Hickory Dickory Dock.

In Orange semester, we introduce Echo Edison, who asks musical questions and gets improvised musical answers in return.  You could expand on this idea with your children by having them sing you a question (or you sing them one) - the only rule here is that question melodies go up at the end, and answers come down, or if you're ready for a bigger challenge, have your melodies end on Do.  Sometimes on the way home from school, I ask my kids how their day was and have them tell me three things about their day.  Adding the singing element makes it silly and fun, and with improvised melodies you can't get it wrong!  Another fun tradition is to sing "Do is home," when you pull into your driveway, then run in and check it on the piano.  Singing together is so much fun!

In any semester, you can go back and review solfege hand signs, which help give physical placement to pitch and aid in in-tune singing.  We focus on learning hand signs during the first year, then in second and third years we use them mostly with our melodic cadence patterns.  If your child is rusty, re-learning the major scale of hand signs would be great as long as you are able to make it fun and keep them on board.  Remember all the "solfege high-fives"?  That's a great place to start.  Sing the Do-Re-Mi song and see if you can get fast enough on hand signs to do the "do-mi-mi" part with hand signs - kids usually love a good challenge like this when you're going back to review something that's already been taught.  

I just want to emphasize once more that with all of these tricks and activities, you do not want to make it feel like, "We are going to really WORK HARD on this stuff until you can match pitch and sing in tune!" or give your child the idea that he's just not getting it.  Rather, try for playful singing time that is FUN, spontaneous, natural (not forced) and make it a game as often as possible.  Then you will have some good strategies to build his confidence, have him enjoy singing, and feel good about the attempts he makes.  In the end, it is more important to have a kid that loves to sing than to have a child who can sing in tune, but who chooses not to.  Hopefully these ideas will help you to continue making music with your family in a natural, positive, ongoing way!  

Making Music Together Produces Happier Kids

Music listening and singing are two of the best ways to encourage your young child's growth not only as a musician, but as a well-rounded, happy kid.  A musical environment paves the way for more musicality as well as cognitive growth.  And research shows that singing is linked to both physiological and psychological changes that make people feel happy.

Playing and singing with a teddy bear friend

From experience with my own children, I have found that the more often we listen to music, and especially if we sing, do actions, or dance along, I will find other "musical moments" happening spontaneously.  Maybe I will notice my children singing to themselves as they play, or maybe they will want to perform a song, dance or rhyme for the family. Maybe they will make up their own words to familiar songs, or make up their own songs all together. I LOVE catching them in the act of making music! 

Singing on the deck/"stage"

Besides being fun and creative right here and now, these moments are laying the foundation for musicianship skills like performance, improvisation and composition. Not to mention building confidence and simple, pure enjoyment of music!  Read more about creating a "rich sensory environment" by giving your kids more chances to experience music on kidshealth.org or pbskids.org

Singing on the bus during a school field trip

Beyond enjoyment, music can actually produce physiological changes in our brains that help us feel good.  The act of singing releases endorphins, the brain's "feel good" chemicals.  Physical things that happen when we sing, like deep breathing, can have some of the same effects as aerobic exercise: more oxygen in the blood for better circulation, stress reduction, and improved mood.  Read more about music and mood at healthychildren.org.

Singing improves our mood - even on long hikes!

Singing has also been shown to reduce anxiety and depression and promote psychological health. Studies have shown that choral singers rate their life satisfaction higher than average, even when problems they face are more substantial.  While soloists, such as karaoke singers, report increased confidence, choral singers rate even higher on life satisfaction, most likely because of the social aspects of choral singing - the support system that comes with belonging to and being needed by a group.  And since that group most likely meets regularly, there is a built-in time and place where the focus is primarily on learning new music, making harmony, getting a rhythm just right, etc.  So during this time, worries tend to fade to the background, or even melt away.

Singing in a group with friends at a Let's Play Music recital

So there is a lot of science to support what I have already come to intuitively understand for myself and my family:  making music a part of our every day by listening, singing, playing instruments, clapping, moving and dancing helps us relax, unwind, destress, and get happy!  All this while at the same time improving our skills and progressing towards musical goals.  It's a big, smiley win-win!

P.S.  If music time at your house is no longer feeling like play, and NOT producing smiles and relaxation, but tears and frustration, read this post to help you re-evaluate and find ways to get the happy back.

Six Secrets to Eliminate Practice Struggles, or "The Practical Practice of Practicing Piano"

Let's be honest.  There is only one way to learn to play an instrument, and that is practice.  And not unlike my gross overuse of that under-appreciated word in the title of this post, I have found that what we think of as 'practice' could maybe use some expansion.  Perhaps as we change how we think about practice, maybe we can change how we talk about it, too.  And maybe, just maybe, we can help the practicers in our family adjust their little attitudes as well.

