The New York Times once wrote, "In China's big cities, on Saturdays and Sundays, if a child walking on the street does not carry a violin, he is on his way to learn the piano." ”
Many people think that playing the piano can make children smarter, which is actually reasonable. Playing the piano eyes to see the treble clef bass clef, the left and right hands to coordinate the playing, but also to take into account the pedals, hand eyes, brain ears and feet can be exercised, is good for intellectual development.
The number of piano children in the mainland far exceeds that of other countries, to what extent? On weekends at piano school, classes run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and my classmates' children are learning piano, and my son's classmates are also learning piano.
01
Why do we let our children learn the piano?
By chatting with parents and piano teachers, there are three reasons:
1. Cultivate a hobby for your child
Now pay attention to the all-round development of musical beauty, children always have to learn an instrument.
They all say that the piano is the foundation, so I learned the piano. Such parents have not thought of letting their children take the professional route, but just want their children to have a channel to contact music, which is the most desireless.
2. Take the exam and give extra points to the school choice
Some parents have a clear goal of letting their children learn piano, take the exam, give their children extra points to their resumes, and increase chips for the special classes of the primary entrance examination. Children learn to play the piano in a straight line, from the first level to the tenth level.
3. Take the professional route
A small number of parents have determined from the beginning of their children's learning of the piano that they should let their children take the professional route, take the music attached primary school, go to the music attached middle school, and go all the way to the conservatory.
Some parents in second- and third-tier cities also take their children to Beijing and Shanghai to find teachers to learn, a bit like Lang Lang's experience of learning the piano when he was a child.
The granddaughter of bridge expert Mao Yisheng and the pianist Mao Weihui in the United States believes that learning piano can be amateur, but not casually.
Even if sending children to learn piano is only to cultivate sentiments and not take the professional road, parents cannot hold the attitude of casual learning, at least to ensure that the knowledge learned by children is correct, and the habits and characters cultivated are valuable.
The famous Polish pianist Jane Paderewski said that learning technology must be patient, hard and persistent; without technology, art is not excellent, there is no style, no characteristics. Etudes, scales, arpeggios, chords are all genuine and cannot be deceived.
No matter what the reason for the child to learn the piano, from the beginning of the decision, the child and the piano have formed an indissoluble relationship, how to make the child's road to learning the piano smoother?
02
For children to learn the piano smoother, the choice of three is very important
Nowadays, there are many institutions for children to learn piano, and the curriculum design is also diverse, from group classes to 1-on-1 lessons. Mao Weihui believes that the benefits of young children taking group classes are very many, and in foreign countries, children aged 4-6 usually choose music group classes.
In this way, there will be interaction between children, which is conducive to memory and learning, giving children the atmosphere of lessons, so that children are more serious and motivated. After a period of group lessons, and then take one-on-one classes for individual guidance, the learning efficiency will be higher. When a child learns to play the piano, it is crucial to choose a good teacher, teaching materials and time to practice.
Option 1: Choose a good teacher
Mao Weihui pointed out in "Children Learn Piano, Parents Go to Class First" that choosing a piano teacher for children should be divided into three stages:
In the first stage, the enlightenment stage, the teacher's most important thing is patience, love and imagination.
This stage is an important stage for children to become interested in the piano, maintain enthusiasm, and form practice habits, and the teacher's every move will directly affect the child's attitude and view of music.
In the second stage, after the child learns the piano for two or three years, he begins to play the classical repertoire formally.
At this stage, the selection of teachers depends on whether the teacher has the ability to demonstrate, whether he is familiar with the repertoire, and whether he knows how the child's musical path should go.
The third stage is when the child formally plans to take the professional path, prepares for the conservatory and participates in international piano competitions.
At this stage, the selection of teachers should be based on professionalism, depending on the grades of students who have been taught by the teacher before, how their personalities are, and whether the happiness index is high or not.
Mao Weihui specifically pointed out that on the issue of changing teachers, parents must not be embarrassed, and they should choose the most suitable teacher according to the stage of their children.
Option 2: Choose a good textbook
In the selection of teaching materials, the progress of textbook preparation cannot be too fast, slightly slower and shallower, so that children can learn the basic skills solidly;
Try to choose a textbook with bright pictures, preferably some interactive games, which are more attractive to children; the music in the textbook is best to expose the child to 88 keys, so that the child has an overall understanding of the piano.
Option 3: Choose the time to practice
Before choosing a time to practice, there is also the choice of piano. Mao Weihui suggested that more than 30,000 pianos in China can meet the needs of children practicing, and then buy more expensive triangles after a few years.
This needs to be based on the actual situation of the family, can buy a good nature is the best, if there is indeed no ability, there is always better than nothing, isn't it?
