HOW TO PRACTICE

Tips for Helping Your Child to Succeed

The musical success that your children will be able to achieve bears a great relationship to the amount of help and encouragement you give them at home. Hmm, seems that principle applies to parenthood in general, doesn’t it? The quality of hours practiced, rather than the amount of musical ability, is the key factor in a child's musical success.

Some families play chamber music together. Others have regular Sunday “concerts” where the kids show their prowess. There are concerts for children and wonderful CDs to listen to. Local music schools have open-house during which children (and parents) can try out the instruments. Take your child to musical events classical, rock, country, world music. The child’s musical environment plays a decisive role in his instrumental success. Being in this together is fun and makes for wonderful memories later, too!

Capitalize on what your kids like. ☺ Kids like sounding good. If your children are having trouble with a difficult piece of music, finish the practice session with a piece they play well--it'll leave them with a sense of accomplishment and ease their frustration. ☺ Reward both effort and achievement. Don't bribe, but give praise and encouragement. You can motivate younger kids with stickers or gold stars. ☺ Turn practicing into a game. Play a piece badly, for example, and let the kids correct you. Check the library or bookstore for books that suggest other games you can play. Or, read on in this book! ☺ Use music software to help develop the interest of kids who like to play with the computer. ☺ Show up for lessons. This is a must for kids under 6. Knowing what's going on in the lesson will allow you to better help your young music student at home. ☺ Help kids learn the basics. Learning the fundamentals is very important. Violin students, for example, will need to learn to hold the bow correctly and develop proper posture. Mom, if you are afraid of the notes, how do you expect your kids to react?! ☺ Stay in contact with the teacher. One of the most important things you can do as a parent is to stay in touch with your child's instructor. You may find that email is the easiest way to do this. Telephone, too! Of course, your pleasant presence at lessons makes everything easier! ☺ Keep the instrument handy. It's important for parents to leave the instrument out, rather than storing it away, so that the child can always have easy access to it. They often start playing voluntarily when they happen to walk by the instrument. My son always did and we loved the spontaneous concerts! ☺ Support and encourage your children when they are learning an instrument, without making it seem as if they have to do it for you. ☺ Have faith that they can do it and show you enjoy their efforts. Spend time listening to the boring parts, too. ☺ Ask your children to give you a lesson on their instrument sometimes - so they are the experts and you the learner.

Also think about what they don't like. ☺ Don't make practice a chore. In the first year of study, don't force practice. Instead offer encouragement, promote good habits and show that you're interested in how your son or daughter is doing. When you're folding laundry or doing paperwork, for example, have your child perform a mini concert of songs he or she is learning. ☺ Some children find practicing too solitary an activity. Listen to music at home, go to concerts, even practice instruments as a family. At the very least, show interest by sitting with your children and listening as they practice. ☺ Avoid punishing children who can't settle down to practice. Try not to give into your impulse to nag or lecture. ☺ Avoid criticism. Negative comments can discourage children who become afraid of making further mistakes. Mention the good. ☺ Determine if the exercise is too hard. Start each session with an easy piece to build confidence before easing them into the more difficult ones. Chunk the difficult pieces down into pliable (word pun – playable) parts. ☺ Don't start children learning an instrument before they are ready and interested - usually in the lower to middle primary school years. Give them a taste first and then if they say they want to learn make an agreement with them that they will continue for a certain length of time, eg. 6 months to give it a proper try. ☺ If they do not do well at an recital, help them to see that this is not the end but a step along the way and does not mean that they play any less well. Learning to deal with disappointments is a mental skill needed for life! ☺ Don't compare your child's progress with others. All people learn in their own way and at their own pace. Comparisons can make children feel as if they can't be good enough to please you. ☺If your child is involved in and enjoys music or dance that is not done by his school friends he may be teased and need your support to cope with this. A peer group with similar interests is a great boon.