How to Continue Piano Study During the Busy School Years?

2016/03/28 | コメント(0)  | トラックバック(0)  | 
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How to continue piano study during the busy school years? A number of children start playing piano from early childhood, but things become difficult as they grow up. There are plenty of questions asked; how to make time for practice, how to make balance between academic study, extracurrirular acitivities, and piano, how to keep motivation to continue playing piano, etc. This article is to introduce several examples of those who find their own life styles. 

Mako Sakaguchi, a junior-high school student in Kagoshima, tries to study music theory when she doesn't have enough time for practice, as it helps her to read the score more in detail and this effect even extends to the academic study and exams. She plays duo with her mother, that also brings her joy and pleasure to continue playing piano. 
Her piano teacher, Mariko Enokida, tries to provide different lesson programs for her students when their practice time is limited; to talk about the background stories of composers, to focus on musical analysis rather than performance itself, to explore another pieces of the same composer, to sightread and play duo with herself, etc.  

Reina Sasaki, a high school student, tries to focus on technical training of difficult passages, or expand the musical imagination by listening to professional performances on youtube, when she has less time to face with piano. Her teacher, Yumiko Matsumoto, always talks and tries to understand what her students want, need, feel, worry, etc. Dialogue is important as much as performance, and that gives her students sense of security and confidence under any circumstances.  

Masataka Ogawa, a freshman at the Osaka University, has got through the intensive academic study for a year in order to prepare for the entrance exam. He had only 5-10 min for practicing everyday, but continued it all through the year.  Last March, the end of the academic year and the season for graduation in Japan, he played Chopin's Heroic polonaise at the studio concert. 
Then, how did his teacher lead him last year?  Satoko Sumida believes that the dialogue with students is important to understand their situations, and tries to shape up the lesson programs as needed. She asks him about the difficult passages and advice how to overcome in a short period of time, encourages him to prioritize the order of practice, asks him to play the entire piece only during the lesson, etc.  Sumida believes that piano and academic study could evoke synergistic effect.


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