My mom signed me up for piano lessons with a local church organist when I was in second grade. She started me out with 5-finger exercises in C-position and in John Thompson's First Grade Book. 

After a few months of watching the clock painfully tick off each second of practice time, I quit.  Here's why I abandoned piano lessons for watching Duck Tales, but what I learned. 

Don't Discount Practice Minutes, But Focus on Realistic Goals and Musicality.

As a beginning piano student, I felt like my mind and coordination could hardly keep up and do what was expected. 

Adding practice time is an adjustment and requires additional discipline and focus that usually needs to be built up over time. Especially early on, piano students do not have enough music to fill up 20 minutes of practice, 5 days a week. Instead, I ask them to practice so many times through each piece. I teach my students practice tips and ask them to incorporate one tip each week. Gradually, they learn both effective practice and build up their practicing muscles!

I obviously was not enjoying piano enough to devote the required practice time. As I teach, I focus on nurturing a love of musical expression with my students. I direct them to practice towards achieving goals and letting their enjoyment of the music motivate them to practice. If you enjoy it, you'll stick with it over the longterm and eventually spend more time practicing.

Pick Good Songs

Getting students to learn a few songs early on and to feel like a "real piano player" quickly is key. Although I quit lessons, my teacher had done a great job of picking songs I enjoyed. I understand some methods discourage teaching songs in the same hand positions early on. However, personally, I Iike to get my students feeling a sense of accomplishment, quickly.  It motivates them to continue studying.

Focus on Theory and Technique to the Extent That It Promotes the Enjoyment of Music.

Here's where your personal musical goals come into play. If you're interested in composing, then we can focus on theory. But for most kids, they come in wanting to play songs they enjoy. In a short amount of time, my teacher had empowered me with theory basics that enabled me to starting playing piano again on my own a couple years later.

Inspire and Connect.

My teacher failed to inspire or connect with me. Students get inspired through other performers, regular encouragement, feeling part of a musical community, and by opportunities to see their own music impacting others. I connect with local music organizations to provide a musical community and performance opportunities. I develop relationships with my students and encourage them to reach their fullest potential. Before I start lessons, I have an informational interview with each student to ensure we both feel comfortable working together.

Sometimes You’re Just Not Ready...But When You Are, It's Amazing.

Like I mentioned earlier, a couple years after quitting lessons, I started playing and practicing again on my own. I began to really enjoy music and the ability to create beautiful sounds motivated me. When my family was able to provide regular lessons again (we lived in Africa for a while), God eventually gave me a teacher who truly inspired me, taught me to play musically, and showed me how to impact others with my music. That one teacher transformed my playing in a just a couple years. I want to be that teacher for you and that’s why I teach. But that’s another post!