Hi everyone! Paige here.
I’ve had some really good questions recently from parents and students regarding practice, so I thought it would be worth answering them here for everyone!
Question 1:
How much should my kid be practicing?
The general rule for practice is the age of the child plus a zero. So for instance, if a kid is 9 years old, they should be practicing 90 minutes a week. You can divide that 90 minutes up however you like, however, I recommend short focused bursts of no more than 15 minutes at a time. A short focused practice session is SO much better and more productive than a long one where they’re unfocused on what they’re doing. This also goes a long way to avoid burn out!
Question 2:
What should my kid be practicing?
This is where our binder comes into play. Our lessons binders are divided up into 5 sections: Technique, Music Theory, Current Short-Term Pieces, Current Long-Term Pieces, and Review. Ideally, the student should be doing something in each part of their binder every time they practice. A crucial part of this is the Review section, these pieces are fun and easy and let students end feeling like they won. However, the caveat here is not to get caught up in the review section so you never get to your current stuff. Sometimes playing a piece that we’ve mastered is nice and helps boost confidence!
Question 3:
We’re going on vacation, should we pack the instrument?
No. Absolutely not. Everyone needs a break and the instrument and lessons will still be there when you get back. We understand that there is more to life than playing an instrument and life happens. A week or two of missed practice is nothing when the goal is to have music be a lifelong thing.
Science backs this up too! There’s this neuro-science thing called “pruning”. Basically what happens is when we rest and take breaks after a productive practice session, our “brain gardeners” go in and “prune” away all the neural pathways that no longer serve us. The bad habits we fix during practice are made permanent during this time and our brains form new pathways as we build those new habits.
Question 4:
Is there anything specific my child needs to be focused on while practicing?
I give my students a goal to focus on every week during practice. This goal can be found either on their goal sheet in their binder or in their method books written on the piece they’re working on. Most of the time it’s my pet peeve, counting. (It’s hard, but they can do it!) When in doubt, remind them to count!