the piano requires hard work and artistic inspiration in about a ten to one
(or higher) ratio.
"You only need lessons if you want to play the classics."
- Learning piano is a lot more than just being able to "plunk out" a
few tunes. If you're going to carry any skills over to other music, no
matter the type, you'll need to learn how to: read music, adopt basic posture
and technique, follow melodic and harmonic lines in each hand
simultaneously, finger chords, practice properly and much,
much more. Most people take lessons to help them learn to play most anything that
might come along, not because they are interested in a particular genre.
Would you be happy if, after taking lessons, you could only play a few
tunes from a given type of music?
"I'm too old (young) to take lessons."
- While it is possible to start children on piano too young to gain maximum
benefit from lessons, most children can benefit from lessons at early ages.
On one of our Tips for Parents and Students
pages, you'll find some helpful hints about how to measure your child's
physical and mental development to determine if they are ready for
lessons. The requirements are very easy to meet for most
kids. Older students have some considerable advantages over children in
terms of both focus and motivation, even if they have lost some of the
flexibility that characterized their younger years. So long as an older
student has the time and desire to learn, he can start at just about any
"It's okay to start lessons without making a commitment to them."
- Many people
don't realize that lessons undertaken without commitment almost always
lead to failure. Lessons take real time and involvement on the part of
teachers, students and parents. A new student should assume that, to be
successful, he will have to devote just as much time to practice and
lessons as he would give to a school team sport. Just as with a sport,
playing piano requires both knowledge and skill. You can get the
knowledge by study, but can get the skill only by practice.
"Somehow my children will find time for lessons and practice, even though
they are scheduled with activities every day of the week."
- Given the amount of time (not to mention psychological) commitment needed to
be successful in learning to play the piano (see above), an overly
scheduled child or adult student will find it difficult to be successful
learning piano for sheer lack of time. Consider if you really have the
time to commit at least an hour per day to
"Paying for the lessons is all the piano
parent must do."
- Just as parental involvement is important to a child's success in
school, his/her success in piano lessons will require support from the
parents. The teacher will provide information, technique and
encouragement. However, remember that the teacher only sees the student for 30 to 60
minutes per week, while the parents spend most of the non-school hours
with him. If the parents don't see to it that their children
practice and attend lessons regularly, the teacher's effort will likely
be for naught, no matter what her skills as a teacher. Even more helpful to lesson success is regular interest
and encouragement of their children from parents. For more specific tips
about how you can help your child succeed in lessons, see our
Being a Supportive Parent of a Piano Student
section of our Tips for
Parents and Students pages.
"The teacher must be failing if the child isn't making progress at an
- In rare cases, it may be the teacher's "fault" if your child isn't
progressing. Before you conclude that you need to change teachers
though, take a look at whether you and your child have been serious
about lessons. Are you practicing correctly and frequently enough? Are you
attending all scheduled lessons? Are you rewarding accomplishment at the
piano with as much praise as you would accomplishment on the athletic
field? Is learning piano a priority or just another part of a busy day?
"Playing piano is all about "talent"; you have it or you don't."
- "Talent" at the piano is real, but, as in so many other areas of human
endeavor, greatly overrated. If you are committed to learning piano and are
willing to do the regular (i.e. daily) practice that building skill requires, you will
learn to play to a considerable degree, irrespective of the level of your "native" talent.
As with so many other skills, playing the piano requires hard work and
inspiration in about a ten to one (or higher) ratio, respectively.
"My kid should have excellent piano skills in 6 months of
- Sometimes, parents come into a piano studio having heard the many "play in a
day" claims out there. Some can't understand why their child isn't ready for a
concert tour after 6 months of lessons. Unfortunately, you can't really
learn to play piano using any "play in a day" approach. Often,
this approach does more harm than good. You might be
able to master a single tune to a small degree, but you won't have
learned much to carry over to the next one.
"It's my second lesson. I want to play the Maple Leaf Rag"
- Many people take lessons because they would like to be able to play
some particular work or genre of music. It's not surprising that they
might want to play works that are well beyond their level of training
and capability. Keep in mind the fact that you are taking lessons from a
teacher because he or she knows more about piano than you do. The
teacher probably knows what's best for your training, especially in the
first year. It's perfectly fine to tell your teacher that you have an
interest in some work or works and ask if they could be worked into your
lesson program, as feasible. In the end, though, you're probably best
served by following the teacher's program of training and repertoire.