As busy parents of busy kids, with over-crowded calendars, the most challenging part of practice for me is not fitting it in (I have that part planned and back-up planned, and maybe you do too!), but having patience for a pace other than my own "let's-get-this-done-right-now-while-I-have-this-one-opportunity-and-you-better-sit-down-and-pay-attention-and-stay-on-task-and-finish-this-fast" frame of mind.  Is it any wonder that my kids avoid me when I call them to the piano with that attitude?  So instead of thinking of how I can help my kid 'get this over with,' or even how I can help her have 'a good experience at the keyboard,' maybe I first need to think about how to make practice more fun for me!  Because for some reason we are so much more transparent to our children than we would like to admit.

Here's a little list of quick tips I use with my own kids:

• Secret #1:  Instead of saying, "Time to practice," I try to use cheerful words like, "Let's play piano - I am excited to hear what you learned in class this week!"

• Secret #2:  If my kids are involved in something (whether a coloring page or Lego project, or more likely a TV show or a video game...again with the honesty), I try to give them advance notice.  I get way better results when I say, "As soon as you finish that episode of Strawberry Shortcake, I need you to come play piano with me," than when I interrupt them with, "It's time to practice right now, and I never said you could watch that show anyway."

• Secret #3:  Start with something that gets you (the parent) out of hyper-hurry mode and tuned into your child.  Maybe a favorite interactive song from class like How to Skip, Rig-a-Jig-Jig, I'm An Indian, or Shake My Sillies Out.  Dance, do the actions, giggle and connect before sitting down at the piano.

  

  Shakin' our sillies out!

  
• Secret #4:  Ask your child about favorites from the list of assignments, and plan to start and end with something they love to play.  Make the music its own reward.  Some days they think they have zero songs they like - it doesn't hurt to go back to a previous semester.  Even pull out the old tone bells.  Just getting them in piano-playing mode is really the trick.  Once they are playing something...anything!...they like, they begin to remember that they actually do enjoy this.  (Never try to get them to admit it, though!)

• Secret #5:  If your kid is laying on the bench in tears because they "hate practicing," just know that we have ALL been there.  Empathize with them.  Understand that sometimes piano can be hard, and sometimes it can also be amazing!  Let them know that it really is worth it, even if it doesn't feel that way right now (for either of you).  Offer to come back later and let them choose a better time, then set a timer or alarm and stick to it.  (Sometimes I even offer to let them stay up a few minutes after bedtime, but usually not in the midst of a tantrum).

• Secret #6:  If by chance they happen to wander past and sit down at the piano, notice it and praise whatever they are doing well, whether it's posture, hand position, finding middle C, etc.  Even if they are just goofing around, just make some observations..."Oh, you played those notes so staccato!"  "I think I heard a butterfly rhythm in there - did you hear that?"  Then let them tell you what they like about what they are doing!  When they find intrinsic reasons to value playing, no matter how small, these little discoveries about enjoying piano can eventually grow into a lifetime of musical enrichment.

So there is my quick compilation of the day-in and day-out secrets to setting the stage for successful practice sessions.  

For more on how to show your child you value their efforts on their instrument, you may also enjoy this post on Teaching Piano Today.  Some of the ideas are more geared toward private piano students, but there are plenty of useful and fun ways to show your kids that you're excited about what they are doing.

Best. Activity. Ever.

It's time to get your kids registered not only for school, but for extra-curricular activities!  Did you know that learning music is probably the most holistic activity you can get them into?  Learning piano is the "total brain workout!"  Kids who take music lessons have more interconnected brains and excel in all kinds of ways:  cognitively, emotionally, socially, and more.  And the younger they start, the more benefits you can expect.  Check out this cool "This is Your Brain on Piano" infographic to learn more. 

Let's Play Music is the premier program for teaching music to young children.  Our exciting curriculum teaches advanced musical skills to young children using age-appropriate methods.  Music educators have long taught that the young child learns best through play, experience and discovery.  As musical concepts and skills are presented in a playful, joyful setting, children absorb knowledge and ability.

This is your last chance of the summer to attend a special sneak preview Sample Class.  There you can observe your child participating in class and ask any questions you may have.  I am positive that your experience will be enlightening, refreshing and FUN!

RSVP here for a Let's Play Music sample class (ages 4 - 6).

RSVP here for a Sound Beginnings sample class (ages 2 - 4 and younger siblings).