back on the piano topic, again...

From September 2012 when Renzo first started the Music Wonderland course with Yamaha, which lasted for only 6 months due to logistic concerns, till we restarted his piano lessons in October 2013 with private teacher at home, Renzo's piano learning journey has not been all smooth. And a month ago, we finally made the call to switch him to a school in the same building as his childcare center, so that he could attend his lessons once a week during school time, just like his GlobalArt lessons. He follows a teacher for one on one lessons and the techniques taught are very similar to what he's been learning under his previous teacher in the past one year. Now he's totally free on Saturdays and Sundays and he could play all day long, what a wonderful childhood, seriously!!!

The new piano teacher commented a few times that Renzo's previous teacher has built a solid foundation so he knows his theories very well, and Renzo is extremely good with his rhythms. Hence he's progress is rather fast because the new curriculum is indeed easier than the previous one. I do feel sorry for Renzo as we have been making so many changes to his routine within a short span of 2 year, yet he's able to cope well each time.


Up to now, I think it's pretty clear to us that Renzo's interest and passion in music is just not as strong, wait, was he ever keen??!! He could spend hours drawing or coloring but 15 minutes of piano practice a day, is still something he is not willing to commit to. He needs a lot of encouragement and discipline. Just this morning, he was pretty upset when we forced him to practice. I had to "threaten" him by asking him to choose between piano and his toys, so if he chooses NOT to touch his piano anymore, I will choose NOT to let him touch his toys anymore. Well, I know it's not fair but once a while, I do have to remind him that I AM THE MOTHER! Okay authoritative parenting is not my style for sure, but, just once a while... I meant, who doesn't face such kind of challenges with toddlers at home?!

The "threatening" didn't work out very well, although he continued to practice, he wasn't happy. I then showed him a video of his cousin playing a difficult piece without making mistakes. He seemed a little more inspired and carried on to do better and better.

At one point, I caught him beating his own left hand when Daddy reminded him to keep his fingers naturally curved, as he was accidentally pressing 2 keys at a time with his left hand. That act of him, was a wake up call to me that kids might not understand or react well with criticism, but they definitely feel embarrassed, or even shameful while being criticized and we as parents should take care of their feelings, and motivate them to come up with better solutions on their own, which are often way more constructive.

So I explained to Renzo that there's no need to "blame" his left hand, and the fact is, he's still young and when he's fingers grow longer, he will definitely be able to play better. But for the time being, a better solution would be, practice, practice, and practice more...