Alexandra started piano lessons yesterday with a "real" piano teacher. I have taught her off and on for about 2 years. But, we've never stuck with it and never gotten very far.
So, we signed her up for lessons. For the past few weeks, she's practiced almost daily and had me "give her a lesson" 4 or 5 times a week. She has been speeding along! So, now I'm worried. She's got 2 songs to practice all week long.... How's that going to work?
The teacher suggested we come in for lessons twice a week, but we just can't add anything else to our schedule right now. I think I'll just use a supplemental book and teach her out of that, too. So, she can do her regular practice, and then gets a "bonus" of mom teaching her a "real" song.
That's my plan for now! So, we'll see how it goes!
By the way, this brings back lots of memories for me. I started taking lessons at about Alexandra's age. Besides recitals, my first "public" performance was when I was in 3rd grade - I played "Up On the Rooftop" in the hallway of our elementary school while ALL the kids in the school sang for our parents. Later, I went on to play for school & church choirs, accompanied various singers & instrumentalists at competitions, and was the back-up piano player for our church. I love to play the piano! I played hour after hour after hour in junior and senior high. I'm so glad Alexandra is so interested, too! I hope she retains her love of the piano like I have!
I hope so, too. You know, they say that learning music helps you with the part of the brain used for analytical thinking, such as Math skills. So, maybe this will be just what she needs. 8-)
ReplyDeleteWe just started piano lessons as well. I am taking lessons as well as my oldest (9). It is a lot to keep up with, but so far so good. I also taught her for about two years, but the same thing happened so we found a "real" teacher. I realize we have never met, but I like to offer advice to strangers lol. I think, unless she is a prodigy, two lessons a week is too much, especially if you want her to stick with it. We meet with our teacher once a week for 30 minutes. Then, practice on our own a little each day. Rather than set a time limit or minimum for practice, she tells us to go through each song three times and be done. I have been having a blast- I guess I could ask my daughter if she is lol.
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to learn to play piano. When I was little, I starated flute and I've played since. When I turned 21, I bought myself a beautiful violin but never took any lessons. Alex will have to choose between one of those instruments as we have NO room for a piano. Any idea if some of those keyboard programs are really similar to playing piano?
ReplyDeleteAlycia
The Power of One