Running a Studio Challenge

While this post is geared more towards Suzuki teachers, I think parents can take some of these ideas and modify them to create a “family challenge” based on the same ideas.

I have found lately that having studio practice challenges, where the whole studio is working on something at the same time, helps students feel like they are part of something exciting that is happening. It makes them want to keep up and practice.

I’ve had parents thank me for organizing them because it means less nagging by the parent to get started on practice – which I think is great. That kind of feedback motivates me to keep coming up with ideas and and doing a few challenges each year of various kinds.

Over the summer we had a practice club – students earned different levels by the number of days practiced during summer term.  Their names went up in the studio for each level earned and I gave out certificates at group class in September. Overall, there was a lot more consistent practice over the summer and especially the younger students seemed to find it fun and motivating.

This fall we are doing a Bow Hold Challenge. 

If you teach an instrument that doesn’t have a bow I am sure you can come up with your own technique to plug in and modify this idea to fit your instrument.

I wanted to share the elements of running this challenge on the blog so it would be easy for anyone to replicate.

1.  Put up an eye catching sign in the studio (you can see mine above).

This sign about the bow hold challenge was on a music stand for students to see as they walked in to their lessons at the start of the challenge. Many students asked me about it before we even got to it in the lesson. I plan to keep it up for the whole length of the challenge as a reminder to both students and parents that this is still something we’re working on.

2. Clearly map out the assignments for home

I gave out a list with 5 bow exercises on it to each student. We had the same exercises for the first 3 weeks and then new ones for weeks 4 & 5 and weeks 6 & 7.

Because of my students’ needs, I had three different sets of exercises: for beginners, for intermediate students & for more advanced students. It turned out I should have put a bit more detail into what each exercise was on the sheet I handed out. I ended up making a short video to send out to families to show each one. You could also just have each parent take a video in the lesson of you doing each exercise so the assignment was clear.

I got my exercises from these three books:  Basics by Simon Fischer, Building Violin Skills by Edmund Sprunger, and Bow Exercises by Cathryn S. Lee & Donna Lim (only available to purchase through Cathy Lee if you’ve taken her training – which I highly recommend).

3. Have a clear way to track progress:

Our bow hold challenge was for 7 weeks (the 7 weeks leading up to our fall recital) so the tracking sheet I made had a box for each of the 7 weeks. I simply asked families to track how many days a week they were getting to the challenge.

4. Recognize students at the end:

I have found that purchased prizes are fun once in a while but aren’t necessary for every challenge. My students seem very motivated by being recognized in front of their peers in the studio, either with having their name posted or coming up at a recital or group class to get a certificate. I much prefer the idea of them feeling proud of their hard work and being recognized for that, than having them only do the challenge to earn some sort of prize. If that’s the motivation why work so hard when there is no prize involved? To read more about how rewards can get in the way of forming a practice habit you can read my post here.

As of this week we are starting week 4 of the challenge – I am noticing much improvement in students’ control over their fingers and bow holds in general and am excited to see how much improvement happens at the end of the 7 weeks.

Leave a comment and let us know about a studio challenge your students love, or one your child has participated in and loved!

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