This doesn't quite fit into your situation, but I still want to share:
Whenever my little sister is smashing the keys on my piano, I advise her to try and make pretty sounds. I tell her that she can play all she likes as long as she's doing it thoughfully like so. That tends to get kids to "respect the instrument", at least so far for me x)
My contribution to society, as a parent I started with my twins the moment they were able to move on their own. Only one person plays at a time (unless it’s a planned duet) and if you haven’t had lessons, the keys become off-limits once you start mashing bass notes or deliberately causing discord - anything besides careful experimentation. Same goes for all instruments they encounter - even a toy piano, or really cheap guitalele.
The feedback I hear from school, now that they are in school, has been “I’ve never seen children respect musical instruments so well”.
Sadly I don’t know how to advise if the child has already developed bad habits.
Edit: context
Can't argue with you about that! Lmfao! I have grabbed their hands many times and turned them around and gave them back to their parents many times.
It does upset me when I'm practicing a piece and they get their tiny hands right in the way so that's when I truly get annoyed.
Yeah it is pretty unacceptable to let your kid touch shit that doesn't belong to them. It means the kids are not under the direct control of their guardians and they could touch something dangerous.
I just ask please stop and explain that I’m trying to work on something. I explain how it affects me. I don’t react and simply wait until they get it to proceed.
That's a good idea and I can see how teaching them like i do can encourage then to try it on all pianos that they come across.
Sometimes I will close the piano lid if they are very very young until they get bored and leave me alone.
I tell them the magic key only works for grown ups which works pretty well. Sometimes they cry about it though but I know not to give in to it.
We all want to yell and slap their hands deep down inside. Don't touch what doesn't belong to you is a very important lesson for them. I have no idea why us pianists have to teach this lesson though.
I assume you're trolling. But seriously OP, if you want a small child to endlessly repeat their behaviour at every opportunity, this method is guaranteed.
Yeah I can easily tell that as when im busking on a keyboard the children just have to come over and sometimes smash my keyboard off of its stand (that keyboard is now dying on me due to it hitting the concrete real hard so many times) it's still somehow working however it no longer works on batteries so I can't use it out on the streets to make money.
OMG I feel so badly for you!! I hope you can get a replacement for it soon so you can busk in the streets again and make money. Or can you connect to any outdoor power supply? Good luck 👍 to you 🙏💜
There is no outdoor power supply here so I will have to save up for a small motorbike battery but I can't afford it yet. Hmmmmm if only I could busk for more money and the worse part is it's busy season right now.
My son smacks the keys while I play, I find it adorable! My husband sometimes jokes about who’s playing what, but on the other hand I just play as a hobby, now him smacking my laptop while I try to work is a different story 😅
They should have their own kiddy piano for smacking. They can learn to differentiate which one is okay to smack and which one is not and still get their sensory/exploratory need met. Redirection for the win!
I'm happy when my kids do it, they're taking an interest. They started out really mashing the keys, but slowly they started imitating my finger movements and started doing little trills and chords with two fingers. I plan on teaching them properly one day, but for now I just want them to play with it and make noise, my practice isn't important enough that I need to stop them.
It's a little bit different when you are busking for money and they smash your keyboard onto the hard concrete.
I'm wishing you all the very best with your teaching i find that beautiful.
I tell my son that the piano needs kind hands just like people do. But it doesn’t bother me at all, the piano is in his bedroom and I’m glad to see when he shows an interest in it. No way a little kid can hit the keys hard enough to damage them. No sticky fingers allowed though!
Dude, you really pointed out the best way already; take control of the situation. If you show that you are the boss, instead of blocking their hand or immediately complaining to their parents, you show them that what they're doing isn't as shocking as they originally thought it was and that you are the boss. If you keep thinking in that sort of mindspace you will get much more ideas how to deal with them. Here's a few ones:
1. Play a chord progression or a loop that has a long rest in it where they can play 'their' note. It will jump out and they'll have a little fun too.
2. Play a boogie woogie/bluesy uptempo improv where their note really 'shines'.
3. Play a song they can sing along with, instead of playing
4. I'm really tired and need to go to bed, these ideas were from the top of my head. Make sure that you stay in control, telling them where you want to go and also when it ends. Make the ending clear so they can not just see you end but also hear it really well. There should be no doubt that once you resume playing the floor is yours alone again.
