Teaching piano

[lulalu]

Anyone teach their own children piano when your own skills are not excellent? What books are good? Or is it best to just hire a teacher?

[lexi]

I'm teaching my own kids. I definitely don't consider myself an excellent pianist. I took lessons for 11 years but my skills are so rusty anymore.

I'm using the Faber series. And it's actually going very well. My kids play fairly well and are progressing through the books. They like the extra themed books that go along with the Faber series (Chord Time and Show Time, etc). I will admit I'm not good at using the theory and technique books. I just stick with the lesson and performance books.

As my kids get to the end of the series, I'll probably need to find a teacher. But for now we're having a good time learning the songs.

And if one of my kids felt they wanted to really pursue music, I would find a teacher asap. But they are learning to read music and will hopefully one day be able to play basic things. So, me teaching them is meeting those simple goals. (And it's free. Lol)

[lulalu]

The free part is what is making me consider it ;)

[EmilyGF]

I found it was hard to teach my kids piano...

 

But here are the things that I would need to have to make it work:

 

1. uninterrupted time. I can deal with math interruptions, but music lesson interruptions were killer.

2. a sense of what is reasonable. I was always expecting too much.

3. a good lesson book - I think math books expect way less of the teacher than most music books

4. a more positive attitude

 

#1 was the killer for us. :-) But my kids are thriving in private music lessons and watching their private music lessons has helped me become a much better homeschool teacher. We started piano lessons with a local college student who was charging $20/hour (!!!). When he quit because of graduation, my oldest cried in bed for 20 minutes. Once my kids went to private lessons, they each chose their own instrument based on love/passion. They stopped comparing themselves to one another and they now really love making music with each other. We have piano, flute, and violin currently and a rising future drum (and cello?) player.

 

I took lessons for 6 years and my oldest (11) has taken for 2.5 years and is already better than I was... I know because he has my old book. Bah! But I'm really proud of him.

 

Emily

[wintermom]

I tried, but in the end I find it well worth the money to hire a teacher. As a pp mentioned, the major difficulties were being consistent with lesson time for each child, realistic expectations, and having something or someone other than mom to play for on a regular basis. In addition, as a teacher without expert technical training, you could well be laying a foundation of poor technique in your dc that may take a long time for the child to fix if they want to pursue higher levels. 

 

I can best use my music experience to help my dc with their practicing at home. Having another person for my dc to play for is very motivating for them, and they have access to group classes and/or ensembles through their teachers. 

 

 

[lulalu]

I have looked around here for teachers but the prices are crazy high (we live overseas) if I could find someone for 20 I would do it!

 

Thanks for the thoughts on the difficulties. It probably would be hard to have time with no distractions. I already was worried about my expectations.....

[IsabelC]

You certainly don't need to be an amazing pianist to teach your children. I teach my girls and it's been many years since I actually got paid to teach anybody.  My playing is pretty poor too, since I don't practice on a regular basis and the only performances I do is accompanying the kids' instrumental work.  There are heaps of good method books you can use, just pick one you like the look of and occasionally supplement with other music your child will enjoy. (Many kids like to learn Christmas carols, and you can buy simplified versions of these that are easy enough for beginners. Once they child progresses a little they can try other favorite songs such as Disney themes.) The only real difficulty I have seen with people who teach their own children, is that some children listen better to a "real teacher" who isn't the parent.  But with home educators, that issue is less likely to come up.

It really boils down to your budget (could you pay for a teacher or would that entail financial hardship), your personal preferences (does teaching your child music drive you crazy, or sound like fun) and your expectations (is the child playing for pleasure, or do they want to be a concert pianist).  If you decide to go with a teacher because you're concerned about "doing it properly", or "laying good technical foundations", I'd suggest you vet the teacher carefully.  A surprising amount of music teachers really aren't very good.  You need somebody who understands how to work with children, how to develop technique and musicianship, how to teach effective practising, how to customise their approach for each student, how to help a student get through stages of low enthusiasm, etc. And in addition they need to "click" with your child, because even a very good teacher isn't necessarily good for every student. If you can find such a teacher, it's worth paying whatever she/he asks if you can afford it.

 

Edited July 29, 2016 by IsabelC

[lexi]

The uninterrupted teaching time was challenging. I teach my kids on Sunday afternoon. My husband is home and he keeps the other kids occupied. He plays with them and they do some light cleaning together. He can also act as a mediator if the kids or I am frustrated about something. I would never be able to do our little "lessons" if he weren't home to support me while working with them and if he wasn't keeping an eye on the other kids. I feel like it takes quite a bit of my Sunday afternoon (with 4 of them), but they have an evening church commitment and my hubby takes them to that so I get 2 uninterrupted hours to plan our homeschool week after our piano time. But doing the lesson every week on a Sunday when we usually don't have other activities has helped me stay consistent. I pencil it in our calendar.

[MeaganS]

That's exactly why we are using Hoffman Academy. He teaches and I know enough to see where he's going with it and can reinforce. It puts me more in the role of tutor. Plus it is easy, my kids love him, it gets done, and is free to inexpensive. 😊

[wintermom]

I have looked around here for teachers but the prices are crazy high (we live overseas) if I could find someone for 20 I would do it!

 

 

 

Sometimes you can find teen-aged or college students to teach beginning levels at much cheaper prices than established private teachers. Perhaps you could place an ad at a local school. 

[J&JMom]

I am an intermediate player.  I attempted to teach my boys the basics using Piano Town by Keith Snell and Piano Maestro app (Joy Tunes).  While my kids did progress, I eventually quit because it was too stressful.  I spent my patience meter on homeschooling so that I would be grouchy at the piano.  So, I found a sweet lady in our neighborhood who took over for a decent fee, and my youngest is blossoming under her tutelage.  And our homeschool is less stressed with that responsibility taken off my shoulders.  Now, practice time is still a sticking point, but I now have another authority figure to appeal to. 

Economics definitely played a part in my teaching decisions. My oldest toughed it out for a year with a teacher after two years with me and allowed him to call it quits. He couldn't care less about music.  My youngest has innate talent so I encourage him as much as I can. As in he taught himself Mozart's Toca Ala Rocca and performed from memory for our family at Easter decently. Of course, his technique and musicality were immature, but he did it.  That enthusiasm he did not have with me teaching him, lol.  

Edited July 29, 2016 by J&JMom

[Seeking Squirrels]

I play piano and feel confident enough to teach the early levels. I have intended to teach my kids for the past two years. I really think this is one area that at least for me, should be outsourced. I always thought that even before I started trying, but finances and schedule didn't allow for lessons. I'm starting DD8 in lessons with a teacher this year.