5 Steps to Transform Practice for Music Lessons

Daily practice with our children as they are learning to play an instrument can be an intense experience.

For many families, it is the most challenging part of learning an instrument.

No one wants to fight with their child over practice every day.

As both a teacher and parent I have learned this important lesson over the years: It is your child’s job to practice, but as parents we have a unique impact on the practice environment and on our child’s developing sense of what it means to practice.

You can’t control your child’s mood, or their willingness to be cooperative on any given day.

But, you can observe what helps your child get started practicing more easily and what factors influence them having a calm and productive practice session.

You can take note of what made a particularly great practice work for your child, and help re-create that on a daily basis.

Over my last nineteen years of teaching I have had countless conversations with parents about how to improve practice with their children. I’ve helped many parents turn around practice sessions that were filled with arguments and conflict and made them wonder if learning an instrument was worth it.

Lately I have been thinking about how to more clearly help parents through this process. I’ve narrowed it down to a checklist of five questions that parents should ask themselves after each practice as they are working to improve the process with their child.

You can find my complete guide to this process available HERE 

After each practice take a few minutes to answer the following five questions:

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Did you start today’s practice with a clear plan in mind?

Did you have a plan to get the practice assignments done?

Or, did you try to make it up as you went?

Was the plan clear enough to keep practice simple and moving along?

Were you able to get practice started without a battle of wills with your child?

Does practice feel like a scheduled fight with your child?

Do you have a system to help get practice started without a fight?

Do you have a routine that helps your child settle into practice each day?

Which part of today’s practice held your child’s attention the most?

Are their parts of practice your child particularly enjoys?

Are their parts of practice where they always lose focus?

What is their favorite activity when they’re playing their instrument?

Did the practice end before your child asked it to?

Is the practice dragging on?

Are you trying to practice longer than your child is able to focus?

Are we leaving them wanting more?

Did one of the following happen as a result of today’s practice?

– a piece of music got easier to play

– a technical skill improved

– a clearer, more beautiful sound was produced

– your child played with more artistry or expression 

– your child was able to focus (even briefly) 

Is the way we’re practicing improving our child’s playing in some way?

Are we focusing on improving, or just on getting it done?

What from this list can we focus on more?

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If you go through this practice checklist after each practice session in your house and you’re open to improving practice with your child, I am confident you will see big changes start to happen.

 

To download a copy of the Five Question Practice Checklist simply enter your email below and I will send it your way!