Learning a new piece of music can be daunting for beginners, especially young children, if they dont know how to approach their learning at the piano. The first thing to do is set a goal. For beginners obvious goal would be to learn their new assigned piece of music or one they have chosen on their own. Taking the next step, however, is where students often get discouraged and express their frustration. "It's too hard. I can't play it." When this happens heres what to do; and, parents, even very young students will benefit from this advice, so listen closely.

The way to learn something difficult is to simplify it. Yes, its that simple. Learning the whole piece of music at one time would be too difficult for a beginner. To achieve something difficult, the goal it has to be broken down into manageable size pieces. If after breaking the task down once, its still too difficult, break it down again until its no longer difficult. Then work on each piece of the goal one at a time.

Heres a way to explain this goal setting process to younger children in a way they'll understand. Think of your goal as a puzzle. How would you begin? You would start sorting the individual pieces by colors and end pieces. Then you would work on one section of the puzzle at a time. Then you'd fit the different sections of the puzzle together until the picture is complete.

Jeff Herring, a business coach, family counselor, and columnist in Tallahassee, Florida refers to this process as Goal Getting. Heres Jeffs advice for Goal Getting in a nutshell.

1. Write it down

2. Break it down

3. Take small steps

4. Take the next step

5. Take one more step

Whether youre an older beginner or a parent who wants to support your young child in piano lessons, this plan will work time and time again. And even children can learn a valuable lesson by transferring this good habit to other life areas whenever a creative solution is needed.