It’s a freaky time of year! So what tends to be the most common things that freak out piano students? How about the following:

1. Starting a new piece of music

You’d think starting a new piece of music would be fun, energizing, or motivating, and it is for some kids, but for many students, especially young students, it freaks them out. For students who struggle to play the piano or who may be a bit slower at learning how to play the piano, starting a new piece can be a big downer.

What’s so scary about starting a new piece? The unknown, the boring stuff, and the hard stuff.

The unknown stuff can include “I have no idea what this piece is going to sound like. Maybe I won’t like the way it sounds.” The boring stuff: writing in the counting, figuring out what fingers to use, etc., and the hard stuff: being self-disciplined to practice the way the teacher wants you to practice, focusing on small sections to master, fixing errors, and more.

What makes it less scary? A parent coaching the practicing session.

Left sitting at the piano bench by themselves to tackle these learning hurdles can be really frustrating for kids, so having a parent help them stay focused, cheer them on, and empathize with them can really help.

2. Playing music that is too difficult for their current skill level

I sometimes hear from parents that they think Suzy would make more progress if she was to play harder music than what I’m currently assigning. But piano progress and learning doesn’t work that way.

Imagine lifting weights in the gym. Maybe you can barely lift 50 pounds with great struggle, but your friend suggests you’d make more progress trying to lift 200. That’s impossible, doesn’t make sense, and would definitely interfere with your overall progress. If you simply cannot budge the 200 pound weight, you will not get stronger by continuing to try that.

Learning the piano and developing piano skill requires progressive overload – not instant massive overload. Progressive overload in weight lifting means you add a little bit of weight or increase the number of times you lift a weight over time, when you’re ready and able to add a bit. You always want to feel a little bit challenged, but shouldn’t be tasked with the impossible.

Progressive overload in learning to play the piano could be the teacher having a student memorize a slightly longer piece, assigning scales to be played faster at the next lesson, or having the student play a different style of music or the works of a composer that they never played before.

3. Playing in front of an audience

For some students, this is not a biggie, but for others it’s terrifying.

For many students, they actually get more nervous the longer they play and the older they get. Some of my most nervous students have been adults, not the 5 year olds. Performance psychologists have said that this is probably because the older you get, the more aware you become of your surroundings, and the more knowledgeable you are of what can go wrong.

I once attended a presentation given by a former ballerina with the Houston Ballet. She experienced this progression of performance anxiety to such an extent that she almost could not go on the stage anymore and ultimately retired sooner than she thought she would.

This can be a really tricky thing for people to work through. For some students, playing with their music instead of playing from memory can help. For others, learning their pieces months ahead of time helps. Other strategies include practicing playing in front of others many times before playing in front of the audience, visualizing the day of the performance and the performance to show a positive, desired outcome, and talking through their “what if” fears. Frequency can help, too. The more they perform, the less likely they will be to be as nervous.

4. Playing from memory

Performing from memory adds an extra layer of anxiety for some students. You might hear other piano teachers say, “Students play better from memory” and while this may be the case for some students, it is definitely not the case for others.

Many piano events require that students perform from memory, and it is a good skill to develop, but interestingly, this is not a tradition as strictly adhered to in the world of other instruments. One way you can help make playing from memory less scary is to ensure that students are getting adequate daily practice.

For students who struggle to play from memory, having them practice one day, skip the next two days, play for an hour the following day, etc., doesn’t work very well. Consistency in daily practicing can really help with keeping the memorization solid. Having them play their memorized pieces for other people also helps, as well as giving them extra learning time to prepare their piece well ahead of time.

5. Having to tell the teacher they didn’t practice much that week

Okay. Let’s clear this up first: The piano teacher can always tell when a student hasn’t really practiced much, even if they fail to mention that or they put inaccurate amounts of practice time on their practice sheet. The proof is in the pudding.

Letting kids tell the teachers themselves about their practicing struggles instead of explaining that to the teacher as a parent can be a great life lesson for kids about responsibility, commitment and accountability. Kids might experience some discomfort or a bit of squirming, but they’ll ultimately find that they can speak for themselves, discuss uncomfortable topics with adults and still come out okay in the end. You might be surprised at how articulate kids can be in these discussions.

10 Scary Things Kids Say That Freak Out Their Piano Teachers

1. Is the dress code optional?
2. Sneakers count as dress shoes, right?
3. I don’t like Classical music.
4. I probably won’t get much practicing in this year.
5. Can I just play it the way I want to instead?
6. I won’t be able to take off these fake nails for a few weeks. Or maybe a few months.
7. Can I not count? I play it better when I don’t count.
8. I’m tired of playing my recital piece over and over.
9. I was thinking maybe I could just skip the hard section of this piece.
10. I didn’t practice that piece, but I’m pretty sure I can just play it right now without practicing it.

Happy Halloween!