HOW TO BEAT THE PRACTICE BLUES

by Lin Davidson

Is your child suffering the mid-winter doldrums in their practice life?

Perhaps some tips will help your situation. Keep in mind that practice is essential to develop the coordination and strength necessary to play a stringed instrument. A practice "marathon" the night before class cannot accomplish the same results as consistent daily practice. A parent's extra support and encouragement is needed to establish and continue good practice habits. The same discipline necessary in learning to play an instrument can be applied as a habit to all tasks in life, especially as part of your child's academic success right now. A child must learn that the long range benefits of a task come from long range commitment and dedication. So... how to help your child...

  • Have your child teach you--you'll understand what your child is going through much better and understand the problems of good tone and finger placement.
  • Listen to recordings of quality music and go to concerts.
  • Keep track of practice minutes...earn a new CD for every 1000 or 2500 minutes of practice.
  • Make a pleasant music corner with pictures, music folder, music stand, chair, and light. Be sure the practice area is away from other distractions.
  • Work out a practice schedule with your child. Give the chosen time a week's trial. When the time is agreed to, be firm about adhering to it. Try correlating it with another daily activity... before going to school, right after dinner, etc.
  • Establish a pleasant practice time approach.
  • Check your child's plan book for their string class assignment. Have your child play through the assignment and point out the difficult measures or lines. Put a bracket around the difficult measures and then make a chart listing these measures. Practice and record the number of times played correctly. Make a reasonable goal of 5-8 times per session. Remember.. playing through a piece from beginning to end is just that, playing through. It's better to isolate problem areas and spend the bulk of practice time working through these measures. Play through the entire piece at the end of the session.
  • Have your child practice to change one thing at a time. "This time I will play F# in tune."
  • Alternate listening and playing with accompaniment tapes.
  • Tape record the same piece after practice every day for a week and observe the improvement at the end of the week.
  • Set a realistic goal for memorizing a given number of measures a day.
  • Perform a concert once a week for family or friends.
  • Record a birthday or holiday concert for a grandparent or other relative.
  • Schedule practice in the summer just like the school year.
  • Go to a summer music camp---a great inspiration booster!
  • Pick out a book of popular tunes at the local music store.
  • Make up words to the music.
  • If you basically don't like the sound of your child's instrument, pretend you do.
  • In general, don't speak of your own disbelief that your child will ever learn a piece in the presence of the child.
  • Avoid negative criticism--always reply to concerts or practice sessions with enthusiasm.

Remember---what you are willing to invest in time and effort will eventually be returned, and whatever value YOU place on the gift of music you will give to your children in return.