Wisdom in the Piano Bench
One day, when I was around twelve years old, it was time for me to practice the piano. I sat down and played through my first piece and was about to move on to the second one when I heard my mom call out from the next room that I needed to go back and work on the first one again. Reluctantly, I repeated the piece once and hoped to move on. The next thing I knew, there was Mom standing right behind me, pointing to the music, and telling me exactly which part needed more work.
I was so upset with her for bugging me, I jumped up quickly and ran out of the room. Unfortunately I jumped up so quickly that the piano bench fell backward and landed right on the top of her foot. Although we laugh about this now, it was certainly not funny then, when her foot swelled to twice the size and she eventually needed surgery to repair the damage. We never argued about practicing after that day.
I learned a lot from this incident, the first thing being, do not stuff your piano bench with family photos and heavy music books. :)
When parents ask me about their role in motivating students to practice, I always think of the piano bench. You must value your child’s music education enough to be willing to invest not only money, but your commitment to helping your child succeed. Sometimes this causes conflict between you and your child. Each parent must decide for themselves how much they are willing to sacrifice. I am thankful that my mom sustained a serious injury and yet continued to drive me to piano lessons, pay for them, and attend my recitals and competitions.
