Make Practice Time Fly!

Get-real tips for making music lessons more fun

By Michael Hemsworth

It's a cross between Grand Central Station and the New York Stock Exchange.  The older boys have baseball games at two ends of town with barely an hour to feed them in between. Then, if you are lucky, you’ll have time to get them bathed so they don't stink up your middle child's dance recital. Don't even mention the fact that your toddler has seen Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the minivan DVD player more than she has seen your face today.

On the days you are at home, there are science projects, homework, community service hours, chores, and more to orchestrate. Last week the piano teacher was "concerned" Becky had not practiced very much this...month. Meanwhile, you secretly think you deserve an award for getting her to practice AT ALL. So, how do you raise a successful music student amidst all of the modern-day activities and school assignments, not to mention the endless distractions of iEverything?

Practicing a musical instrument, while it does require structure and guidance from a parent, does not always require nagging, screaming, or banging one's head against the piano (literally or figuratively).

As Mary Poppins famously sang, "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down."  It’s a good motto for music lessons, too. Staying committed to practicing a musical instrument is rewarding, but it’s also hard work. Unless we acknowledge that hard work and help make it a bit more palatable for them, kids are bound to suffer a lot of music lessons burn-out.

Musical chairs
The first step to getting kids to sit at that piano (or pick up that guitar) is to give them a clear plan with achievable mini-goals—see our sidebar, "Practice... Now What?" (below). The second step is to choose a consistent time of day for practicing. At my house, after work means dinner, talking, TV—it’s the most active time of day. It’s a good time to “show off” musical progress, but not the best time for focused work. So, we usually choose a morning practice time. But be realistic about getting ready for school, sibling naps, TV “prime time,” etc., so practice time won’t feel like a punishment and your child won’t feel like she’s missing out on anything fun.

“Practice..." Now What?

The best music teachers offer students a clear practice plan, but many teachers are vague about just what students are expected to do with that 30 minutes you are trying to force them to sit at the instrument every day. If you don't have a clear practice plan, make sure to ask the teacher for one—in writing! Here is a rough idea of what that might look like:

- 3 to 5 minutes of warm-ups (exercises like good old scales, etc.)
- 15 minutes of working through new or difficult sections of music (not a straight play through, but repeating tough material, step-by-step, for mastery)
- 10 minutes of putting together more "finished" songs with complete run-throughs
- 5 minutes of fun review—this is when your student gets to play his favorite songs, the ones he has memorized or plays well. (This is also when you will hear him perform the Star Wars theme for the 3 millionth time... bear with it, it's only 5 minutes.)

Notice how much easier it feels to tackle 5- or 10-minute exercises—with very specific goals and some variety, too, compared to a half-hour of practice time with no definite end or aim.

Some children love having an “audience” around during their practice time; they feel less isolated. Others need to build confidence on their own, without the worry of making mistakes in front of other people (and of course there will be mistakes).

Allow practice time to include a mix of styles to suit your child, including both familiar (folk and popular) and unfamiliar (usually classical or method book music) pieces. This makes the music more “personal.” Encourage students to make up their own music as well, perhaps inspired by something they learned—or completely unique!

Just rewards
Don’t expect “Music is its own reward” to work on a 6-year-old day in and day out. Music students put significant time and effort into bettering themselves and building their skills, and they should feel the reward of doing so before they turn 25. Opt for weekly or monthly rewards over daily rewards to reinforce the idea that musical growth is a long-term process.

Of course, you also want to recognize the little steps that lead to big achievements. Try a sticker chart or marble jar—something you can add to daily until you reach 100 minutes, or 20 days, or some other practice landmark.

Child’s play
Games are a great way to take the drudgery out of practice time and make it fun. Here’s a good one: Write each practice task on a paper “ice cream scoop.” (For example: play the right hand piano notes all the way through; play the piece phrase-by-phrase and listen for smoothness; play the first line or section from memory, etc. ) Your child can then draw the allotted number of scoops to make an ice cream “sundae.”

Trying to eliminate careless mistakes? Play reverse hang-man: Your child chooses a mystery word and for every mistake (or stop, or you choose what needs fixing) they have to give you one of the letters. By the end of the song, you have to see if you can guess the word. (You can find more games at MusicLearningCommunity.com.)

Another great way to help your child is by telling a story. Need to keep the fingers tall instead of flat? Tell a story about the hungry troll who was too short to see over the garden wall and find the vegetable. Encourage sports fans to think of their song like a basketball game, complete with a loud cheer from the crowd at some points and slowing down, tired, at the end of the game. This helps kids remember the many new details in terms of one big picture, or story. And soon your child will be creating stories to tell you instead.

Finally, make your home a place where student music is celebrated as much as celebrity music is celebrated in the mainstream. Make your child a music “idol”—bragging about new progress to your spouse, to grandparents, and friends; post (or “like”) simple at-home performance videos on Facebook; post certificates for recital performances on the fridge—anything you can think of. Your commitment to show that music time is worth celebrating will make your students more eager to get back to that instrument again…and again.

Michael Hemsworth is a dad of two and director of NewSongs School of Music in Elk Grove. For more tips on the care and feeding of young musicians, visit ElkGroveMusicLessons.com.