Listening to the piece before it's played...

Its interesting how often I, as a student, avoided as much as possible listening to the piece I was playing on a CD. I don't know why I did this, most probably it was out of sheer laziness or rebellion against my teacher/parents.
I recently have begun to realise a similar pattern with my students. Often I'll ask them, "so have you listened to the piece yet?" and they will look sheepish and guilty. I'm not doing it to make their life harder, in fact I wish I had cottoned on to how much easier my life would have been if I had started doing it sooner. I didn't realise just how much easier it could have been until I got to my career playing in orchestras where I had only a few days to learn a new symphony. Most of my rapid learning was through listening to the piece. I would have had no idea of tempos and rhythms in such a short time unless I was slightly familiar with it. Listening to the music you are learning as much as halves your learning time very often. That is why the Suzuki method is so successful.
If you can help your child in any way - if you do only one thing, let it be this. Make it a habit for them to listen to the piece they are learning so that they are not blindly stumbling through black dots on a page. Let them build a connection to the music they are learning and make it a habit. Have a music player set up next to their practice area so it is easier to remember and access. If it's far away and the music can't be found, it won't happen! Youtube also works. Google their piece! Everything is on google now!!

Happy Practicing!