Regarding the practice time, Mao Weihui suggested that 4-year-old children practice for 20 minutes to half an hour a day; after one year of study, the child's score will increase, and the practice time will be extended to 45 minutes;
6 years old may have 3-4 sheet music, and each additional sheet music adds about 15 minutes of practice time.
It is best to choose to give children piano lessons in the morning, because many piano teachers are from morning to night all day of class, time is inevitable to have fatigue, choose the teacher's most energetic time to go to class, the class effect is the best.
Someone asked the musician who was playing the violin, how to get to Carnegie Hall?
The musician replied, practice, practice, keep practicing. Learning an instrument and practicing is the only shortcut to achievement, how can you keep your child learning the piano?
03
Let the child insist on learning the piano, and parents should be fully prepared
I often see such funny videos on the Internet: an adult asks the piano teacher, is it too late for me to learn piano? The piano teacher said solemnly, "It's too late, because your mother can't beat you anymore."
Although it is a paragraph, it also shows the importance of parents in the process of their children learning the piano. The key to a child's ability to keep learning lies in the attitude of the parents.
Parents' attitude towards their children learning the piano
You plan to let your child learn the piano, or the child is already learning the piano, you may wish to ask yourself, if the child after learning the piano for more than ten years, did not take the piano as a profession, learning the piano did not give him extra points for the exam, will you regret spending a lot of time and money to let the child learn the piano, what is the ultimate goal of the child to learn the piano?
Many parents let their children learn the piano is the motivation of the exam, the child through the five levels of six will finally pass the tenth level, but fell into an unprecedented confusion: there is no higher goal, the child does not take the professional route, so many years of pay is still meaningful?
In the process of children learning the piano, parents should guide their children to integrate the piano into life, so that music can become a partner for children and a way for children to relax and cultivate their bodies and minds.
Tired of studying, playing two favorite songs, in a bad mood, find the comfort of the heart through the piano. Integrating the piano into life is the ultimate goal of learning the piano.
Children learn to practice the piano day after day, and it is easy to enter the burnout period.
Through the burnout period, the enthusiasm and level of children to talk about the piano will step up to a new level, but many parents have not found a way to deal with the child's burnout period, and the child has been in the burnout period and completely abandoned the piano.
Children practice, parents should do things
Praise the child
When children first play the piano, it is difficult to appreciate the beauty of music, and they need to rely on external motivation to maintain enthusiasm.
What parents have to do is to praise and encourage their children, affirm their children's progress, and give their children the confidence and courage to persevere.
Mao Weihui said that in the process of learning the piano, children need 90% encouragement, 10% say where to do better, 0% are used for criticism, and encouragement is more powerful than criticism.
A tune doesn't play for too long
If a song has not been played by the child for two or three months, it means that the song is too difficult for the child.
Parents are advised to change a song decisively and not waste too much time on a song, which is to consume children's enthusiasm and confidence.
Play a song that your child loves
Children often practice exam repertoire, and practicing the works of the master will produce burnout and lose the motivation to continue playing the piano. At this time, the child can choose the track he likes to practice, and the child is more likely to have a sense of achievement in playing.
My child was very reluctant to practice for a while, and then I agreed with him that after playing the music left by the teacher, he could play his favorite nursery rhymes, such as two tigers, whitewashers, and so on.
The child's enthusiasm for practicing the piano is unprecedentedly high, and he takes the initiative to practice every day, just to be able to play the melody he is familiar with.
The child enters a period of burnout and does not play the piano for the time being
When a child plays the piano for a few years, he may fall into a period of real burnout, feel that his level has not taken a leap, and are extremely disgusted with practicing.
At this time, you can slow down the rhythm appropriately and let the child rest for a period of time, but do not let the music withdraw from the child's life.
You can take your child to a concert, watch a musical, and when your child's mood calms down, he will practice again. After all, I have been playing for several years, I have formed a habit, and I have poured a lot of emotion into the piano.
Even if you are as good as lang lang, you have a burnout period for the piano. He didn't want to play the piano and not talk to his father, but after a few days away from the piano, he realized that he could not leave the piano and threw himself into hard training.
When children learn piano, they don't just learn the technique of playing the piano. Practicing the piano every day will make children more self-disciplined, have better time management skills, experience the power of persistence, and develop a tenacious character.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Rice, who began to learn piano at the age of 3 and entered the university at the age of 16 to learn piano playing, did not continue to learn piano, she entered politics, becoming one of the most famous secretaries of state in the United States. But the piano became her best life partner and a weapon for her to work.
I hope that the piano children in our family, whether they become pianists, mathematicians, engineers, programmers, can become good friends with the piano.
Like + watching, I hope that our children, when recalling the time of learning the piano, can say without regret, thank you myself, persevered.