Why Your Child Says They Practised Piano When They Didn’t
“But I practised!” If you've ever asked your child whether they practised piano this week and received that answer, you're definitely not alone. And here's the thing: sometimes they're telling the truth. Your child may genuinely believe they practised. They sat at the piano. They played their pieces. They probably played them more than once. So why does it sometimes seem like nothing actually changed?
This is one of the most common things I see as a piano teacher. And I don't necessarily think the problem is that children are lazy or don't care. Often, the problem is much simpler: They haven't been taught what effective practice actually looks like.
Sitting at the Piano Isn't the Same as Practising
This is probably the biggest distinction I want parents to understand. A child can spend 30 minutes at the piano without doing 30 minutes of meaningful practice.
They might:
Play their favourite song over and over
Start their assigned piece from the beginning every time
Stop when they make a mistake and immediately start again
Play through the entire piece without stopping
Spend most of their time on the pieces they already know
Avoid the difficult section
Play while distracted
Memorize the notes without really reading them
Repeat the same mistake over and over
Technically, they were at the piano. But that doesn't necessarily mean they were practising effectively. Practice is not simply playing. Practice is problem-solving.
So, What Does Good Piano Practice Actually Look Like?
Good practice should have a purpose. A student should know:
What am I working on?
What am I trying to improve?
How am I going to improve it?
For example, instead of playing an entire piece five times from beginning to end, a student might notice: “I keep making a mistake in measure 24.” So instead of playing the whole piece again, they stop and work on that section.
Maybe they:
Identify the notes they are missing.
Figure out the fingering.
Play the section slowly.
Repeat it correctly several times.
Gradually increase the speed.
Put it back into the surrounding measures.
Try the passage again the next day to make sure it has actually stuck.
That's practice. It might only take five minutes. But those five minutes could be much more valuable than playing the entire piece five times.
Repetition Isn't Bad. Mindless Repetition Is.
Repetition is an incredibly important part of learning piano. We need repetition to develop muscle memory, coordination, accuracy, confidence, and fluency. But there is a big difference between: “I'll play this until I get it right.” and “I'll figure out why I'm getting this wrong and then practise it correctly.” If a student plays the same passage incorrectly ten times, they've just given their brain ten opportunities to reinforce the mistake. That's why I often tell students: Don't just repeat it. Fix it. Then repeat it.
Start With the Hard Part
One of the easiest ways to make practice more effective is to stop always starting at the beginning. Students often love starting at the beginning because that's where they feel most comfortable. But if the difficult section is in the middle, playing measures 1–30 over and over again doesn't magically fix measures 24–26.
Instead, go straight to the problem. If measure 24 is difficult, practise measure 24. If the transition from measure 24 to 25 is difficult, practise the transition. If the left hand keeps falling apart when the right hand enters, isolate the hands. If the rhythm is confusing, clap it or count it before playing. Good practice is often much smaller than students think. You don't always need to practise the whole piece. Sometimes you need to practise four measures.
Practice Slowly
This is another one that can be surprisingly difficult for students. They want to play the piece at performance speed because that's the fun part. But if you're making mistakes at full speed, playing faster isn't going to solve the problem. Sometimes we need to slow things down dramatically.
Slow practice gives the brain time to process:
Notes
Fingerings
Rhythm
Articulation
Dynamics
Coordination
Hand position
Musical patterns
Once the passage becomes accurate, we can gradually increase the tempo. Slow practice isn't going backwards. It's often the fastest way forward.
Don't Always Start From the Beginning
This is a simple practice habit that can make a huge difference. If a student always starts at measure 1, they can become very good at playing the beginning of a piece. But what happens when they reach the middle? Or the ending? Or the section where they usually make mistakes? I like students to practise from different starting points.
Try:
The beginning
The middle
The ending
A difficult section
A random measure
The transition between two sections
This helps students become much more secure in their music. It also makes memorization stronger because they aren't simply relying on the sequence of what comes before.
Good Practice Includes Reading
One of the things I care about most as a piano teacher is that students learn to read music, not simply memorize what their teacher has shown them. A student who only learns piano through imitation can become very dependent on their teacher. They wait for someone to show them the notes. They wait for someone to tell them the fingering. They wait for someone to play it first. But one of the greatest gifts we can give a piano student is the ability to eventually look at a new piece and think: “I can figure this out.” That's independence. And it takes practice. Students need to spend time actually looking at the score.
What is the key signature?
What is the time signature?
Where does the phrase begin?
What patterns do you notice?
What chords are being used?
What dynamics are written?
What articulation is marked?
What does the rhythm look like?
The more students learn to answer these questions themselves, the more independent they become.