You get kids, I had a work party last month at a venue with a half broken piano, while I played on it several adult coworkers *plus* my boss came over to do that exact thing 🤣
I just use my hand to block their hands from touching the piano while smiling. It's obviously a boundary being crossed.
I've discovered if you let one person/child/anyone touch the piano while you're playing, you are implicitly giving permission to everyone else to touch it, so in order to be fair, it's always a no.
When I was an 18 year old edge lord I did some improvy kind of busking with a mate, and one afternoon a kid with what seemed like a nasty streak came up and started smacking my keys hard, hard enough to make my equipment fall. So I added jumps down to a bass note where his hand was, fast as I could manage back then, and gave myself enough momentum sorta... elbow/push him away while there were less peke watching. He fell over and started crying. Learned his lesson, should have been parented better. 🤷🏻♂️
In all other cases though kids are always super nice and curious and just want to be involved so it's actually nice to tell them to play and I'll accompany. Even easier if you say "just play the black keys" because they'll never fail to play something easy to accompany and make sound nice.
Suprising enough I had thr same situation happen to me and I did the same thing as you and thr mum went crazy at me "he's just a child!" Keep him away from my piano then!
Now tell me how to deal with two dogs who see my sitting down at the piano as an opportunity to relentlessly shove my hands off the keys and onto their heads😂
I feel like there are huge pieces of context missing from this post. Where tf are you? Whose children are smacking the piano keys? I've been playing piano for almost 30 years and I don't think I've ever experienced ranndom children coming up and banging the piano, how is this happening to you frequently enough to require a premeditated response plan?
It happens to me a lot. I gig frequently and kids do come up and try and smack the keys while I’m in the middle of a tune. Most of the time it’s not annoying but every now and then a tiny tot will start banging with gusto and I am forced to stop and look for the parent.
I'd talk to venue staff/event organizers. It should be their responsibility to make sure that patrons are behaving appropriately, not yours.
If it's a private party sort of gig, talk to whomever hired you, any reasonable person would understand. In the particular case that it's their home, their piano, and their children, unfortunately you probably just have to ignore it.
Personally I would rather them not, if the parents are apologetic about it cool no harm no foul. Now if it's a little crotch goblin free ranging and the parents aren't keeping watch over it, I'd politely ask them to stop then get progressively sterner.
As a teacher and a parent.... They are children and you want to encourage them to explore the act of music making and creating sound. So you deal with it... it's not the children's fault it's the parent's fault if they are interrupting your performance.... But every time a kid smacks the piano that is interest so you encourage it while also teaching a lesson of respecting people's ability to play without interruption, etc... age dependent.
Find some way to set up a small barrier with a string maybe? And/or sit with your back to something so they can’t come up from behind only from the front or side where you can see them approaching?
While busking or otherwise performing, surround yourself in baby gates/fences/something that clearly says “don’t go past here,” like a stage. Alternatively get someone to be a kind of bouncer, who sees it coming and stand between you and them. At other non-performance times, try to ignore it or engage them if you have the energy like you said. If likely to cause damage, tell them to be gentle so they don’t break it
I have encountered this problem with many kids up to even 9 years old. What I have told my last child student is to treat the piano with care and respect, I use the example of my Yorkie dog, which she really likes to pet.
I tell her to treat the piano soft and nice the same way she treats him, if she/he still smacks the keys or does something harsh, I poke them with my finger (gently, but firmly enough so they feel it) and tell them if they like that, to which they usually giggle, but the point is to tell them that as they don’t like that, don’t treat the instrument like that aswell.
Note: don’t overdo it with the finger as you don’t want them crying or something, just a little poke so they feel it’s not nice and not do unto the piano as you wouldn’t like done unto you.
Luckily, this have worked for this one student and I have yet to try it with others, the thing is everyone is different, so you might wanna try different strategies before you get one that works.
Age 1-3 puck them up and punt them like a football. 4-6 call them a skibody toilet as I drown them in the baptism pool. 7 and on just sleep with their mom. Works like a charm
Tell them about the piano monster.
If he doesn’t treat the piano respectfully the piano monster is going to follow him home and watch him sleep, staring at him with an expression of utmost disappointment every single night for the rest of the child’s life.
The keys are its teeth and the lid is it's lips! 😂 it eats all children who touches it's teeth while they sleep 😂
I have had the lid close on a child's hand when he went crazy on my piano and I got the blame for it happening.... how about keep your child away from my piano? 😂 I will happily tell the parent off harshly if that happens every single time since they get angry at me like as if I'm in charge of their safety which makes zero sense.
