Well everyone is settled back into the rhythm of the school year activities and most of us have resumed our “regular” practice habits. Practice is the subject of this communication. I have a lot of new students in the studio this fall and have had several parents inquire as to what is expected for practice.
The “Piano Explorer” magazine has had a feature article on the topic with the big three questions:
1. Why should I practice so long?
2. Why should I practice every day?
3. How long should I play each day?
“It is always difficult to say exactly how long someone should practice because everyone learns at different speeds.”
As you become a better and more experienced musician and have harder music, you will have to practice longer. My recommendation is 15 – 20 minutes everyday for beginners, making sure not to always start with the same piece. Please write down your practice time in your assignment book. This is very helpful to me as I am not there with you as you practice.
There are signs that you can look for to see if you are practicing enough.
1. You learn something new almost every day, even if it’s just a little part of a piece.
2. You come prepared to lessons and have practiced everything that was assigned to you including any written work (ie. Notespeller or theory).
3. Your teacher tells you that there is improvement from one lesson to the next.
4. You feel confident playing your pieces and have practiced them all 4 ways (right and left hands alone, play and say the letter names of the notes, play and count hands separate first and then together) as assigned.
5. You prepare pieces to a performance level occasionally. Some times we use pieces to teach concepts and do not necessarily continue to the point of being “performance ready”.
Signs that you could use more practice:
1. You are stuck on the same pieces for months and make the same mistakes.
2. Your teacher keeps marking the same spots in the music to be corrected.
3. You have not fixed any mistakes from one lesson to the next.
4. You don’t feel confident about your playing and rarely prepare to a performance level.
What parents can do to help.
1. Use flashcards regularly with your student to review notes, their names and being able to identify them quickly. There are a lot of i- apps that are fun ways to do this as well. “tenuto” “Music Theory Pro” “Music for little Mozarts” to name a few that I am familiar with. Let me know if you are interested in more info.
2. Ask your child to “teach” you things.
3. Demonstrate for your child if you have the ability.
4. Ask your child to demonstrate a good hand position to you. (bubble hands)
5. Provide a quiet area without distractions to practice (remove siblings who are distracting).
6. Make practice your child’s responsibility. Remind, encourage but do not “nag”.
7. Be sure that your child is recording his/her practice time in their assignment book daily. (Mark a day without practice with a large “X”.
8. When your child comes to a difficult part, song or section. Encourage them to practice in small 2 or 4 measure sections. Right and left hand alone and then together slowly.
“Your own difficulty is the difficulty which you should practice most. Why waste time in practicing passages which you can play perfectly well?”- Ferruccio Bussoni (Italian pianist, composer and conductor).
See you at your lesson!
Mrs. Birky