-Stathia Orwig With the beginning of a new year comes a new schedule, homework load, and activities. Obviously if you are reading this, private lessons is one of your activities! Once you get a lesson time nailed down (whew!), you have to “schedule” in time to practice. Sometimes we think that the hard part is getting an ideal lesson time, but often we forget how hard it is to set aside a specific time in our schedule to sit down and practice. Well, maybe it’s us as parents reminding the kids to sit down and practice- but regardless, it is the one thing that gets put to the side because it’s not always scheduled into our day like lessons, soccer practice, or ballet class. So, you want to know how to “schedule” in practice time? Here are some ideas about when to practice:
You might want to try a couple of different combinations to see what works best for your child and your family. He/she might be great to practice early before going to school, but if the baby is still sleeping, you definitely don’t want to wake them up!! We also recommend (if possible) that you as a parent try to sit in on the first couple of practice days to make sure that your child is practicing correctly- it’s harder to relearn a piece if learned incorrectly! So, try a few different ways and once you find the right fit, keep it in your schedule. Another way to keep them motivated with practicing is to remind them that they can earn music bucks for practicing, and that at the end of the month, they can spend their bucks on special prizes!
Need more tips on how to set a successful practice schedule? Talk to your teacher- we know lots of ways to make practicing more enjoyable and less like pulling teeth!
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-Doreen Hall is a piano teacher and piano parent. She has been teaching the piano for over 30 years and has five sons all of whom have been involved in piano and other music lessons. For more blogs written by Doreen, check out her website, www.PianoParent.net. Before we begin the count-down, let me set a little scene. I am a piano teacher mom so we have a studio in our home. It’s a room that has my Kawai baby grand piano and all of my other music stuff. It’s where I teach all of my students. My boys also like to “practice” in the studio. Which works out just fine. I have always encouraged my boys to practice their instruments. Well anyway, one day, one of my sons, whom I’ll call Johnny (his real name) was in the studio “practicing” his violin. I had a friend over and she was really impressed with this. “Wow! Johnny is really practicing hard” she said. “No he’s not.” I told her. “What do you mean?” she asked “I hear him, he sounds great”. “OK. Yes, he sounds great”, I told her. “He’s very talented, but he’s not practicing right now, he’s playing, but he’s not practicing” My friend turned her right palm over and raised an eyebrow as if to ask, “What’s the difference?”
Alas, what is the difference? This is a question I face almost every day. Parents will tell me their child is practicing and I believe that they are seeing their sons and daughters go to the piano and hearing them play something. But honestly, if I am not seeing progress in the students abilities, they are not practicing, or at least they’re not practicing correctly. Why is this so important? Because incorrect practice can actually be worse than no practice at all. Spend an hour practicing wrong notes, incorrect rhythm and bad technique and what do you get? Wrong notes, incorrect rhythm and bad technique. I am only with a student for one short lesson per week so I think that it’s important for parents to be able to distinguish proper, productive practicing from other things that may be going on during practice time. I am writing under the assumption that you have a competent teacher that you trust has your child’s best interest at heart and understands his unique abilities. To begin, I think we should define the word practice; practice is “the repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency”. With this definition in mind, here are 10 ways you can tell when your child is not really practicing while they are at the piano. 1- The teacher tells you that your child is not practicing. This may seem like a no brainer, but if your teacher is questioning your son’s practice habits it may be time to check into what is going on in the practice room. 2-You are hearing the same piece or pieces over and over. While it’s true that practice is about repeating parts of the music until the music is learned, you shouldn’t hear your daughter playing “Carol of the Bells” over and over especially if we’re in the month of July. If you suspect this may not be what the teacher has assigned go ahead and check. 3-Your child is spending weeks and weeks on the same page in her piano book. Beginning through early intermediate students should progress through their method books fairly quickly. At the beginning, even the youngest students should be learning at least one new piece per week. Toward the end of most piano methods (about books 3 or 4) students should spend no more than three or four weeks on any particular piece. As for the intermediate through advanced crew, it is more difficult to say how long each piece should take to learn. But, by this point, students should be responsible enough to manage their own practicing. 