Helpful Reads

"Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."   Through My Eyes;  Tim Tebow

Getting Kids to Practice Music - Without Tears Or Tantrums

Deceptive Cadence Blog; June 18, 2012

The following is an excerpt of an excellent article on the ever present challenge of getting kids to practice.  To read the complete article, go to :  npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2012/06/18/.../getting-kids-to-practice-music-without-tears-or-tantrums

"...Regular practicing is a path towards self-discipline that goes way beyond music - it's a skill that has hugely positive ramifications for personal fulfillment and lifetime success....But the trick is that self-motivated discipline isn't exactly first nature for most kids, so it's up to families to help create positive, engaging and fun ways to practice as a path towards self-motivation.

Having a goal for each practice session is essential, whether you child is practicing for five minutes or a couple of hours each day.  From The Top alumna Ren Martin-Doike, a 20-year-old violist says that her number one practice technique is to write down those benchmarks:  'Set goals, hold yourself accountable to them and create a practice log you can be proud of!..By having a plan, I am able to maximize my time, juggle lots of different music and prevent aimless practicing or mindless playing through.'

Martin-Doike's tip can easily be whittled down for younger and less experienced players.  As a parent leading practice, your aim in a session of five or ten minutes might be to help your child really work through just one or two bars of music.  That also makes learning a big hunk of new music less intimidating.

Good practice is intentional practice, adds 16-year old pianist Hilda Huang, who appeared on From The Top five years ago:  'They say that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become a professional.  But of course that practice needs to be qualified.  Ten thousand hours of intentional, focused and detailed practice makes someone a better musician, not 10,000 hours of goofing off.'

A couple of parents have created unique games to encourage their kids to practice.....You can even try game-ifying the actual practice...Also, if you're having trouble coaxing your child into practicing, try doing it at a different time of day.

But once a child hits a certain age, parents have to start turning the responsibility of practicing over to the budding musician....'By age 10 or 11, the child needs to learn that what you put in is what you get out.  What your parents put in, you don't get out,' says pianist Hilda Huang.  'Have the child practice for however long he can concentrate or feel like he's accomplished something.  Even better would be to have a goal, like 'I want to be able to play this passage by the time I finish practicing.'  For the beginner, 10 focused minutes is perfectly acceptable.  Older, more serious or experienced students might say they want to learn 10 lines of music, and maybe 40 minutes would do the job.' "