Children

Why do most children stop playing the piano?

A lot of adults approach me saying that they learned piano as a kid but gave it up, and wished they hadn't. Why is it that most children who have piano lessons don't continue playing until adulthood?

Much of the blame has to go towards the classical way of learning piano, which in its usual form is extremely restrictive and leaves no room for composition, improvisation or understanding. Some of blame also has to go towards unscrupulous piano teachers.

Piano teachers are in the unusual position that they are supposed to be serving the child but are getting paid by the parent. This means that an unscrupulous teacher will do what impresses the parent most without working in the child's best interests. A non-musical parent has no way of judging a piano teacher's effectiveness other than by how their child's playing is improving, so teachers often get the child to work through as many pieces as possible without improving their general musical skills. This is extremely frustrating for the child and leaves them with the impression that music is a strict set of procedures to be followed with no room for independent thought, when of course it's really an endlessly fascinating world of exploration with boundless opportunities for self-expression and creativity.

I always aim to serve the child first, and try to make them curious about music so that their motivation comes from within rather than externally. I also make sure that they become musically self-sufficient, so that if they don't continue lessons for whatever reason they still have knowledge they can take away with them and continue to apply rather than merely be able to play a few pieces that they'll soon forget.

Note: I'm currently overbooked and only teaching self–motivated children over the age of 10 who have had at least a year of piano lessons already. Apologies to the others!

Testimonials

Benedict has been teaching both our teenage son and daughter piano and music theory on a weekly basis for two years and we have found him to be both a great teacher and very easy to get along with, which make his lessons a pleasure. His genuine enthusiasm for his subject and for teaching is inspiring and has solicited keen engagement from our children who always look forward to his lessons.

Benedict's knowledge of his subject is clearly very deep and he can draw easily on it to explain any musical feature under discussion. He is able to sustain pupil interest by relating his lessons to a wide variety of musical genres and play a range of examples to put any feature considered in context. Benedict is also imaginative in his teaching methods, developing his own mind models and worksheets to aid his pupils' understanding. However, although he teaches with clear lesson plans and objectives in mind, his wide musical knowledge also means he is extremely good at improvised teaching, if something spontaneously comes up during the class. In this way Benedict is very adaptable and well able to use his knowledge to tailor lessons to meet individual pupils' interests.

In addition, we have found Benedict to be very reliable; he has never cancelled a lesson, other than for pre-arranged holidays. We also feel his fees are exceptionally reasonable, given the very high level of input and commitment his pupils receive.

Benedict is a superb teacher and I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending him to others.

Georgia H.

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