Do you continue weekly piano lessons over the summer?

[KIN]

Why or why not? We can do 10 weeks, 8 weeks or 6 weeks of lessons. We will be home and able to do 10 weeks, but part of me thinks a little break would be nice. I'd still be practicing with the boys daily, so should I just keep going to lessons to keep learning new stuff? Thoughts?

[Remudamom]

We usually quit after recital, in April or May and don't start up til Sept. This is because I'm a stingy mom and don't appreciate having to do anything on a schedule in the summer.

 

We're thinking about continuing them this summer for the first time in years.

The girls were asked to help out a bell choir, and since we're going to be there anyway we'll probably continue lessons.

[Sophia]

My older three are in various camps and summer swim team-scheduling would be a big headache.

Fortunately their current teacher (she teaches piano to my oldest two and violin to my two youngest girls) is just as busy during the summer and doesn't object to breaks.

Their former teacher insisted lessons continue during the summer and would replace my dc's slots if I didn't commit for the summer.

 

I find my kids are ready and happy to get back to lessons after a summer break.

[mcconnellboys]

Between our other activities and our teacher's times out, we can squeeze in about 7 weeks over the course of the summer and that's what we're doing. It's nice to do at least a little to keep in practice.

[Jolash]

Ds continues all year, per request of his piano teacher. Her reasoning is that since he plans to continue anyway, there's no reason to get rusty over the summer. I let him do "light" practicing in the summer... maybe 15 a day instead of 30. HTH

[momofkhm]

The music school hasn't posted their summer schedule yet, but we'll probably take June off. We start school in July anyway, so starting piano back up then makes sense.

 

I would love to have right now off! But they work on a semester program starting in September. I have a good thing with all 3 kids in lessons at the same time. I do notwhat to mess that up!

[Danestress]

We play violin, not piano, but we tend to make some real progress in music studies over the summer. We have more time for it and can do it in a more relaxed manner.

[cornerstonemom]

All we ever did was a couple of lesson during the summer. That was all her teacher required. Also, she practiced a bit.

[profmom]

We stop over the summer. We're a music family, but we still enjoy the break. Dd works extra hard in the spring for competitions and recitals, and she enjoys relaxing a bit for a few weeks. Ds is even looking forward to a break from guitar lessons, which he loves.

[dirty ethel rackham]

We plan on going over the summer, with breaks for vacations, camps, etc.

[teamturner]

Our teacher teaches two lessons in June and two lessons in late August so we get a break in between. With my guys being so new to it, I think it's a good thing to continue some during the summer. They love piano anyways and don't object at this point. If we had a busy summer schedule I might object but I'm fine with it.

[WTMCassandra]

Our teacher takes 2-3 weeks off and then begins a summer schedule, a la carte. You pay by the week rather than having a commitment. You sign up for as many lessons as you want. She also takes the last half of August off. With the built-in breaks, and with our summer plans, I ended up signing ours up for 7 lessons.

 

My original plan was to have them go every two weeks instead of every week, but it didn't work out that way between her available times and ours.

 

So I guess my answer is that we continue, but at a slower pace and/or give them some breaks. I don't want them to backslide, yet I do want them to have a little more free time.

[OnEaglesWings]

Absolutely! If I let mine quit for the summer, they'd never start back up again! Plus, they lose SO much ground not playing that long.

[Elisabeth in IL]

We went to every other week lessons in the summer. It was easier to keep them moving forward and not forgetting the theory. I have very little music experience / knowledge myself so it was easier to have the teacher keeping tabs on them.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I would, but our teacher takes a couple months off for travel.

 

The kids do fine, maybe better, after a break.

[Kate CA]

Yes, we do because our teacher does. It is his living. I am glad we do only because it keeps them "up" on their music. I am not sure that would happen if they were not in weekly lessons.

[mktkcb]

I think this is one of those things that, either way, isn't going to scar your dc for life. FWIW, my son takes piano from a VERY good older experienced teacher who travels in the summer, and doesn't lose sleep over her students taking time off in the summer. She does encourage them to work on this or that (meaning she makes sure they have songs to work on if they want to), to do some theory, get a head start on Certificate of merit technique for the coming year, go to some concerts, do a piano camp....etc. But nothing required. She will do lessons if we want when she is in town, but that usually only 4 lessons or so over the course of the summer. This summer she is getting her knee replaced, so she is taking the summer totally off to get all ready to start in Sept. She told me once that she has never noticed that her students lose ground significantly as a result of summer break.....and she has been teaching a loooooong time, so I trust her on that. So I would say if you want to keep doing lessons, fine. If you want to break, fine. Do what you want - the world won't fall apart either way.

Kayleen

[Marie in Oh]

In some ways I wish she did, but in other ways I am glad. It is good to have a break. They practice anyway. So they don't get all that rusty.

[Mom2legomaniacs]

We do. This is his livelihood. If we didn't continue it wouldn't be fair to him. If the situation were different, I might consider a very short time off. But the continuity is better for them anyway.

