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My son practices ~1.5 hours/day every day except on lesson day, when he practices for ~45 minutes after his 45 minute lesson. He seems happy, and it's quite manageable right now (he does three ~30 minute sessions throughout the afternoon and early evening so he stays fresh/focused), but he's still only 6 and I can't help but wonder what his practice schedule is going to look like as he continues to progress in his piano studies. Does it just get longer and longer? At what point, typically, does continuing to progress start to interfere with other activities and students need to make some tough choices?

This is plenty for age 6.



Yes. Well, unless the student decides not to progress further in terms of skill/difficulty level, and wants to just continue to enjoy playing pieces at the current level.



Middle school is often that time. However some parents put careful limits on their kids' extracurriculars in elementary school -- making them choose only 2 for example -- and that is valuable, I think, because it makes the kids reflect on what they love to do the most, and increases their commitment to those things.

90 min./day is way, way too much for kids who are 6. This is bordering on insanity.

How many pieces does the teacher assign per week???

I agree. Chopin himself recommended no more than 2 hours of practice for his students - as long as it was mindful practice and not blind repetition. My suggestion for your son would be to learn how to practice more efficiently rather than increase time as the music gets more complicated.

Also, I think for him 45 minutes per day is plenty, maybe on lesson days just a quick 10-15 minute review before lessons to warm up a bit.

Does your son have time to develop in other domaines as well?
Six is a good age to work on language, social skills and to learn about the world.

Ohhh...now I remember this story. The kid who got handed off to another teacher right away...

Still, I imagine that your goal as a parent is to raise a decent human being, right?

We do not know how was the practice for 1.5 hour. Maybe he was doodling on piano for 30 minutes, then practice the repertoire. Maybe he goes through the older piece that he really like for 30 minutes too. Some kids just like to play piano, they can sit at piano bench for hours without parents forcing them. Maybe this kid is like that? I do not know, I am just guessing.

Thank you all for your replies! AZNpiano, the teacher doesn't assign new pieces each week. This week, for example, my child is polishing 3 pieces and reviewing several etudes. Polishing takes him a lot longer than learning the basics of a new piece--that's typical, right? Morodienne, I would love for my son to practice more efficiently--hopefully that ability will come with more experience and more maturity. As ezpiano.org mentioned, he does noodle around at the piano quite a bit, although I didn't actually include that when calculating his practice time. If I did, his total time at the piano each day would probably be closer to 2 hours or more. malkin, yes, as a parent, my priority is most definitely trying to raise a decent human being, one who is well-adjusted, healthy, and happy. My son currently does have time for other pursuits of his own choosing, including learning two foreign languages (he has a knack for linguistics), participating in organized sports (he's not athletically gifted but has a lot of fun and has learned much about teamwork and sportsmanship), as well as just playing and exploring and being a kid. But he's 6--he has time for all these things because, to hreichgott's point about middle school, 1) he has close to zero homework, tests for which to study, and whatever else older children/teenagers have on their school plate, and 2) none of his extracurriculars other than piano require much commitment at this stage.

I believe that is a typo. Chopin recommend no more than 3 hrs. Funny, I was reading students' letters of Chopin's teaching when this topic started, otherwise, I would have missed it entirely.

This was reported by student Camille Dubois.

You are correct.

That said, I believe that when a 7 year old child has practised what he is to practise, and "practised well" as per the video, then that child should be free to also play the piano for the pure enjoyment of it. When she says to not practise what you can already do well, I believe that during the enjoyment part, that is exactly what the child should be allowed to do. Playing an instrument has the word "play" - and it should be a thing to enjoy.

Bob, I'm a bit confused here. I thought Ms. Frank was a superb violinist, not a pianist, even though she's sitting in front of a nice Steinway. Is she also accomplished at piano? Her dad is a famous pianist and it would be interesting to have asked him about his practice habits.

Bravo, keystring! Your observations hold for a piano student of any age, and are often forgotten.

1) No one practices every day. No one. Every day means 365 days a year. No time off for a birthday, a holiday, a sick day, and so on.

2) There is no right amount of time to play for anyone of any age.

3) One half hour of focus beats 3 hours of scattered thinking.

4) Chopin, as far as I know, did not teach 6 year-olds.

For most 6 year-olds 1.5 hours a day is too much. Most of mine don't concentrate well after about 20 minutes. But we do not know this child.

1.5 hours on MOST days could be healthy if there is a true love for music. So let's not be too quick to judge.

Gary, you really made me laugh on this one. Of course, Chopin didn't teach 6 yr olds, but I'm fairly certain M's point was that if 3 hrs is more than sufficient for an adult, it would be overkill for a child. OBTW, Chopin charged roughly $300/hr, so I wonder how many parents with that kind of moolah would spend it on lessons.

Is that the amount after inflation and translated to today's economy?

Chopin received 1 ea Louis d'Or per lesson,




with a gold content of 0.2255 troy oz. At today's rate, that's $308 even. While gold fluctuates against major currencies, it has pretty much held it's purchasing power over the past 2,000 years.

Thank you, Bobpickle, for the video, and keystring, for the additional observation! I do think of "practicing" piano as separate from "playing" piano--my son does both, but I was only referring to actual "practice" time in my original post. Gary D., I should have said "virtually" every day. . Also, as I mentioned earlier, the kid splits his practice time into three ~30 minute sessions to maximize focus.

I have been mulling this over...my kid loves to draw/read/write, my friend's daughter loves basketball, another is a Jr Oly swimmer. None of us could tell you how long they practice those skills on their own. Sure teachers and coaches are involved and we can name the lessons we paid for. But to say - she practices 90 minutes a day, 7 days a week would be unheard of unless they were parent structured minutes. The swimmer jumps in his pool, the other practices in her yard, and mine is squirreled away.

The parent would say, he is always playing around at the piano, he loves it so much. The flavor of this post does not suggest child driven joy at piano. It sounds of parent observed structure.

They are very different scenarios. A parent with a malleable child can make them practice as much as the parent insists.

For the comment of will the time get longer and longer...it will only get as long as you - the parent wants it to get. If his life is balanced with time for rest, eating, school work, friends, parks, sports, music, and day dreaming then it cannot consume his time. If you let his life get bigger in other areas, piano can only take up so much of it. If you don't, then there will be as much piano as you want.

(caveat: parent only, not a teacher)

My comment was in the wake of the video by Pamela Frank. Although she is a violinist, as pointed out by John, her advice is general and I think is valid for any instrument, namely:
- shorter time of focused practise is effective: lengthy distracted practice is not
- practice the things that need work, rather than what you can already do well

I do think these points are correct (they're also obvious). But I also wanted to stress that music is also for enjoyment, and room should be made for that. Thank you, Peter, for supporting that.

Something else that was pointed out today is that if a student practices effectively, those habits will even filter into his leisure playing. They become automatic, and that is a happy thought.