5-The music doesn’t sound good. Too slow, full of mistakes, bad rhythm. All of these things are signs that something is not right and it’s time to find out what’s going on during practice time. 6- The music sounds more like just doodling around. This can be a tricky one, because I am all for a certain amount of doodling (or I should say improvisation). I once saw an interview with Billy Joel, where he said his mother would tell him to spend more time on Beethoven. I guess the point is, Beethoven is great but you also need some doodle time. 7-He doesn’t want to go to his lesson. It’s no fun to go to a lesson unprepared. If your child is regularly trying to get out of going to his lesson it may be because he isn’t learning what has been assigned by the teacher. I’m not talking about the occasional “off week”; Most teachers make exceptions for that. When going to the lesson becomes a problem for more than two or three weeks, it may be a practicing issue. 8- The music books are always getting lost. This falls under not wanting to go to the lesson. When my student shows up without his books odds are good that he hasn’t done much practicing. 9-He never seems to get any better. Maybe your son plays a few thing pretty well, but he never seems to progress to a higher level. You may also notice that his piano peers seem to be leaving him “in the dust”. 10- Your child wants to opt out at recital time. It’s probably not a big deal to miss a recital from time to time. But if your child is isn’t getting pieces together in time for performances he may not be practicing enough or correctly. I hope this blog post will help parents to be more aware of what is going in the practice room. I know it isn’t easy. Practicing is super hard work and kids will sometimes come up with lots of ways to make it easier. I once had a student who would record himself playing and then just hit the playback button for 20 minutes so his mom would think he was practicing. His sister finally “ratted him out”. I had to give him an “A plus” for ingenuity. Sometimes students may not know how they should be practicing. If there is an question, discuss it with the teacher. Teaching kids how to practice is a big part of the job. Your teacher wants to see your child succeed. Learning piano is a long-term project. There are bound to be ups and downs in your child’s practice routine. Helping your child to stay on track can help him reach his goals and make playing the piano a lot more fun. So what ever happened with Johnny? He actually became a Worship Leader and plays music all of the time. He is married and has three kids, now it’s his turn to get them to practice. 🙂 We are so excited to see so many bright and eager young beginners. We know that you must have many questions as to what this year will bring. This is to provide you with some information about what to expect and maybe a few words of wisdom...
How much practice is required? This depends on how well your child practices, but as a general rule, try to aim for 5 days a week. If you can help your child practice, that’s ideal.. It is especially helpful to practice with them the first couple of days after they get their assignment; after that, they can probably practice on their own, perhaps within earshot. At first your child will probably be practicing 5-10 minutes a day. I always say: "Practice each piece 3 times in a row. Then go on to the next piece." The pieces are short. Often we will encourage kids to count or chant rhythm on "ta" while they play or before singing, which helps with rhythmic accuracy. For piano, singing the words while playing may help some students. We ask that our students reread their assignments when they practice, and to mark their practice log since it is the only visible thing the teacher has to go on. (You will need to help them do this at first.) We give small rewards based on good practice habits and progress. Try to include practice with their daily routine: perhaps find a similar time each day. Treat it like "homework" (in a sense that it is necessary and not an option), only it's more fun! We have two recitals in December and May, and your teacher will be in touch with you about these. There will be much preparation ahead of time during lessons, and it is a great opportunity for students to showcase their hard work and gain self-esteem. Can lessons be made up? Music SO Simple has a 24-hour cancellation policy. Certainly, if your teacher has to cancel, the lesson will be made up. If you know your child is going to be absent, please let us know as soon as possible, and we will try our best to reschedule at a mutually convenient time. We appreciate close communication with our parents, as it will only make your child more successful. Feel free to call, email, or text anytime. You will receive a Music SO Simple weekly newsletter that will feature our “Students of the Week”, and a monthly newsletter with upcoming events via email. .Also you should "like" us on Facebook to see student achievements and news. Can/should you sit in on lessons? This is up to you and your teacher. Parents are welcome to sit in on private lessons at any time, and it may be helpful to attend so that you are able to help your child practice correctly at home. How long does it take to know if private lessons are the right thing for my child? We know that if you say "we're just going to TRY this to see if you like it", there will quickly come a time when your child says "I DON'T WANT TO PRACTICE! I WANT TO QUIT!". We recommend that either your child take lessons through 6th grade if he/she started early,, or for 3 years, -something long term without an easy out. We think that piano is a great instrument to begin on (and continue