# Music Stores Are Closing, Yet Good Teachers Cannot Be Booked: Learning Piano Has Changed

On one street lined with music stores in Harbin, a city in northeastern China, nine out of ten shops had signs advertising their businesses for sale or their premises for sublet. A mother from northeastern China described this in a WeChat Official Account article in March 2026. Its title was “Are Children Still Learning Piano These Days?”

In August 2026, another mother wrote an article that read like an answer. She had taken her five-year-old daughter to a trial lesson, only to find that her preferred teacher had just two available slots left, on Wednesdays and Sundays, and planned to accept only two complete beginners that year. Her article attracted more than 13,000 readers.

As these two mothers described it, both situations were real.

## Which Part of the Market Has Shrunk?

Start with the figures. Piano sales data cited by the author and attributed to the China Musical Instrument Association show that domestic piano sales fell from 356,000 units in 2018 to 128,000 in 2023, then below 100,000 in 2024. The author argues that the number of families buying pianos has fallen by more than half, leaving music stores that depend on enrolling students as the first to struggle.

The families dropping away are probably mostly those who once thought, “Other families are doing it, so we should too.” An editor at Xiaohuasheng, a Chinese parenting and education website, made a similar point in 2025: piano learning used to be driven by following the crowd, while families now make much more considered decisions. The teacher whom the mother met at the trial lesson said that their student base was steady, with many children having studied with them since they were little. Families still learning piano are more selective about teachers, making the schedules of well-regarded teachers even tighter.

That explains how, in the same year, some music stores can be offering their premises for sublet while good teachers have no room for more lessons.

![Parents and children waiting outside a small piano studio, with the door half open and a teacher demonstrating for another student inside; the quiet, tidy corridor shows that individual teachers remain busy without suggesting crowded queues.](https://static.lianmuse.com/image/blog/5c5877267a9a8d493691cf51d4290792.jpg)

## What This Means for Families Planning to Learn Piano

Arrange trial lessons with good teachers early. That mother tried three places before discovering that the teacher who suited her daughter best had just two slots left. For a family planning to start in spring 2027, autumn 2026 is a good time to try lessons. If the teacher you prefer has no space in their schedule, ask when a slot will become available and join the waiting list.

Those months on the waiting list need not be spent doing nothing. In the Chinese family-practice setting described here in October 2026, Wonder Piano lets children listen to a preview of every piece in its music library before practicing it. A child can first become familiar with the piece they want to learn, then play a short passage each day. By the time lessons begin, they will have already started developing familiarity through listening and playing.

What you look for in a trial lesson needs to change, too. Parents used to focus on how large the school was or how close it was to home. Now, pay closer attention to the teacher: if a child cannot play a phrase, does the teacher break it down? Do they demonstrate it for the child? What are they listening for when the child tries a second time?

![A trial lesson seen from a parent's perspective: the teacher demonstrates just two notes while the child stands beside them, watching the hands carefully; the view focuses on the hands and keyboard, capturing a natural teaching moment.](https://static.lianmuse.com/image/blog/76e371402a6877274beb4c578e57a829.jpg)

Think through your reason for learning piano before you begin. The wave of families following the crowd has receded. Those who remain have their own reasons: some want to support a child's interest, while others hope to give their child a lifelong hobby. When that reason is clear, difficulties later on are less likely to bring everything to an abrupt stop.

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Wonder Piano is an AI practice companion for piano practice at home. Here, we write about practice methods and the challenges families face when putting those methods into use.