Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy DS6 wants to quit piano

I am currently teaching DS7 piano. I made sure that the practice is light (about 5-10 mins a day). I also made the pace pretty slow because he has many things to do after school. DS gets used to the idea that he needs to practice everyday.

I think your DS just need a break. Keep in mind he is not going to lose what he learn in piano. One day, he may want to learn some other instruments and he will bring this knowledge with him. He will advance very fast.

Or maybe he just want to compose one day, or even learn to play by ear. He will still need the knowledge he learned from piano.

I had piano lessons for 12 1/2 years. At the end, I was so tired of practicing. After I stopped the lessons, I learned to make up chord and played by ear, which I had never learned from my piano teacher. I enjoy the randomness of putting notes together to make a piece of good sounding music.

He will take what he learned from piano one day, and he will learn something different and make it better. I don't think you should be sad. Quitting doesn't mean he is quitting for life. It only means he wants a little break or to change direction.

Maybe he will try something else later. There are many art forms, and many instruments out there. Anything can happen. I showed no interest in music until age twelve and then became a tuba player litterally overnight. Maybe he has lost interest for good, but it is equally possible that he will one day tell you he has found the love of his life in the form of the hammer dulcimer, contralto clarinet, or euphonium.

just a quick update..DD did well (superior/highest rating) in the category at the piano exams.
She seems no more /no less motivated than before even after having looked at the certificate, the pin, the report card that says nice things and the pleased teacher!
She seems more excited about the promised gift (wii outdoor challenge!)
sigh! so much for enrolling kids into exams for a motivational tool !

Congrats, shaangi's DD, on the piano exams! I have absolutely no problem with bribery if it gets the intended results.
We used to pay DD11 to practice violin, and she did so grudgingly. Then, we bought her an expensive violin and told her the "repayment" was practice. She's been pretty motivated since then.

One thing I have learned now that my daughter is a teen is that the kids need to know that ultimately the parents are deciding what is in their best interests. If young kids decide that, then parents will be in trouble when the kids hit their older years and don't want to do anything (or at least anything in which they do not have innate talent).

I have decreased lesson time and other things, but I want her to know that experience (parents) is an issue also.

Being highly intelligent does not equate adult experiences.

Re: motivation - I heard an interesting anecdote about Wynton Marsalis. He first started playing trumpet at age 6, but he really didn't like to practice. His first recital was at age 12, and supposedly he butchered the piece he played. From then on, he started practicing for hours every day.

I guess some kids are motivated by success, others by failure.