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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: July 10 2012 at 6:40pm | IP Logged
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I was reading this post about music instruction in the home. Do you really think kids can learn piano without formal instruction? Ok, I know this is true because this is how we started out a few years ago. BUT, I couldn't get my oldest to practice. A wonderful friend of ours took over. She is no longer able to give lessons since she went back to work with a full time job. Ds was so good at it! BUT, he won't practice! We used Madonna Woods which was suppose to be a self-teaching program. Ds needed someone to show him. I don't know how to play, but I can read music since I played a variety of things in school (never stuck with anything). I don't have the time to keep up and learn ahead as the program suggested. I really want my kids to learn how to play, but we can't afford lessons. Does anyone have any insight of how to pull this off or recommend any certain programs? (I'm looking at the programs mentioned in the other post.) My only complaint about the Madonna Woods was that she goes way to fast and Ds (and myself when I tried) couldn't go that fast.
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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Mackfam
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| Posted: July 10 2012 at 8:27pm | IP Logged
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I'm not familiar with the program you mentioned to offer any help with it in particular, Cassie, but how about just slowing down the lessons - complete one lesson in twice the amount of time. In doing so, cut back the amount of time you require for practice each day to maybe 15 min. Work through the lessons with him if you really want to learn. And you do the practicing, too.
As for practice time, those scales are just a part of the discipline part of education - which means that practice is just non-negotiable here. We set a timer and they practice. Period.
What do you mean by going too fast in the Madonna Woods program? Do you mean that she played fast or that she moved through lessons quickly before there was time for mastery?
If she plays fast, just use the pause button and break down her playing into more bitesize segments. For now, it means that you're not really enjoying the "whole" as much, but breaking it down and putting it back together can be very satisfying!
If she's moving through the lessons quickly, that's a simple fix - break up the lessons into chunks that are more manageable.
Any time my kids are learning something totally foreign to me (like Latin or music) we slow down and I learn right alongside them. I can keep them more accountable when I'm learning, too.
Good luck to you in deciding what program to use, and how you might tweak this program you already have to fit your family needs more!
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Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19 , ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: July 11 2012 at 11:03am | IP Logged
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The main thing we do with "practice" here - is to not call it practice, but playing. I want him to play through his last lesson and let me know when he is ready for me to fully critique it. It might be an hour and it might be two weeks. It's all ok; but every day he does sit down to "play" - and a part of that time must be going through the current lesson. Then he can play whatever he likes (or start with what he likes and move into the lesson).
I do not dictate the amount of time on the practice portion - because frankly, I just want him to learn piano, learn enough discipline to work through each lesson, but I want HIM to see the benefit. And if he wants to play a certain piece of music, I can pinpoint which lesson in his set of instruction books (we use The Music Tree) he needs to get to in order to have enough foundational skill to play the desired piece. So HE knows how far he needs to get to achieve his own goal.
I am strict about other things in our home, to learn self-discipline and the like - so that music does not become a battle of wills, rather it is a development of his will to get through the hard parts (with my help) in order to achieve his desired goal.
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Garden of Francis
HS Elementary Montessori Training
Montessori Nuggets
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pumpkinmom
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| Posted: July 12 2012 at 11:47am | IP Logged
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Mackfam wrote:
I'm not familiar with the program you mentioned to offer any help with it in particular, Cassie, but how about just slowing down the lessons - complete one lesson in twice the amount of time. In doing so, cut back the amount of time you require for practice each day to maybe 15 min. Work through the lessons with him if you really want to learn. And you do the practicing, too.
As for practice time, those scales are just a part of the discipline part of education - which means that practice is just non-negotiable here. We set a timer and they practice. Period.
What do you mean by going too fast in the Madonna Woods program? Do you mean that she played fast or that she moved through lessons quickly before there was time for mastery?
If she plays fast, just use the pause button and break down her playing into more bitesize segments. For now, it means that you're not really enjoying the "whole" as much, but breaking it down and putting it back together can be very satisfying!
If she's moving through the lessons quickly, that's a simple fix - break up the lessons into chunks that are more manageable.
Any time my kids are learning something totally foreign to me (like Latin or music) we slow down and I learn right alongside them. I can keep them more accountable when I'm learning, too.
Good luck to you in deciding what program to use, and how you might tweak this program you already have to fit your family needs more! |
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What I meant on moving too fast is the CD when the teacher is playing and the student is suppose to be playing along. My son can't play at that speed until he has practiced the song many times. He feels like he is suppose to play perfectly the first time and gets discouraged. I get discouraged when I see how much is expected to complete in the suggested lesson. I know I we can shorten the lessons and work at our own speed, but I feel discourage when I can only get them through a fourth of what the teacher considers one lesson.
But, the boys pulled out the keyboard and where playing last night all on their own. Maybe it's time to talk about starting lesson (at home) back up again. 
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Cassie
Homeschooling my little patch of Ds-14 and Ds-10
Tending the Pumpkin Patch
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4Real Forums : The Arts in the Everyday
Topic: Piano Instruction
