Piano Lessons - How Do I Know If My Child Has Any Talent?

Piano Lessons - How Do I Know If My Child Has Any Talent

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This is one of my favorite questions that parents often ask when enrolling their children in piano lessons. It's a personal favorite of mine because it's based on a large misconception. The question is "How do I know if my child has any talent?" This question is always immediately followed by the statement "I don't want to pay for a bunch of lessons if they don't have any talent at this." Wrong idea!

When a parents asks it of me, it's an opportunity for me to inform the parent and bust a myth at the same time so that the student has a better experience in piano lessons. I want them to have a great time in lessons and fair and honest expectations from their parents while they practice at home.

I taught a student a few years ago whose father had an extremely unrealistic expectation of what music lessons are all about. What he asked of me was "How do I know if she has any talent? How do I know if she's going to be famous or not? I don't want to pay for a whole bunch of lessons if she's not any good at this." Time for a "time-out" for Dad on this one!

The difference between someone being famous and the skill level it takes to do that, plus the business-mind it takes to manage a top-flight career versus a child enjoying themselves and playing the instrument well are two vastly different things. What this father didn't understand was talent at an instrument means playing the instrument well. That all it means!

What he was actually asking me via context was "What's it going to take for my daughter to be famous at this?" He didn't even know if his eight-year-old cared about being famous! My main concern as the teacher was "what does it take for an eight-year-old child to succeed at the instrument?" Depending on the scale of the student's expectation of how good they want to be, that can be anywhere from six months to a year of lessons. Within six months the average person can tell whether or not they like playing the instrument and their interest level at further pursuit of playing skills.

No one ever achieves being a great player at an instrument without years of investment in it. The shortest amount of time I've ever seen anyone invest before they were a great player was two years, and that was a nineteen-year-old male who was highly motivated, uncommonly committed and disciplined and able to draw on a life-time of listening to music to fuel his study.

It is not wise for a parent to consider measuring a child's achievement at the piano in less than six months of lessons. However, if the child is truly not interested or committed to learning, that can be assessed within a month or two. Interest level is an entirely different subject than talent.

If you have any questions about this, please contact me at http://anaheimpiano.com and I'll be happy to get back to you with answers and information to further your piano lesson experience.

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