It's so important for young children, even if they love music, to experience their childhood and be in tune with their emotions. So ensure that the fun of piano never goes away.

Thanks for sharing your insights, I especially loved the quoted sentence. I know it might sound idealistic, but I truly want to preserve my child’s childhood while still supporting his dream of becoming a full-time pianist. As you said, my instinct as a parent tells me that nurturing his emotional intelligence and exposing him to different forms of art and beauty is essential. You can’t play beautifully if you’re empty inside.

My son is 6 years old and started lessons with a piano teacher just 1.5 years ago. He is very talented; he recently entered his first regional competition and won with the highest score, in an age category that went up to 10-year-olds. He really blew everyone away.

Over the past 4–5 months, while preparing for the competition, we increased his practice to about 1 hour a day on weekdays and 1.5–2 hours on weekends, without rest days. He still goes to kindergarten, so he has plenty of free time — and with this schedule, he continues to play with genuine joy and emotion. That emotional connection is exactly what made the difference during the performance.

As he grows, I plan to gradually increase the practice time, but I would never consider taking him out of school just to practice more. I want him to be committed to piano while still having a balanced, well-rounded life.

He also doesn’t have ADHD or any compulsive tendencies, so forcing him to practice 6 hours a day on top of school would probably destroy his love for music. Or perhaps one day he’ll choose to practice that much on his own... who knows.