"I couldn't come to the lesson (or practice the piano), because I had a
(football, baseball, basketball, soccer, track, hockey, lacrosse, etc.)
- Piano teachers hear these statements so often that it's practically
impossible to list all the variations. In the end, they all come down to
students and parents placing a higher priority on these alternative
activities than on piano. All of us must make decisions everyday about
how we will use our time. However, we can hardly hold a school teacher
responsible for our failure to learn (and the resulting F grade) if we
don't attend class regularly or do any of the homework. The same is true
for piano. The difference is that you're wasting your own money, not
just that of the taxpayers, if you take that view with regard to piano
"My child has a digital keyboard, so he doesn't need an acoustic piano."
- Digital keyboards, especially top-of-the-line ones, have become
remarkably good at reproducing much of the sound and some of the feel of
the acoustic piano. Although individual teachers have their own, often
strong, feelings on this subject, it's fair to say that most feel that a
good digital keyboard is fine to start lessons on. Indeed,
digital keyboards now outsell acoustic pianos by a substantial margin
worldwide and especially in the U.S. That said, no knowledgeable pianist
would argue that a digital keyboard is the best way of learning to play
the acoustic piano. Probably no later than the end of the first year of
lessons, you should plan on getting an acoustic piano. As I have
discussed numerous times all over The Piano Education Page, the
digital keyboard is best seen as a separate instrument with different
capabilities, which, by good fortune, can serve as a stand-in for a
short period of time for an acoustic piano. Students should learn how to
play both instruments for their own separate qualities and attributes.
"An hour of practice a day" is just
- You can either "practice" or you can
practice. Too many
people think that, if an hour of practice is required, that a half hour is
almost as good and that half hour can be spent watching TV while
"practicing." Real practice requires both mental and
physical devotion, in which you don't simply repeat mistakes, but
correct them before proceeding on. One expert pianist I know says that you should practice a
problem area until you can do right ten times for every time you do it
wrong. It's not the amount of time you spend, but
how well you use the time that counts. If you practice several hours a
day and simply repeat the same mistakes each time through, you have not
practiced effectively. For some good tips about how to practice
effectively, see our article,
Suggested Practice Techniques.
In passing, allow me to note that failure of the student to practice
properly and adequately is the single biggest item that piano teachers
note as contributing to the failure of lessons.
"I'll wait to practice until just before the
- Piano teachers hear this one often. Imagine
what a sports coach would say if his teams took this view. Playing piano is a
skill and, as such, must be constantly refined and developed. You simply
can't learn by only practicing just before the lesson.
"Since lessons are paid for, the teacher should give any amount of unpaid
time for free."
- Although they wouldn't work for free themselves, many
parents, in particular, think that extra time spent preparing a child for a
contest or concert should be given free by the teacher. The average piano
teacher probably has in excess of thirty students and each one deserves the
best the teacher can give. If you need or want extra time from your teacher,
expect to pay for the time.
"The teacher has plenty of free time to
give me or my child."
- Some people feel it's okay
not to show up for a lesson and not to give notice, but expect immediate
scheduling of a free makeup lesson. Others think that they can use their
piano teacher as an unpaid baby sitter by leaving their child
unsupervised at the piano studio for an hour or two after the scheduled
end of the lesson. People should remember that the teacher teaches more
students than just their children. If he/she has to watch over students
left past lesson times or has to wait for a student who never arrives,
he can't give full attention to other students. In effect, those who
leave their children at the studio past the scheduled end of the
lesson are stealing the teacher's time and attention from the next
"My piano teacher must be getting rich, because the hourly lesson rate is higher
than my hourly rate."
- Most people don't consider that they get
benefits (health insurance, paid vacation, retirement plan, etc.) for "free" as a part of their
compensation package, while most piano teachers must pay for those same benefits
out of their hourly fee. Since typical company benefits run anywhere from half
the nominal salary to equal the
salary (or more), the real ("fully-loaded") compensation is much
higher than the amount people think of as salary. Considered in that
light, most teacher's fees are quite low, especially when you
consider that the majority of teachers have degrees and/or other
It's Up to You!
that understanding some of the common misconceptions about piano and
lessons will help parents and students make the most of their lesson
experience, without being burdened by misconceptions and
misapprehensions which hold back
their progress as pianists. This listing is not all-inclusive. I suggest
to take a look at our Learning to Play page to
learn more about starting and taking lessons. You or your child can be a pianist, if you're willing to
devote time and work to it.