Instead of focusing on the mistakes . . . “I can see you haven’t been practicing. You’re playing a lot of wrong notes, and your rhythm is wrong, too. Quarter notes aren’t the same as half notes!” . . . you’ll give a child the confidence to tackle the hard parts if you start by focusing on what he’s accomplished so far: “Those first two measures make me want to dance. I get a lively feeling when I hear the staccato notes. I can imagine a little frog jumping. The second line has a tricky rhythm. Let’s work on that next.”
