The One Key to Your Child’s Success in Music
As a music teacher, it is my job to guide each one of my students to a higher level when it comes to their playing and understanding of music. At ATL Music Lessons, we customize every lesson to match each student’s abilities and musical interests. However, the real learning begins after the lesson is over. While time spent with an instructor is fundamental to developing a child’s musical abilities, most progress is made after the teacher has gone home through thoughtful, focussed practice time. The right teacher is crucial, but quality practice time is the one key to your child’s success in music.
Practice Makes Permanent
Regular practice is absolutely essential in learning an instrument - or learning to do anything well, really! Just like learning a new language, a new math skill, or a new sport, repetition is crucial in absorbing the new knowledge. Learning to play an instrument is like a combination of all three: It is auditory like learning a language, conceptual like learning a new math skill, and tactile like learning to play a new sport. It is a lot for your brain to process!
Most adults understand the importance of daily practice, but for the parents of our younger students here at ATL Music Lessons, I know that it can be a challenge to get kids to sit down and play every day! I’ll never forget when one of my seven year old students said to me, “I just have so much going on right now.” Um, wow!
Kids are leading busier lives than ever, but if parents want music to be an important part of their lives, it should be a part of their daily routine. Just like academic homework, music homework is important too. Now I’m not suggesting your fourth grader pull a Charlie Parker and lock themself in their room with nothing but their guitar for thirteen hours a day. However, establishing a daily time to practice their instrument will help them not only to improve much more quickly, but to also understand that music is something to enjoy daily. It is not just a once-a-week activity reserved for when the instructor shows up.
Make The Most of Those Formative Years
Unfortunately, when kids aren’t required to have a daily practice time, they miss out on some of their most valuable years for learning music fundamentals. We all know that it is easier to learn things like math and language when we are younger; Well, the same goes for music. This is why I suggest that brand new beginners set aside at least fifteen minutes a day for solid, focused practice time. Just fifteen minutes! Tony Robbins likes to say “if you don’t have ten minutes, you don’t have a life.” I’m only asking for five minutes more.
At ATL Music Lessons, we make a point to take time at the end of each lesson to be crystal clear on what the week’s assignments are and what expectations are for next time. We require each student to have a notebook that is used only for music lessons where we write down notes every lesson. We have reward systems for our younger students for completing the week’s assignments, and prizes for consistent improvement. We keep things fun, but encourage students to push themselves and strive to be just a little bit better each week. With the right direction and consistent practice, weekly improvement is unavoidable!
Creating Good Habits
Developing a consistent practice routine is a skill that goes beyond musical training. It teaches kids (whether they know it or not) the value of discipline, time management, and focussed effort. Learning an instrument is an exercise in patience, persistence, and perseverance, and they get a boost of confidence in themselves when they finally nail that piece they’ve been working on.
In order to reap these benefits, at home practice time is an absolute necessity. If our lesson time is the only time a kid touches his or her instrument, they are still likely to make incremental progress. They miss out, however, on all of the valuable lessons that come with personal practice time. To get the most out of private music lessons, this practice time is the key.
But how do I get them to practice?
Ah, herein lies the challenge! We all know it can be difficult to get a kid to sit down and work through a challenge. There are two methods which I would recommend:
The Egg Timer Method
This is an easy way for busy parents to carve out practice time for their kids. Pick a time, preferably the same time every day, that is practice time. Let’s say it’s 5:00PM. At 5:00, the child needs to be sat at the piano (or sitting with their instrument). Set a timer on your phone for 15-30 minutes. Make sure your child knows that during that time there will be no T.V., no iPad, no running around, etc. If you hear practicing during the entire length of practice time, you can reward them with 30 minutes of T.V., a treat, or whatever you decide.Musical Goal Post Method
The other method, which is a little more involved, does not involve a timer, but rather benchmarks that a child needs to complete. This might be, for example, eight measure of the piece they were assigned that week. This requires more attention from the parents, as they will need to check in to hear that the child can play the section they have been assigned for the day. This is actually a more effective method than the egg timer method, as it reduces the risk of unfocussed practice. It also teaches the child to finish the task, rather than just run out the clock.
Get involved
Nothing gets kids excited for music like a parent’s enthusiasm. Check in with them! Ask what they’ve been working on. Ask to hear a section. Better yet, learn to play the piece with them! A good instructor should keep the parent informed of exactly what they are working on, and be clear on what the week's assignment is. At ATLML we make sure that parents are in the loop. We do this through the use of our online portal, where we stash lesson notes and weekly assignments. We want each one of our students to succeed, and we know that a tuned-in parent is key to that success.
Now that you know the key to your child’s success in music, it’s time you found the right instructor to help guide their practice and teach good practice habits. Here at ATLML, we offer a zero-risk trial lessons to get your child started (or back on) the right path with their music. Give us a call or shoot us an email to get things rolling!