Growing in musicianship doesn’t require hours of practice every day. It does require consistency in practicing every day. If your student has been struggling to make time for practice each day—that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s time to quit. It’s just time to make some adjustments and take it week-by-week.
#1 Set a Schedule & Gather Supplies
The first step to building a routine is setting a schedule and giving yourself the tools you need to succeed. We know this is true in our adult life for everything from going to bed on time to getting through the work day, and children learning a musical instrument are no different.
Choose the time each day your student will practice: before their school work? Immediately following school? After dinner? Pick one and try it for a week.
Make sure your student has everything they need in order to practice in the same practice area each day: a tuner, metronome, pencil, eraser, their music books, and other instrument-specific tools.
As they build a routine every day, practicing becomes easier, and they’ll see progress that will motivate them for the future!
#2 Practice the Tough Spots
Most students want to play their favorite songs over and over again, simply because it’s more fun to play something that sounds good.
But they only have so much willpower (and so much time in the day), so to make the best use of practice time, start with the tricky spots. Instead of playing the song from the beginning, they should start only on the section they need to correct. At the end of the practice session, they can try again from the beginning and see how their improved section fits in.
Remember, as students become more advanced, songs become longer… and starting from the beginning simply takes too much time.
#3 Try Active Listening
You don’t always need your instrument to practice! Students can also listen to the song they’re working on while looking at their part to learn how certain rhythms sound at tempo. After actively listening and then returning to their instrument, they’ll notice when they’ve played an incorrect note, because they’ve heard it correctly so many times.
When practicing a part for an ensemble, listening to all the parts while following your own section helps identify the melody line and how you fit into the overall piece. Your student will be less likely to come in at the wrong time in the song if they’ve been hearing all the parts together.
#4 Record Your Student
We’re getting more used to seeing ourselves on video! Music students can also record themselves to get great results during practice time.
We all hear what we want to hear… and sometimes we don’t realize we’re out of tune or playing at the wrong tempo. Recording then rewatching the video points out these mistakes instantly, and then the student can work on fixing them.
Recording also helps identify posture issues you may not notice when you’re focused on the notes. If your student starts the piece with good posture and slowly returns to the incorrect position, they’ll see it in the recording and continue to fix it faster.
#5 Set a Goal
Each practice session should have a goal, whether that’s learning a specific line of the piece, mastering the dynamics, or increasing the speed of a new song. At the beginning of the practice time, students can plan the goals they want to hit, and see how close they get during their session.
#6 Big & Small Rewards
If your child needs more incentive to practice each day, don’t be afraid to add rewards! Some parents think children should want to practice music of their own will if they love it. In reality, students are still learning discipline and need rewards to motivate them (as adults, we reward ourselves for going to the gym and after a hard day of work, too!).
Try a small reward for finishing their practice session each day and add a larger reward for a week of practice or a month. Let your student get involved with choosing their rewards, so you know it’s something that excites them!
BONUS: Play Slowly
Ok, this one should go without saying, but sometimes students need a little reminding to slow down. The key to perfecting a passage of music is muscle memory -- and your muscles can’t learn an intricate finger sequence by playing it a bunch of times incorrectly.
Slow down, pay close attention, catch mistakes before they happen, and only speed up when the passage is perfect at a slow speed.
