Skip to content
Mom And Dad Make Kids Hate Piano
The saddest thing to see is when Mom and Dad make kids hate piano. The kid was ready to like it, but the kid wasn't ready for the nagging. Surely you've heard of "Wolf Dads" or "Dragon Moms."
These are parents that micro-manage their child's pursuits, demanding achievement and doling out punishment if their standards are not met. Usually such parents hire piano teachers who are disciplinarians.
They have the mistaken belief that such teachers will produce a child who is accomplished at the piano. Such accomplishment may well be the result of disciplinarian teachers. But there is also a side-effect, hatred of the piano.
In every case that I have seen, a child who is forced to learn an instrument unwillingly will end up hating the instrument. If a child truly is a prodigy, you won't be able to keep them away from the piano. Those that are forced to learn go to the piano when they are told. This is because they are always diligent, obedient children.
Piano Is Easy
Do A Google Search For "I Hate Piano"
Go now to Google Search, and type in the words, "I hate piano" and you will see the stories of these kids in black and white. I'll wait until you get back.
Well, how was your search? Did you read the one from the 14 year-old who was perceptive enough to see that his piano lessons were realizing his Dad's frustrated dreams? Do you see how much these kids hate the piano?
And it's all the parent's fault, if you read carefully. The 14 year-old even pointed out that he liked his current teacher. He wisely had taken time away from it, and still hated every second of it. That's how he felt about it, but nobody would listen.
What Does It Cost To Make A Kid Hate Piano?
How much would you pay to have your child hate the piano? Let's take the 14 year- old. His parents started him at 6 years old. That's 8 years of lessons. You have paid almost $10,000. What have you bought? Your child's hatred of the greatest instrument there ever was.
What might that $10,000 have purchased for the child? Even more important, is there a way to stop this madness before the child hates the piano and the parents throw away $10,000?
What Parents Say
A Dragon Parent would say, "The child is lazy and must be taught discipline." Rational Parent would say, "Let's have him try it for a while to see if it suits him."
The wisdom is that it is better to expose a child to an art like piano and then see if they respond. If they don't like it, move on to something else. But Wolf Dad knows better than to listen to his son.
The End Of Piano
That child will never play as an adult, and will not likely have his children try the piano. Our culture is bemoaning the disappearance of the arts from our children's lives. Yet we still have the idea that forcing kids to imbibe culture is better than giving them choices.
You may well say that giving kids a choice will only result in them choosing Justin Bieber or some pop junk over "good" culture. But the truth is that the culture isn't giving the kids any choice. Kids utterly reject this and thus lose the chance to play the piano.
A Product Cleverly Crafted To Appeal To Kids
Of course kids go crazy for pop music, and that's because it is constructed to appeal to them. You'd think some genius would have the idea to construct piano lessons that appeal equally to kids, just like pop music.
But, no, piano lessons must be done in the ancient way, as students suffer in silence and then are booted out the door. Kids go genuinely crazy about music when they are allowed to discover its beauty for themselves. All we can do is help.
REFERENCES
Parents
Why Piano Number Stickers Work
Why Nagging Your Child To Practice Won't Work
Mom and Dad Make Kids Hate Piano
How To Make Your Kid Hate Piano
Ten Ways To Be A Bad Piano Teacher
Your Piano Expectations Are Too High
Visit Your Child’s Piano Lesson
Help Your Child With Piano Lessons
If A Child Succeeds At The Piano, It’s the Parents
Remembering Your Childhood Piano Lessons
Carnegie Hall Starts In Your Living Room
Should Parents Force Kids To Take Piano?
The Long Term Kid’s Piano Strategy
Longevity and Piano Lessons
Does It Matter Which Kid’s Piano Book I Buy?
Your Kid Needs A Good Piano Teacher
Piano Benefits Are Not About The Piano
The Biggest Mistake In Kid’s Piano
What Type Of Pianist Will Your Child Be?
What To Expect From Piano Lessons
Piano Teachers: Home Or Travel
A Child’s Classical Music Listening List
Parents Help Kids Enjoy Piano
Ten Things Parents Can Do To Help With Piano
