Piano Lessons - Piano Is Not a Substitute for Another Instrument

Piano Lessons - Piano Is Not a Substitute for Another Instrument

As a career piano teacher, this is always one of my favorite topics to handle with parents: piano is NOT a substitute for another instrument. It may be kind of shocking to hear a piano player say that, but I play ten different instruments and I teach three.

Piano lessons tend to be a dumping ground for very interesting things people are out to accomplish! I've had many parents sign their kids up for piano lessons and say, "Well, he wanted to play drums/guitar/trumpet, but I want him to play piano." That is not a good idea, even though many experts will tell you that.

If you talk to a lot of classical musicians or an academic at a collegiate music department, they will almost always tell you "Yes, you must make little Johnny play the piano first. Piano is the place to start." NO, that is not accurate! There is absolutely no truth to that at all. Piano tends to be the grave yard of kids who get dumped into piano lessons without wanting to study or play the piano.

I've taught many children for years who were begin forced to take piano lessons when what they wanted to play was flute/drums/voice/guitar/fill in the desired kid instrument here. Piano does not substitute well for these when what the student wants is to be doing the other thing.

In fact, on a brain/neurological level, it is counterproductive to have them study piano rather than the instrument of their choice. What happens is they do not learn skills completely, they do not retain what they study, they don't learn the instrument near as well as the kids who want to play piano, nor anywhere near as well as the amount you are paying for them to be in the piano lessons. Most of them will forget everything they learned within three to six months after they stop the lessons and in their adult life they never play the piano again because they hated the piano lessons.

I understand that many academics tell parents that everyone "should start on piano," yet almost no parent picks the brain of the academician to find out why. (The academic tells the parents this because college music departments require every student to play a remedial amount of piano. They never bother to find out if your three-year-old is eventually planning to pursue a music degree!) Parents who are non-musicians are the one's who really get taken for a ride here because what they don't know is that most academics have never taught kids, or if they have, it's a small number of them for a relatively short time. The other problem to consider here is that none of the collegiate/conservatory teachers do follow-up studies to investigate the retention rates of these kids after the six months of lessons.

If you are considering piano lessons for your child who wants to play another instrument, I urge you to let them have six months at the instrument they want to play first. The most important part of creating a great musical experience is studying the instrument that is one's heart's desire. No amount of a parent wanting it will change a recalcitrant player into a pianist.

If you have questions about this, contact me through my website at http://anaheimpiano.com and I'd be happy to give you some assistance that addresses the players in your house. There's not one solution that works for everyone, so I'd be happy to address any individual questions you may have.

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