It is important for children of any age to enjoy their lessons in order to keep their love for music alive. This motivates them to keep going back to the piano to practice on their own without the constant nagging of parents.
Here are some simple tips to keep the love alive, in the Disney way.
LET IT GO (FROZEN)
Like what Elsa sings in Frozen, "Let It Go! Let It Go!" It doesn't matter whether your child knows exactly what he or she is playing.
Yes, it can get quite frustrating at times when your child just want to play random stuff on the piano. It's ok to just let them be. Their ears and heart are the best judges to what they like or love. If there are restrictions to what they can explore on their instrument, they might develop a sense of resentment because they cannot fully experiment on their own. Who knows, they might be great composers in the future.
JUST KEEP 'SINGING' (FINDING DORY)
Another wise advice from Disney's Finding Nemo. Dory would always says "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming" In our opinion, we would like to tell our students to "Just keep singing". The more you sing, the more you understand the control of your pitch.
Do not restrict them on the genre of songs too. Just because they are kids, it doesn't mean tha they should always sing or play nursery rhymes. Also, encourage them to learn or try songs of different languages too!
OHANA MEANS FAMILY (STITCH)
The best thing parents can do to ease their child's learning journey is to do it as a family activity.
Set a time to practice with them, even a 5 to 10 min short practice to revise what they have done in class would be effective. Practicing as a family would bring more satisfaction to the child as they would treat it as a fun activity rather than a mundane one.
TRY EVERYTHING (ZOOTOPIA)
This is the most straight-forward advice, "Try Everything." Try to practice the song in every method possible. To learn the rhythm of a song: the child could use rhythm sticks, or drums or simply clapping.
To learn the notes of a song: the child could sing with solfege (DO, RE, Mi, etc.), sing with letter names (C, D, E, etc.), play on the piano or the xylophone, or any other instruments available.
For more adventurous children, you could encourage them to write their own lyrics to a song they have already mastered.
Lastly, if you can, let them watch more Disney movies. (Yes, we still agree on restricting TV time.) Disney movies have songs with very good arrangements of orchestral music and are used very effectively in depicting the moods of the stories.
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