Field Study on Children's Home Piano Practice: Developing a Comprehensive System for Enhanced Student-Teacher Engagement

Regular weekly lessons and daily home practice are key for skill development. This paper focuses on identifying the challenges within such practice routines and developing a system to address these issues, thereby enhancing teacher support and elevating student performance in piano. Observations from real-world lessons and an analysis of practice videos spanning 177 days from 30 students reveal successful tactics, including the assignment of suitably challenging pieces and motivational rewards like stickers or stamps. Furthermore, the study underscores issues such as tension in parent-led practice and ineffective repetition. Insights from the field study suggest the potential of third-party feedback, practice segmentation, reporting practice records to teachers, and rewarding practice sessions. We developed a system incorporating these solutions and tested it with 80 children over 4 months. Results showed increased teacher engagement with students' home practice, improved student motivation and practice duration, and enhanced sight-reading skills, demonstrating the system's effectiveness in supporting piano education.