Reply to DD claims to want to continue playing instrument but has horrible attitude toward practice. Stop?

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[quote=Anonymous]Here's what I have found. I play the piano and organ and regularly perform. I have to practice fairly regularly to keep on top of my skill.

I put it off all the time. Totally normal. I have young kids so..

What I've learned is that practicing really assists my 'muscle memory' and the awesome combo of short and long term memory. If I play slow, mostly correct notes, then the next time I play, I can play faster, and the song is even better.

My muscles (fingers, brain) get tired. I reach this strange exhaustion after playing for say 30 minutes. The good news about this is that even a short practice session does the trick. Running through a piece once or a few times over 10 minutes, sometimes does just as well as a longer practice session.

All in all, I just try not to push too hard and make myself get frustrated and tired at the piano. Once I hit that point, I can no longer make progress in a piece.

So... I suggest letting your daughter chill a bit just for the summer. Short short practice sessions, but every day. So, tell her you still want her to practice every day, but it can be for 10 minutes (or 5, or 15, or whatever).  And since the requirement is so easy....if she even misses one day, that's it, the lessons are over.

See how this goes for one or two months, and have regular conversations about it. How does she feel it's going? Can she really learn a piece on 10 minutes a day? How long does she think she should play to keep progressing? Listen to her answers and try not to comment or suggest. This will give her some room to stretch and figure it out herself.

Last note, on the subject of you paying for the lessons and her not following through. You're right, at a certain point, youll have to cut it off.  I don't know when that is, but if keep lessons going for as long as she says she wants them. At some point either she will feel guilty/stupid in front of her teacher and adjust on her own, or she will tell you she doesn't want lessons anymore. [/quote]

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