on), but after 3 years, they will have enough general knowledge of music that they will be equipped to pursue any other instrument they wish! What happens if they lose interest? Don't panic! Discuss the situation with your child and talk to your teacher to see what might can be done to rekindle their enthusiasm. Give them increased encouragement and support. Frustration typically sets in when they are not practicing enough, and that happens to everyone from time to time. Remind yourself that the habits of self-discipline that are learned in music study carry over into other areas of life. Your child is developing the confidence to master difficult tasks and to pursue challenging goals! Hopefully, you have found this information useful. If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to call or email us. If you would like to come in and talk in person, that would be fine! Learning an instrument is such a lifelong gift. Thank you for making it a priority! It's gonna be a great year! Sincerely, Stathia & Meredith This week’s blog is about how we offer our piano and voice lessons. In my years of teaching, I have always found it fascinating how different students learn in different environments. At Music SO Simple, we offer lessons in the convenience of your home as well as in our home studios. Deciding on which route to take depends on what’s best for your family and how the student learns! There are pros and cons to consider in each learning situation. Back in the day when I started teaching, I was hired to primarily be a travelling teacher. Now that my daughter's piano teacher (Ms. Meredith!!) comes to my house, I am now seeing the amazing benefits of being able to cut one more activity out that I have to drive to, and I can get things done at home while she gets her lesson! As wonderful as this sounds, there are also quite a few potential drawbacks to having lessons at home:
For some people, having lessons at a studio might be a better “fit”. For other, the opposite is true- either way, there are pros and cons. Make the best decision for your family and for your student’s learning style. If keeping the siblings entertained while your student is having their lesson at home, then maybe it’s best to drop your student off for the 45 minutes while you run errands with the other kiddos! Make it worth your time, your money, and your sanity...just my two cents as both a mom and teacher!! -Becky Corley, guest blog with over 40 years of teaching experience. Becky is an amazing mentor who has taught me so much about teaching piano and running a music studio. A few years ago, I did a day-long class with some students in Carrollton … similar to the performance classes we do before special events. Toward the end of the day, I asked them to write down some things they had learned about practice that day. Here are a few of their comments as well as some of my own. Practice slow enough to be accurate. Slow practice really pays off. Be able to begin at any part of a piece, at any phrase. If you can’t, you don’t really know the piece. If you make a mistake in practicing, don’t go back to the beginning (unless that’s where you made the mistake). When you are practicing, you are the audience. Do you really like what you hear? My weight should be divided, with more weight on my feet that on my seat. Don’t settle way back on the bench; sit forward, ready to play. Correct fingering is very important. Wrong fingering gets you into all kinds of trouble.
If you can’t play a fast piece at a slow tempo, you can’t really control it at a fast tempo Set the tempo before you begin the piece, not in the fourth or fifth measure. Practice makes perfect only if the practice is perfect! -Stathia Orwig This week’s blog is about all of the technology that is available in the music pedagogy world. In today’s world of fast fixes, we think that in order to learn any instrument, all we need to do is log on, watch, and play! While this can get us going, it will only get us so far. You don’t need me to tell you that there is something very important about human contact and the importance of the student/teacher relationship. Just a few things a teacher can provide (vs. YouTube video) are hand position, breathing techniques, correct fingering, dynamics, reading, and so much more!
The other side of technology is in the hands of a teacher. Great new programs and apps are available to teachers and students to help with technique. I have been using a great app on my iPad which allows the student to practice sight-reading. The app is able to listen for the correct notes and rhythm, and will award stars in order to get to the next level! It will also play the duet for the student to play along to! Teachers may assign extra work on these apps for practice at home. It’s awesome! It’s different than reading traditional sheet music, and it definitely takes a little getting used to, but students today catch on rather quickly! Even metronomes are available as apps on our mobile devices! There are software programs that assist in music writing and theory! I think this new technology adds a little twist and convenience to traditional learning. Obviously, this technology doesn’t have to be used every time you practice, but it’s a great resource that is now available to us. Using it every now and then is ideal for a student of any age or stage. It can open your ear to the possibilities, have as a tool to perfect rhythm and notes: almost like taking your teacher home with you! |
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