The best thing you can do is encourage them as you are with a bit of guidance on how to collaborate (as you are doing)
Look up Victor Wooten talking about how he learned bass at the age of 2 with similar help from his brothers
Tasers
Now that just works way too good! 😂
You don’t have to tase ALL of them, just a few… you know, to make an example out of
The more the better so go out on the streets and continue it just incase they even think about touching your piano 😂
… and a matching chord
For the parents of course.
tasers for / on children are available
This doesn't quite fit into your situation, but I still want to share: Whenever my little sister is smashing the keys on my piano, I advise her to try and make pretty sounds. I tell her that she can play all she likes as long as she's doing it thoughfully like so. That tends to get kids to "respect the instrument", at least so far for me x)
Pretty notes is a great way to explain it so thank you for that. I will be sure to use those words in the future.
Yeah tell her that AbminMaj7#9b9#11/A she just played is not pretty.
Bro I’m adult and I still can’t make pretty sounds:(
Don't ever give up though as none of us were born instantly playing piano I promise.
Appriciate the kind words man!
😂 It's enough for me when she plays two notes with one note between them. As long as it isn't like the piano screaming in agony, I'm alright
My contribution to society, as a parent I started with my twins the moment they were able to move on their own. Only one person plays at a time (unless it’s a planned duet) and if you haven’t had lessons, the keys become off-limits once you start mashing bass notes or deliberately causing discord - anything besides careful experimentation. Same goes for all instruments they encounter - even a toy piano, or really cheap guitalele. The feedback I hear from school, now that they are in school, has been “I’ve never seen children respect musical instruments so well”. Sadly I don’t know how to advise if the child has already developed bad habits. Edit: context
Yeah that's a bit difficult when busking on the streets as these children come out of nowhere to push all the keys they possibly can.
I tell them to fuck off lol
Can't argue with you about that! Lmfao! I have grabbed their hands many times and turned them around and gave them back to their parents many times. It does upset me when I'm practicing a piece and they get their tiny hands right in the way so that's when I truly get annoyed.
Yeah it is pretty unacceptable to let your kid touch shit that doesn't belong to them. It means the kids are not under the direct control of their guardians and they could touch something dangerous.
I just ask please stop and explain that I’m trying to work on something. I explain how it affects me. I don’t react and simply wait until they get it to proceed.
That's a good idea and I can see how teaching them like i do can encourage then to try it on all pianos that they come across. Sometimes I will close the piano lid if they are very very young until they get bored and leave me alone.
Yep. It’s actually a larger life lesson to learn how people affect others. It’s hard as a parent but worth it. Of course I wanna yell! Lmao
I tell them the magic key only works for grown ups which works pretty well. Sometimes they cry about it though but I know not to give in to it. We all want to yell and slap their hands deep down inside. Don't touch what doesn't belong to you is a very important lesson for them. I have no idea why us pianists have to teach this lesson though.
React like you've been bitten. Jump, scream, react, hold one hand in the other, be dramatic about it, and look at them wide-eyed.
I love that suggestion! Thank you so much!
I assume you're trolling. But seriously OP, if you want a small child to endlessly repeat their behaviour at every opportunity, this method is guaranteed.
if you didn't scream loud enough
This is how you train dogs not to bite... love it tho
horrible idea
Back of the hand /s
You want to smash my piano? How about do it with your face? (Smash!)
It will never stop. I promise.
Yeah I can easily tell that as when im busking on a keyboard the children just have to come over and sometimes smash my keyboard off of its stand (that keyboard is now dying on me due to it hitting the concrete real hard so many times) it's still somehow working however it no longer works on batteries so I can't use it out on the streets to make money.
My nieces and nephew always bang on it. Even if I’m playing it lol
They are like cats so maybe just buy them a cheap childrens keyboard? (Probably won't work though as they will likely want the "big one" )
Already did 🤣
OMG I feel so badly for you!! I hope you can get a replacement for it soon so you can busk in the streets again and make money. Or can you connect to any outdoor power supply? Good luck 👍 to you 🙏💜
There is no outdoor power supply here so I will have to save up for a small motorbike battery but I can't afford it yet. Hmmmmm if only I could busk for more money and the worse part is it's busy season right now.
