Customer Reviews

How to Get Your Child to Practice... Without Resorting to Violence!!

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I read most of this book at my sister-in-law's place: she is also a piano teacher. The author, Cynthia Richards, has several children of her own, and managed to help most of them to learn to play various instruments, as well as conducting a busy piano studio.

She makes some great points in her book, and while I will give you a few of her hints here, you will find it well worth your while to read the whole shebang. And it's as cheap as chips!

Mrs Richards alerts her readers to these stumbling blocks:
1 Indifferent home environment
2 Faulty teacher-child relationslip
3 Lack of maturity and commitment in the child
4 The wrong instrument
5 Unfavourable practice conditions
6 Bad memories
7 Peer pressure not to practise
8 Not proficient enough to be competitive
9 Too many conflicting interests
10 Sibling rivalry
11 Competitive feelings with a parent
12 Communications

She also suggests some ways to overcome these problems:
1 Start early
2 Practise with your child every day
3 Set up family rules for practising
4 Use incentives when needed
5 Handle conflicts by
a avoiding emotional involvement
b being friendly
c being matter of fact
d not giving in
6 Enjoy your children's music
7 Praise them for their successes
8 Look for stumbling blocks and do your best to remove them
9 Focus your efforts on getting your child hooked on music

I highly recommend this book. If you follow the advice of a successful mother and music teacher, your child may not become a little Mozart; but you will be a better parent, your child will be a happier child and together you will enjoy some great musical experiences.

After reading this I came to accept and believe that all kids deserve daily musical practice and training, even if they are not one of the rare kids that enjoy and initiate practice. Before reading this book, I was very concerned that my insistence on daily practice beginning at an early age would breed resentment and have an opposite result long term, or worse,that my child would only ever do music to please me, and not for her own personal satisfaction with making music. The author did a good job of assuring me that practice is often hard work, and not necessarily fun for kids. However,the musical rewards my child will reap down the road will be well worth my efforts and insistance on a daily routine. Once I was re-assured, I was given many helpful suggestions as to how to execute this insistance lovingly, patiently, and with as much fun and short term reward as possible. Sometimes our stong desire for our children to develop their own autonomy, creativity, and individuality can cloud our good judgment and cause us to avoid insisting on the hard work it takes to foster real talent and mastery of a musical instrument. But this talent and ability, once obtained, will be a life long and priceless gift for my child, regardless of what other passions and pursuits she follows.