Practice Shouldn't Always Feel Easy
Sometimes I hear students say: “But I practised it and I still can't play it.” My response is usually: Good. Now we know what we need to work on. Practice isn't supposed to be a performance. If everything already feels easy, you're probably not practising the things that need the most attention. There should be moments where a student has to slow down, think, experiment, make a mistake, try again, and figure something out. That's part of learning. The goal isn't to make practice feel perfect. The goal is to make practice productive.
But How Long Should My Child Practise?
This is where I think parents can sometimes get too focused on the number of minutes. Yes, practice time matters. A student who practises consistently will generally progress more than a student who rarely touches the instrument. But quality matters too. Ten focused minutes can be more productive than thirty distracted minutes. At the same time, as students become more advanced, they need enough time to work on everything expected of them. A beginner may be able to accomplish quite a lot in a short practice session. An advanced student who has repertoire, scales, sight-reading, theory, technical work, and other assignments may need significantly more time. So rather than asking only: “How many minutes should my child practise?” I encourage parents to also ask: “What should my child be accomplishing during that practice time?” That's a much more useful question.
The Teacher's Job Is to Teach Practice Skills Too
This is something I feel strongly about. I don't think we can simply tell a child: “Practise this piece five times this week.” And then expect them to automatically know how to practise it. Students need to be taught how to practise.
They need to learn how to:
Break a difficult passage into smaller sections
Practise hands separately when appropriate
Slow something down
Isolate mistakes
Identify patterns
Count rhythms
Check their fingering
Listen critically
Repeat something correctly
Start from different places
Gradually increase tempo
Recognize when something is improving
Know when they have actually mastered something
These are skills. And just like reading music or playing scales, they have to be taught and developed.
Parents Don't Have to Be the Piano Teacher
I also don't think parents need to sit beside their child and teach them piano. In fact, that can sometimes create unnecessary frustration for everyone. Your job as a parent can be much simpler. You can help create the conditions for good practice. For example:
“What are you working on today?”
“Which part is giving you trouble?”
“What did your teacher ask you to practise?”
“Can you show me the part you're working on?”
“What are you going to do differently this time?”
Those questions encourage your child to think about their practice rather than simply completing a timer. And if your child says: “I'm done!” you don't necessarily need to ask: “Did you practise for 30 minutes?” Try: “What did you accomplish?” That question changes the conversation.
What If My Child Really Doesn't Want to Practise?
Let's be realistic. Sometimes children simply don't want to practise. They would rather play. They would rather watch YouTube. They would rather use their tablet. They have homework. They're tired. That's normal. Learning an instrument requires commitment, and children don't always have the maturity to choose practice over everything else without some structure from the adults around them. That's where routines help. Practice doesn't have to become a daily battle. It can simply become part of the day. Just like brushing teeth, getting dressed, or doing homework, piano practice can become something that happens because this is when we practise. And the more independent a student becomes, the less parents need to supervise. That's the long-term goal.
The Goal Isn't to Practise Forever
This is an important distinction. The goal of teaching children to practise isn't to create adults who need to spend hours every day at the piano. The goal is to help them become efficient learners. When students learn how to practise effectively, they can accomplish more in less time. They learn how to identify problems. They know how to fix them. They become better at reading. They recognize patterns. They understand technique. They can teach themselves. And eventually, they don't need someone standing beside them saying: “Okay, now practise that again.” They know what to do. That's independence.
What I Want My Students to Eventually Be Able to Say
One of my biggest goals as a piano teacher isn't simply for a student to say: “I practised my piano.” I want them to eventually be able to say: “I know what I need to work on, and I know how to work on it.” That's a completely different skill. It means they are becoming their own teacher. And that's when piano becomes much more enjoyable. Because instead of constantly waiting for someone to tell them what to do, they can open a piece of music and start figuring it out. They can hear when something doesn't sound right. They can recognize a difficult passage. They can slow it down. They can isolate it. They can try a different fingering. They can work through the problem. And then they can move on.
So, Was Your Child Really Practising?
Maybe! But instead of focusing only on whether they sat at the piano, let's start asking a better question:
Did they accomplish something?
Did they fix a difficult passage?
Did they learn a new section?
Did they improve their rhythm?
Did they become more accurate?
Did they practise reading?
Did they work on their scales?
Did they figure something out independently?
Did they make the piece better than it was yesterday?
Because that's what effective piano practice is really about. Practice isn't about spending time at the piano. It's about using that time intentionally. And the more we teach children how to practise effectively, the faster they can progress, the more independent they become, and ultimately, the more freedom they have to play the music they love.
Don't just practise more. Learn how to practise better.