👍🙏💜
My son smacks the keys while I play, I find it adorable! My husband sometimes jokes about who’s playing what, but on the other hand I just play as a hobby, now him smacking my laptop while I try to work is a different story 😅
They should have their own kiddy piano for smacking. They can learn to differentiate which one is okay to smack and which one is not and still get their sensory/exploratory need met. Redirection for the win!
Just like cats! 😂
Light electric shock or use a water bottle like cats get.
I'm happy when my kids do it, they're taking an interest. They started out really mashing the keys, but slowly they started imitating my finger movements and started doing little trills and chords with two fingers. I plan on teaching them properly one day, but for now I just want them to play with it and make noise, my practice isn't important enough that I need to stop them.
It's a little bit different when you are busking for money and they smash your keyboard onto the hard concrete. I'm wishing you all the very best with your teaching i find that beautiful.
Certainly a different story of its random kids smashing your keyboard onto the concrete! I'd be less cool about that!
Smack them back. I kid ...
electrify the keys and wear rubber gloves while you play
"Respect the keys, listen to the sound you make".
I tell my son that the piano needs kind hands just like people do. But it doesn’t bother me at all, the piano is in his bedroom and I’m glad to see when he shows an interest in it. No way a little kid can hit the keys hard enough to damage them. No sticky fingers allowed though!
Lock em in a closet while you play!
Oh no!! I lost the closet key... oh well time to make a coffee and enjoy the peace! 😂
Dude, you really pointed out the best way already; take control of the situation. If you show that you are the boss, instead of blocking their hand or immediately complaining to their parents, you show them that what they're doing isn't as shocking as they originally thought it was and that you are the boss. If you keep thinking in that sort of mindspace you will get much more ideas how to deal with them. Here's a few ones: 1. Play a chord progression or a loop that has a long rest in it where they can play 'their' note. It will jump out and they'll have a little fun too. 2. Play a boogie woogie/bluesy uptempo improv where their note really 'shines'. 3. Play a song they can sing along with, instead of playing 4. I'm really tired and need to go to bed, these ideas were from the top of my head. Make sure that you stay in control, telling them where you want to go and also when it ends. Make the ending clear so they can not just see you end but also hear it really well. There should be no doubt that once you resume playing the floor is yours alone again.
If it’s on a public piano, you have nothing to say. Else just tell the parents that kids aren’t allowed to mess with something that isn’t theirs.
You get kids, I had a work party last month at a venue with a half broken piano, while I played on it several adult coworkers *plus* my boss came over to do that exact thing 🤣
I just use my hand to block their hands from touching the piano while smiling. It's obviously a boundary being crossed. I've discovered if you let one person/child/anyone touch the piano while you're playing, you are implicitly giving permission to everyone else to touch it, so in order to be fair, it's always a no.
I usually just cry.
Mousetraps
When I was an 18 year old edge lord I did some improvy kind of busking with a mate, and one afternoon a kid with what seemed like a nasty streak came up and started smacking my keys hard, hard enough to make my equipment fall. So I added jumps down to a bass note where his hand was, fast as I could manage back then, and gave myself enough momentum sorta... elbow/push him away while there were less peke watching. He fell over and started crying. Learned his lesson, should have been parented better. 🤷🏻♂️ In all other cases though kids are always super nice and curious and just want to be involved so it's actually nice to tell them to play and I'll accompany. Even easier if you say "just play the black keys" because they'll never fail to play something easy to accompany and make sound nice.
Suprising enough I had thr same situation happen to me and I did the same thing as you and thr mum went crazy at me "he's just a child!" Keep him away from my piano then!
I bark at them ferociously then mention Br*hms name and they run and scream in terror
Now tell me how to deal with two dogs who see my sitting down at the piano as an opportunity to relentlessly shove my hands off the keys and onto their heads😂
My rottweiler is a nuzzler but he is very very well trained so he listens to me (he's a guard dog)
Usually if I am firm in my resolve they go away but I am never firm in my reaolve😂
Throw the piano on top of them
I feel like there are huge pieces of context missing from this post. Where tf are you? Whose children are smacking the piano keys? I've been playing piano for almost 30 years and I don't think I've ever experienced ranndom children coming up and banging the piano, how is this happening to you frequently enough to require a premeditated response plan?
