PPP086: Character Building through Piano Lessons with Piano Parent, Alma Spencer

Why are piano lessons important for your family?

Sebastian suffers from dyslexia and piano is a great tool to help him. It helps train his brain, helps with reading and math. 

How do you schedule practice between lessons?

Home practice can be difficult at our house because we are involved in lots of different activities, academic and otherwise. It is a challenge to strike the right balance between encouraging your child and making sure they are responsible with their practicing.

Your piano lesson is not your practice time. It is the time for your teacher to work on trouble spots in the music or give you new material to work on.

What motivates your child regarding piano study?

The different studio incentives are a great motivator for students. From collecting beads to piano parties to festivals and convention, positive reinforcement helps keep students coming back to piano lessons.

For Sebastian, one of my rules for him is that he will study piano. But for several years we’ve been going to the Texas Music Teachers Association convention every summer. Playing in ensemble  is a major highlight of the convention. To be able to play on an ensemble team, students must pass a written theory exam.

While he’s at convention, Sebastian likes to hang out with other piano students and work as a convention page.

What struggle has your piano kid overcome through piano study?

Piano has really helped him being in front of people. Performing for parents, other students, and judges is a great learning experience. As he grows, he will find himself in other situations that are challenging and not always positive. Learning how to deal with negative feedback and criticism will serve him well as he enters the workforce and heads to college.

As a teacher, I intentionally offer students opportunities to perform in various settings to help them learn to deal with jitters and anxiety and even negative experiences.

Share a mountain top experience your child has enjoyed because of piano.

Moving from the intermediate ensemble team to the high school ensemble team was a wonderful achievement for Sebastian. He determined that he was ready and he grew through that experience.

As a teacher, I have been able to enjoy some mountaintop experiences through Sebastian’s work and achievements at convention. He was recognized as Page of the Year in 2016 and 2017.

The TMTA convention is a very large event that requires many volunteers. I love that they give students the opportunity to help out. I really enjoying watching Sebastian work. He interacts with teachers (who can be little high strung in stressful situations!). He takes care of nervous parents. He works with judges and students. He knows how to conduct himself and be of service to others.

The work of the convention pages allows teachers to enjoy learning from the lecturers who present amazing sessions at convention. Thank you, pages!!

In addition to offering Sebastian such great learning experiences, Alma is amazing at giving him fun, memorable experiences. She and Sebastian travel and serve in many aspects of the community such as Junior Symphony League and Salvation Army.

She has established the tradition of attending the midnight showing of the newest blockbuster movie the Saturday night of convention. IMAX and 3D preferred. We’ve also been known to have a fierce Beanboozled Challenge. (Yuck!)