Your son sounds very talented. I noticed that in your earlier posts from previous years, he had already been playing pieces that are several grades more advanced for his age/experience. While it's good to be challenged, I think it's important to be challenged in multiple ways, not only in terms of increasing the grade difficulty.

I will use math curriculum in the U.S. as an example. Most of us go through the normal sequence: basic arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trig, culminating in calculus somewhere between high school and college. Some gifted children have the ability to learn calculus before they hit puberty, and some do choose to go down the accelerated path. But at the end of the path, they may become unmotivated and uncertain: what do I do next? The problem is that while they are gaining technical knowledge at a fast rate, they may not have developed the mental maturity/wisdom to go along with it. It is arguably a better preparation for these math prodigies to be introduced to things like set theory or probabilities or other less commonly taught materials in the standard canon so that 1) they'd have a broader knowledge base; and 2) they may discover for themselves what/why they like to learn.

So I think that similarly for music, it might be good to let him have more space to explore: try composing, try different instruments, try modern music, etc.

Cinstance,

He does 1 or 2 scales every week in addition to his repertoire. As mentioned before, I think he enjoys Golliwog more because to him it's more "fun". The Chopin piece he's playing is a little more "sad". How many pieces is your son asked to learn simultaneously? I'd like to know if my son is asked to do too much.

PD,

My son played Kalabevsky Cavalry Gallop which to my untrained ears sounds rythmically to Golliwog. Is Cavalry Gallop similar to Le Petit Negre?

BTW, the Chopin piece is his choice for he loves Chopin, and has begged his teacher to teach him one of his pieces. Apparently, this is an easier one.

Thanks in advance.

On the way home after his lesson today, I asked my son if he wants to drop the Chopin Waltz, and he said no. I asked why, and he said it is easier than Golliwog, so he wants to finish it. I asked him to explain, and he could not tell me. For an untrained person, the Chopin Waltz with all the chromatic scales seems a lot more difficult than Golliwog, so if you would, please help me understand why Golliwog is harder, yet it takes him less time to learn it (I don't know much about music, so explanation in plain English is greatly appreciated)

I was not familiar with the Kabalevsy so I had a look. I would say two things. The Kabalevsky works on different skills than the Debussy (Le Petit Negre). The Debussy works syncopation and cross-handed playing, and if I recall correctly, both of those are quite useful in Golliwog. On the other hand, the Kabalevsky seems a cut more difficult than Le Petit Negre. If your son is playing these pieces technically accurately and with some sensitivity to dynamic shading then he is quite advanced indeed. As I said earlier, many young people (like my son) hadn't even begun their study of the instrument at that age.

Hi hippido, I'm writing this as a parent familiar with the literature on gifted children, not as a piano teacher. I would recommend that you let your son work on all three pieces, for a couple of reasons: (a) the one he is struggling with is the one that he "begged" to be able to play. This is an important consideration in my mind--I think it is good for your son to be emotionally invested in the music that he is playing. (b) Unless you have reason to suspect otherwise, I would trust your son's teacher's assessment of what he is capable of handling more than I would advice offered here, simply because your son's teacher has seen him play and learn and has better information to use in making up assignments. (c) Last, even if the Chopin piece ends up being too hard at this point, it is good for gifted and talented kids to encounter something they have to work hard on and (gasp) even fail at. Dr. Edward Amend, a psychologist who specializes in gifted children, has written often of the need for gifted kids to stretch themselves and encounter difficulties. If their childhood education is too easy and they breeze through everything, the first stumbling block they encounter in, say, college can have serious consequences.

So, my advice would be to hold off for now and see how things go. I don't think I would worry about applying "too much pressure," as it's clear that the pressure--if any--is self-imposed. If necessary you can simply remind your son that the Chopin piece was his choice and that it is okay if he decides to put it away for a while if it gets too frustrating. I think the alternative (insisting that he stop working on it because it is "too hard" or he's "not ready for it") would cause more harm in the long run.

Wishing you the best in nurturing your son's special abilities.

Sorry for the delay in replying. I've been rather busy of late, and have only had a chance to look at the main themes of posts. Totally missed your question.

There is a variance of opinion on the relative difficulty of these two works - Dr. Jane Magrath's compendium lists them both at level 8, while Keith Snell has them at 7 for the Chopin and 8 for the Debussy. Dr. Maurice Hanson classifies the Chopin as "easy" while he characterizes the Debussy as Moderate to Difficult.

The texture is thicker for the Debussy, and rhythmically more challenging as well. Both use more difficult key signatures within. If my memory serves, the Debussy requires a larger hand to reach all the intervals. Chromatic passages aren't harder to play - on a keyboard, you're just moving one key away at a time, rather than one or two, as the diatonic tonality requires.

Hope this helps some.

John

At age 7 he is working on 3 serious and very different pieces requiring certain techniques that these individual composers represent. The pieces are not the least bit comparable to each other.

I would be thrilled that a 7 year old student would be playing any one of these pieces and I would not assign 2 others at the same time to begin all at once.

I think his progress with 2 is exemplary, and that the 3rd piece (whichever it might be of the 3) is simply where it is in progress because of the huge load. The Debussy and Chopin may not fit in his smaller hands as well as the Bach and the movement on the keyboard for those 2 pieces is very different than the Bach. Bach has the steady pressing forward to the end, Debussy and Chopin require interpretation and touches and balance.

You said: "I read in one other post regarding length of time spending on one piece, and it seems that many teachers would assign pieces that their students can learn within two months."

And, I say...but this is not one piece - it is 3. Triple difficulty factor.

Can you not be satisfied with a talented and superior young man.

Every piece and every project is going to take as long as it takes before it is accomplished and performable. I think he is already using his time and effort very, very well. I think your concern is artificial and unnecessary.

I question the teachers judgment in assigning 3 big ones all at once to a young musician. Pieces could coincide gradually over time, but all at once? What is the purpose of all at once? In addition, I would think he is still working on other pieces to keep them learned and performable? How big of a ball of wax does this child have to deal with. The time adgenda makes it sound to me like a competition toward superiority. It doesn't seem healthy to me, but then I don't know the principles and the reality of the relationships that create the dynamics of his learning environment.

Do you ever post videos of this young man?

I hope that he is healthy and happy in his music!

Betty Patnude