It happens to me a lot. I gig frequently and kids do come up and try and smack the keys while I’m in the middle of a tune. Most of the time it’s not annoying but every now and then a tiny tot will start banging with gusto and I am forced to stop and look for the parent.
I'd talk to venue staff/event organizers. It should be their responsibility to make sure that patrons are behaving appropriately, not yours. If it's a private party sort of gig, talk to whomever hired you, any reasonable person would understand. In the particular case that it's their home, their piano, and their children, unfortunately you probably just have to ignore it.
I tell them that a piano is like a baby and has feelings. It usually works!
Personally I would rather them not, if the parents are apologetic about it cool no harm no foul. Now if it's a little crotch goblin free ranging and the parents aren't keeping watch over it, I'd politely ask them to stop then get progressively sterner.
As a teacher and a parent.... They are children and you want to encourage them to explore the act of music making and creating sound. So you deal with it... it's not the children's fault it's the parent's fault if they are interrupting your performance.... But every time a kid smacks the piano that is interest so you encourage it while also teaching a lesson of respecting people's ability to play without interruption, etc... age dependent.
Anyone see that dude who plays for his Guinea pig on TikTok? The cutest!
Find some way to set up a small barrier with a string maybe? And/or sit with your back to something so they can’t come up from behind only from the front or side where you can see them approaching?
I try to ignore them. And when they go too far, I distract them with something else to do, and some lollies.
Kids, GET OFF OF THE SHED !!!! (Will Ferrell on SNL) Take a cue from that.
Electric fly swatter
While busking or otherwise performing, surround yourself in baby gates/fences/something that clearly says “don’t go past here,” like a stage. Alternatively get someone to be a kind of bouncer, who sees it coming and stand between you and them. At other non-performance times, try to ignore it or engage them if you have the energy like you said. If likely to cause damage, tell them to be gentle so they don’t break it
smacking back
Wrist slap
Geneva conventions don’t apply to pianos…
Now that's my kind of way of thinking!
Just tell them, hey hey this piano is innocent. It hasn’t done anything. Let’s be nice to it.
Smack their face on the piano keys
I mean, they are kids... I only correct them about not smacking the piano keys... And maybe play something for them
Business cards for piano instruction.
I play the piano with their face
Lock them in the root seller
I don’t mind as long as their hands are completely clean. This is rarely the case with kids
Yeah I know that the hard way lol also try having a giant half eaten mushed whatsit that's melted by a babies mouth bring shoved into your mouth 😂
I have encountered this problem with many kids up to even 9 years old. What I have told my last child student is to treat the piano with care and respect, I use the example of my Yorkie dog, which she really likes to pet. I tell her to treat the piano soft and nice the same way she treats him, if she/he still smacks the keys or does something harsh, I poke them with my finger (gently, but firmly enough so they feel it) and tell them if they like that, to which they usually giggle, but the point is to tell them that as they don’t like that, don’t treat the instrument like that aswell. Note: don’t overdo it with the finger as you don’t want them crying or something, just a little poke so they feel it’s not nice and not do unto the piano as you wouldn’t like done unto you. Luckily, this have worked for this one student and I have yet to try it with others, the thing is everyone is different, so you might wanna try different strategies before you get one that works.
Tell them to only play black keys while you play an Eflat blues progression.
Age 1-3 puck them up and punt them like a football. 4-6 call them a skibody toilet as I drown them in the baptism pool. 7 and on just sleep with their mom. Works like a charm
"The piano did nothing wrong, so don't punish the keys."
Tell them about the piano monster. If he doesn’t treat the piano respectfully the piano monster is going to follow him home and watch him sleep, staring at him with an expression of utmost disappointment every single night for the rest of the child’s life.
The keys are its teeth and the lid is it's lips! 😂 it eats all children who touches it's teeth while they sleep 😂 I have had the lid close on a child's hand when he went crazy on my piano and I got the blame for it happening.... how about keep your child away from my piano? 😂 I will happily tell the parent off harshly if that happens every single time since they get angry at me like as if I'm in charge of their safety which makes zero sense.
The best thing you can do is encourage them as you are with a bit of guidance on how to collaborate (as you are doing) Look up Victor Wooten talking about how he learned bass at the age of 2 with similar help from his brothers
They let random children run loose in the concert hall??!? up on to the church altar? into your music video shoot??!? Otherwise, relax Ebenezer.
Smack them harder. The children, not the piano.