Home Equipment

Environment at Home

Your child comes to the lesson once or twice a week, but spends time at the piano at home every day. Therefore, it is the home environment which is crucial to success.

The most important piece of home environment is YOU! It is your attitude toward music and practicing which will determine how your child feels. You needn't know anything formal about music. All you need is to love music, be excited and happy that your child is learning to play, and enthusiastic about lessons. You need to have the inner conviction that this study is important for your child and that you are making a commitment for at least 10 years. Children are very intuitive, and if you have it in your heart that piano is a wonderful, important thing to do, your child will pick up your feelings without your having to say very much.

In general, you need the best equipment that your family can afford. Music is sound and we are trying to create a concept of beautiful sound in our children. So, if beautiful sounds are in the environment, these are what the child will try to copy.

Necessary Equipment (Piano, Footstool, CD Player)

Stereo Equipment

You need a CD player and good speakers. Be sure you know how to program the CD player to play just one track many times. Also, you need to be able to copy the CD onto a cassette tape so that you can listen in the car. A CD or cassette Walkman is also very useful for your child to be able to listen in a really concentrated way. Since the more your child listens, the faster they will learn, is your stereo equipment in a place so that when it is on, your child can hear it? (At mealtimes, in the family room etc.) It is very helpful to have a CD or tape "boombox" in your child's bedroom so that they can listen as they fall asleep.

Piano

You need the best piano in the best condition that you can have in your situation. Please read the article on the next page. Making music is a combination of hearing and touching, both of which are very sensitive in a child. If your piano has poor action, broken ivories and poor tone, you cannot expect your child to stay interested. Many adults are attracted to old and antique pianos. Generally, these are NOT adequate to learn to play. Would you have your child learn to drive on an antique car? Would you give him a rusty old bike to learn to bicycle?

Children respond to quality, especially in anything to do with the senses. The more your piano can do in terms of range of sound and tone, the more interested your child will be.

Be sure your piano is placed in an inviting location,so that your child can go to it often. Please do not put the piano near the TV (so that someone's watching the TV does not prevent your child from playing), or next to the baby's room ( so that naps do not interfere with playing or practice).

Desirable Pianos, in order of preference 1. A good grand piano, new or used 2. A good upright, as new as possible and as TALL as possible. 3. An older upright, put in its best playing condition - tuned, voiced, regulated, repaired.

Suzuki Supplies, Classical CDs

Please see the Purchasing Supplies page for a list of vendors and products.