[GailV]

Our teacher prefers that the kids keep taking over the summer. She doesn't want them to digress.

 

But the teacher's going to England for a couple of weeks, dds have two weeks of dance camp and several dance competitions, work camp for youth group, etc., so it will be a light schedule. We pay by the week, so it works out.

[lynn]

we did. We had a very wonderful and popular teacher and it was $25 a month for the summer to hold a spot for the fall if you didn't want to take sumer lessons so we just continued with summer lessons which was only $20 more for the month. She is that good I hated to loose our spot. She catered to hsers schedules if you had a field trip or went out of town she'd fit in a makeup lesson pretty easily.

[Michelle in MO]

Of course there are still vacations and other trips, but we always do piano over the summer, otherwise the kids get too rusty with their practicing!

[Julie Herbster]

...all summer long, with breaks for camps, vacation, etc. I think of it like I do school: more relaxed, but maintenance is needed.

[Holly IN]

We go through the summer. It forces the kids to practice knowing they have a lesson coming up and it also keeps them going, knowing that they will get new songs. We took a break one summer and it really backfired on them because they were very bored at being stuck where they are because they didnt' have lessons.

 

Holly

[Tammyla]

My dd takes lessons year round. We keep our spot and it does support our piano teacher financially through the summer. Like many of the others, I don't think it matters all that much either way. Here, piano lessons are one of our good habits, and something we don't have to readjust at the beginning of the school year. :thumbup1:

[Only me]

For the first time in 5 years we are not having piano lessons in the summer. Our mornings and evenings are already going to be busy so I don't want to add to that. My oldest dd is going to have pom practice in the morning followed by driver's ed from 11-1. My other two are on a bowling league on Tuesdays and will have sports camp for a week or two during the morning. My son is keeping us all busy with his baseball games until the 4th of July. I didn't want to add piano lessons to the mix. I'm hoping that we will be able to have some "popsicle days". That's what my family calls those lazy days of summer where the biggest decision that needs to be made is which flavor of popscicle you want.

[SLH in ND]

We prefer to continue and our teacher requires 6 lessons, as she has to maintain an income. Sometimes I'd rather have our regular schedule through the summer, just to keep with the routine, but 6 lessons over 3 months is pretty manageable.

 

Sheri :)

[Orthodox6]

Please forgive this simple-minded reply from a musician. . . If one is learning to play an instrument, why would one "take a vacation"?

[Donovans4]

we have lessons over the summer (violin and guitar). We pay for 8 lessons and both teachers are very understanding with schedule conflicts and are willing to reschedule lessons. My ds violin teacher does some fun stuff such as fiddle music, and my dd guitar teacher lets her work on anything she is interested in. By having summer lessons it assures our spots with these teachers in the fall, and I would hate to lose either of them. I would also hate to lose the progress my dc have made over the past year.

 

LauraD in MN

[Erin's Mom]

My daughter continues on through the summer and has for years. The teacher and my daughter will pick out ninety percent of the pieces she will learn for the next year and then begin working on them. :001_smile:

[freeindeed]

My daughter has a summer break from lessons, but she will continue to practice here at home.

[Wendi]

Ds just started guitar about two months ago; he's continuing over the summer. The only time he's off is when his teacher has a concert to prepare for (he has his own rock band).

 

Wendi

[Meliss]

My kids take lessons all summer. Their teacher earns her living through teaching piano and wouldn't be able to make ends meet if her students took time off in the summer. Also, my kids are advanced enough to the point that their progress would be hurt with time off. They need the summer to keep advancing to new levels of playing each year.

[Julie in CA]

Actually, my dd works even harder on her piano playing over the summer than during the school year. It's her chance to spend as much time in practice as she wants to, without the distractions of regular school work.

[mktkcb]

we do, when ds's teacher is in town and not on vacation herself. We probably end up with about 6-8 weeks of lessons during the summer. Sometimes less. Ds also goes to piano camp at a local college for 1 week during the summer. I like him to keep motivated during the summer. No lessons = lack of motivation. We get a running start on all his new repetoire and theory and technique that must be mastered by around Feb. for exams, festivals, competitions and the like. Just not having "events" on the calendar is a break for us LOL!

[katilac]

Please forgive this simple-minded reply from a musician. . . If one is learning to play an instrument, why would one "take a vacation"?

 

For the same reason one would take a vacation from anything else, I suppose! For some people, it is because they wish to take advantage of conflicting opportunities; for others, it might be because they want to take a break and return refreshed. There are many things I enjoy learning, but sometimes I enjoy a vacation from even the most engaging of lessons or tasks.

 

This year, we'll be breaking from piano lessons for four to eight weeks; four weeks of conflicting opportunities, and possibly four weeks of 'no time commitments.'

 

I also wouldn't consider taking a vacation from lessons to neccesarily equate to taking a vacation from learning. In all subjects, including music, I respect and utilize master teachers as needed, but I also consider my kids to be more than capable of learning and exploring on their own.

 

It's a wonderful thing to see kids practicing and playing an instrument under their own motivation, and not simply to prepare for a lesson!