November Read: A Prescription for Practice Allergies

Stephanie Zi Yi Yang

“A child’s learning process is like the planting of seeds. Some seeds are sown and grown faster, while some need to accumulate and be nourished over the years. Parents only need to have the patience to observe and appreciate the changes and growth of their children.”

Is it common to find that when your child sits in front of the piano, his or her whole body starts to itch within five minutes? After only four bars of playing, he or she needs to rush to the bathroom, starts drooling at their mouth, and begins yawning, collapsing, and crying? If at a grand piano, would he or she hide underneath the instrument?

If your child has any of these symptoms, they could be exhibiting early signs of piano practice allergy syndrome.

What are the causes of allergy to piano practice?

Actively watching TV, stuck halfway through a computer game, lying on the sofa and playing with a mobile phone... all of these may be the cause of practice allergies.

The symptoms and types of piano allergies are as follows:

Type 1: Immediate Hypersensitivity

Common symptoms are: "oh", "ah", and other sighs. The long breathing is usually accompanied by heavy footsteps, a lazy head tilt, and unwilling hands hitting the instrument. There will also be mild bipolar activity, such as: throwing the piano score, slamming the lid of the piano, etc.

Type 2: Anti-Practice Defense Pruritic Hypersensitivity

This type of patient usually feels itchy all over their body at the beginning of piano practice, either in the calf or shoulders; common symptoms include scratching, rubbing the eyes and nose, and general restlessness.

Type 3: Delayed-Type Hypersensitivity

This type of allergy usually occurs 10 to 15 minutes after the beginning of piano practice. The patient will suddenly have frequent urges to use the bathroom, thirst, headaches, and inexplicable fatigue. But usually as soon as he or she leaves the piano bench, their allergies are immediately relieved.

Type 4: Emotional Disorder Hypersensitivity

This type of patient can be said to have a serious illness, usually exhibiting sudden anger, crying, unreasonable troubles, etc. Candies and other methods to relieve emotions are not well received. Some patients will lie down on the ground.

“We must consciously let children like music, and create an appropriate atmosphere and environment at home.. Atmosphere refers to the family being able to gather together to share music and sing.”

After the identification of symptoms, how does one remedy such practice allergies?

We must consciously encourage and engender a love for music within our children, and create an encouraging atmosphere and environment for them at home. This so-called atmosphere and environment does not by any means require top-notch instruments at the early stages of learning piano - the luxurious route is unnecessary. Atmosphere refers to the family being able to gather to share music and sing together, enjoying music-making in its purest form. As long as the family is accompanied by music regularly, children will not subjectively feel that music only appears when they are practicing. And when a child plays a tune that both he or she and their family are familiar with, it not only enhances the sense of accomplishment, but also reduces the symptoms of allergies to piano practice.

Develop a regular practice plan. Practicing should not be done on a whim. No matter how busy you are, try to make your child's practice time fixed. A regular daily practice time can help children establish good habits, and allow their practice to integrate into life naturally - rather than being forced to practice halfway through TV time, or being pulled towards the piano bench halfway through playing with toys. Bad habits are very easy to induce with Type 4 allergy symptoms.

Don't let your children think that practicing piano is something they have to do alone with hardship. In many families, when children are practicing the piano, their siblings next to them are playing, and their elders are chasing TV dramas and playing on their mobile phones. If the child practices in a public space, the noisy surrounding sounds will only make the children feel that practicing is boring and lonely.

Children look forward to your appreciation! In addition to the role of being listener, parents need to properly praise the child’s progress. For example: the time spent practicing the piano has become longer, the mistakes have been reduced, and the speed has increased... These are all worthy of your praise. At the same time, you can calmly review the areas that the child needs to improve upon. For example, repeating the spots where your child always make mistakes, then praising your child for their patience and effort to correct the mistakes.

Practicing piano for children is like losing weight for adults. The symptoms rebound after a few days of lazy eating and drinking. There is only one motivation to lose weight, but there are thousands of reasons for not wanting to exercise. Everyone will find that the people who can truly maintain their weight integrate exercise into their daily lives, just like eating and sleeping.

Practicing is the same - time and persistence need to be synchronized. A child’s learning process is like the planting of seeds. Some seeds are sown and grown faster, while some need to accumulate and be nourished over the years. Parents only need to have the patience to observe and appreciate the changes and growth of their children. Although it is inevitable that allergies to practice piano will occur, they will eventually bear their own unique fruits.