This week on the Time to Practice podcast I’m sharing an article I recently had published in the American Suzuki Journal in an audio format all about how we can optimize our results in the Suzuki Method. My hope is that if you’re an SAA member, this prompts you to open up the journal and find the article to read as well, or to refer to as a resource in your program. It’s also my hope that the audio format helps more people interact with this article and get the benefit of reading or hearing it.

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

On a recent episode of the Time to Practice podcast, monthly expert guest Barbie Wong came on the podcast to talk about looking ahead to summer music activities. Our conversation centered on music camps and also on how to raise funds in creative ways if the cost feels daunting. You can listen to our episode below and also read on to see a re-cap of ways to fundraise to help cover the cost of music camp for your child this…

On this week’s episode of the Time to Practice podcast, I’m thrilled to welcome Sarah Hart-Unger, MD, parent of three, podcaster, and author of the new book Best Laid Plans: A Simple Planning System for Living a Life You LOVE. I’m a huge fan of Sarah’s podcast(s) and book and when I heard that she grew up involved in music, practices with one of her own children, and currently plays her piano to enrich her life as an adult, I was so excited to have her on the podcast to share her story and ideas about planning with us.

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

119 | Sarah Hart-Unger on Planning, Goals, & Music Practice – Time To Practice

This week on the Time to Practice podcast, we’re speaking with Megan Orton. Megan is a musician, parent, and former Suzuki violin teacher who now runs Mindful Media – where she speaks and coaches parents as they think about setting healthy limits for screen time and navigating parenting in the digital age. In this episode, Megan talks about the impact of modern screen time on children’s motivation and development. She discusses “persuasive design” that has been built into certain kinds of technology and screen time that our kids may interact with. She also explains the impact of “low effort, high reward” like certain kinds of screen time and how they can make real-world “high effort, healthy reward” activities like music practice seem boring and difficult.

Megan shared the science behind the challenges we may see happening with our kids and technology and offers practical advice for parents, such as creating a screen-free buffer before practice and reframing screen time as a “dessert” rather than a main course. She also emphasizes the developmental importance of boredom for fostering creativity and intrinsic motivation.

This is not an anti-technology or anti-screen-time discussion, but our conversation does address some of the challenges students may face when moving from screen-based activities to practice or music lessons and offers practical suggestions to consider. We hope this encourages you that you’re not alone in navigating these challenges and gives you some ideas for solutions.

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

Practice Motivation & Screen Time with Megan Orton of MIndful Media – Time To Practice

There is a place for both playing for enjoyment and focused, deliberate practice to improve our pieces when we’re learning music and practicing, and on this episode of the Time to Practice podcast, Christine Goodner and Barbie Wong have a conversation all about it.

What is deliberate practice?

Why is deliberate practice, a phrase coined by Anders Eriksson, an important aspect of music practice and why does it help explain what might feel hard about music practice for young children?

We tackle this topic, share our perspective, and offer ways to make deliberate practice work and ideas to make it more enjoyable for students, incorporating it into practice. We share a number of practical strategies for parents to implement deliberate practice into home practice sessions. Ideas like: isolating difficult spots, finding ways to count repetitions or use checklists to mark our progress, and incorporating games and creative stories to make the repetitive work more tolerable and engaging for students of all ages. 

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

Fostering Deliberate Music Practice vs "Playing Through" with Barbie Wong – Time To Practice

Other episodes that share ideas about deliberate practice, or how to think about focused practice on specific spots:

This week on the Time to Practice podcast, I am thrilled to welcome someone whose work has had a huge impact on me and the way I understand my students and music practice. Speech Language Pathologist and Executive Function Skills Specialist Tera Sumpter joins us to talk all about Executive Function Skills & Music Practice. In this conversation, we talk about how Executive Functioning skills are like the conductor of the brain, about the way learning and practicing an instrument…

This week on the Time to Practice podcast, violinist, violist, music educator, and parent Linda Piatt joins us to continue a two-part series on supporting our children with music practice. This week we tackle the subject of challenging behavior in music practice. On our last episode Linda shared her best practices for home music practice and if you haven't listened yet I highly recommend it. You can find that episode HERE. In this installment of our conversation, Linda shares a…

This week on the Time to Practice podcast, violinist, violist, music educator, and parent Linda Piatt joins us to kick off a two-part series on supporting our children with music practice. In this week's episode, she shares with us what she's learned as a teacher, but even more so as a parent, about how families can support their growing music students at home with practice. You won't want to miss her fantastic advice! To Listen to the full episode you…

On this week's episode of the Time to Practice podcast, we're speaking with frequent guest Barbie Wong on the topic of supporting teen & preteen students in music lessons. We talk about the support students moving into their teen years need from both a teacher and parent perspective. We'd love to hear what you'd add to our list and if you have any follow-up questions you'd like to see us address on a podcast episode together in the future! To…

This week on the Time to Practice podcast I'm joined by Dr. Elizabeth Morrow - a cellist, music educator, certified dyslexia therapist, and creator of NoteSense® (a multisensory approach to teaching note reading). I first met Elizabeth at the American String Teachers Association conference earlier this year, after hearing her give a fantastic talk on this topic, and I'm excited to have her join us to talk about her approach to music reading this week. Dr. Morrow shares how she…