How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
… Practice. Practice. Practice.
As a teacher and a parent – I see both sides of the practicing equation. As a teacher, I know how important practicing at home is. I mean, the actual lesson is only 30 minutes long. That is really only enough time to review old pieces and learn new concepts with maybe some time to work on skill and technique. So much work can and needs to be done at home. But as a parent, I get how hard it is to get regularly scheduled “good” practice time in. I would like to offer a few tips and suggestions to help combat the following obstacles to practicing
- When to practice
- How to practice & practice well with beginners and more advanced students
When to Practice
Set a schedule / set a goal
o Set a specific time to schedule each day. Make sure to take into account weekend schedule differences. Be realistic about what works for your family. My daughters and I are morning people, so they must practice when they first get up, either waiting for breakfast to be made or after breakfast is eaten. When I was a teenage piano student, I would practice right before dinner. My mom always loved me playing for her as she prepared dinner.
o Set a goal. Again, be realistic, but also push yourself. Maybe 6 out of 7 days a week. Or practice for 100 days.
o Mark your Goal – there is a little release of endorphins when you get to check something off a list – give yourself that same reward after practicing. Possible ideas
A sticker on a sticker chart
Candy or little treats inside a medicine pill box (like a homemade piano advent calendar)
How to Practice – Beginner Students
o Put colored tabs on their assigned pages so they can independently find all of their music.
o Have practice “tokens” (dice, puppets, lego people, etc.). Place 3 of them on the left side of the piano. After the child finishes their first time through the piece, move 1 piece over to the right side of the piano. Repeat for the 2nd and 3rd times through. It’s a great way for a student to keep track of how many times they have practiced their piece.
o Parents – BE NEAR – I cannot emphasize this enough. Young/beginner students need lots of help on everything from setting up their hands correctly to finding the correct first note to learning to listen to themselves play. Here are some things to look out for to help your beginner piano child.
Are their hands in the correct place?
Are they starting on the correct note?
Are they playing with the correct finger numbers?
Are they playing the correct rhythm?
Are they playing with dynamics?
o For Non-Musicians: I recommend these for all parents, but especially for those who don’t consider themselves a musician.
· Pay attention during your child’s lesson
o Learn the terms and concepts alongside your child (think of it as getting two piano lessons for the price of one)
· Pay attention to what the songs should sound like. This one has come in so handy as a parent myself, because I can help my child, even if I’m in another room. You can even ask the teacher if you can record your child (or the teacher) playing the song just so you can refer to it at home.
· Reference the lesson books – most books have the concepts explained. A lot of time a child’s confusion at practicing comes from not reading (or not being able to read) the directions. Parents are a HUGE help when it comes to reading directions.
· Contact the teacher – email, call, text, skype, war drums, carrier pigeon, smoke signal, write a note in the assignment book, whatever – let the teacher know what your question is – DON’T STAY STUCK!
How to Practice – Older Students
(these are tips for parents of older students and for the older students themselves)
o Listen to yourself play. Don’t tune out, actually pay attention to what you sound like. Parents, listen to their playing as well, call out compliments or questions as you are listening. Help your child better attend to their practicing.
o Set a Plan for your practice times for the week. Older students tend to have a busier schedule, often with lots of activities that take them out of the house. Just as you schedule other extra-curricular activities, you must plan to practice the piano. As my college professor used to say, if you fail to plan…plan to fail.
o Practice well
STOP at the hard parts
· Break down hard sections – work on just the specific measure. Do it Right Hand, Left Hand, Hands Together. Slow it down, repeat it and as you continue to get it correct, build up speed.
· Put the trouble spot back into context. Add the measures before it and after it. Play the entire line. Play the lines before and after it.
Be Creative in your practicing
· Start with the last measure and work backwards in the song, adding the previous measure and playing through to the end each time.
· Change up the rhythms or accents (especially helpful with scales)
· Challenge yourself to memorize the song.
