My oldest son has never done anything the traditional way. I don’t know why I expected piano to be any different for him.
When Ethan was 2 years old, he could barely say 5 words, but he could balance on a skateboard perfectly. He never fell. When other kids were learning to write their name in Kindergarten, he would rather be clamoring up the giant oak tree in our front yard. Ethan hated books like “Go, Dog, Go.” He thought they were pointless. He would rather learn about knights and Egyptians. It was like pulling teeth to teach him to read. Now he’s in an advanced writing program and reads at grade level.
Ethan has never liked balloons or rub-on tattoos or stickers. He’d rather come up with the next great business plan!
When Ethan was 7, I started him in piano lessons at our Studio. I was shocked. Despite his struggles with reading, he excelled at reading music. In fact, I believe it helped his reading and attention span. Ethan did great in his lessons for 3 years. Then, last year, he started pushing back and resisting his assignments and was even resisting going to lessons. I realized that his true love is composing original music and had a great talk with his teacher about this. We both agreed that he needed to go a different direction and learn to play chords and "by ear." It didn't take long before Ethan was hooked. Instead of fighting practice time, he now sits down at the piano several times a day. He is composing original music, recording it on our Flip recorder, and even uploading songs onto Facebook and Vimeo. He says, “My music expresses the mood I’m in. Playing piano is one of my favorite things to do.” Now THAT made my day!
As a piano teacher and the Director of Signature School of Music, I believe in listening to your students! I tailor each lesson to the student's learning style and individual passions. By giving students a customized path of learning, they will ENJOY music longer, stick with it, and have YEARS of enjoying music ahead of them!
Jen Hickle owns Signature School of Music in Rogers, where over 200 students take lessons for piano, guitar, voice, violin, bass, drums, sax, flute, trumpet, and trombone. You can learn more atwww.signatureschoolofmusic.com
