Q: I feel like I’m guilty of over-praising my child after he plays the piano at home. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I don’t want to give him a false sense of victory, either. How can I keep him motivated without the weak applause and the fake “yay”?
A: Children sense weak praise. They know when you are not genuinely impressed.
I always ask the student first what she or he feels about the playing, not the piece that is assigned but how it was played. Self-evaluation is not natural to young children. For some, I might be the very first person ever to have asked them “How do you feel about your effort?” Usually, a student will realize that it needs more practice or attention to detail. He’ll want to play it again and again. This is not bad at all. Repetition leads to mastery.
He might also feel that this newly learned piece is the only thing that he can practice, so encourage him to move on on his own. This initiative will warrant genuine praise from his teacher.
If you feel that real praise is appropriate, ask him if you can record just a short passage and share it on social media. He might feel embarrassed, so just record his hands.
