Say you're a parent who knows nothing about music or keyboards. What can you do to help your child practice? Or, as a teacher, how do you advise non-musical parents of young students to assist their fledgling pianists during practice sessions?

Parents often enjoy simply listening to part of a child's practice session, hearing pieces that are already learned. When "f" is marked in a piece, it means to play forte ("four-tay"), a loud sound, while "p" means piano, a soft sound.

Say your child plays a piece for you. You notice "f," which means loud, at the beginning of the piece, but the performance was...well, timid.

Which of the following is the better way to respond to this situation?

A: Doesn't that "f" mean to play loud? You'd better try to play it again, this time louder!

OR

B: Thank you for playing that piece for me! Did you hear the sound you expected to hear? I'll bet you could play it again, this time with an even more forte sound!

If you said B, good for you for saying something positive first!

Encourage your pianist-to-be to physically produce a loud sound the way his or her teacher recommends. Even better, before your child plays the piece, glance at it and ask, "What kind of sound should we listen for while you play?"