Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Practice Techniques

How is practicing going at home?  I ask, because it is easy to get into the habit of practicing in terms of time instead of accomplishment, especially at this time of year.

I'm thinking about your child's practice this week because for the first time in a long time, my practice goals are seriously constrained by time!  I can only practice a few minutes a day due to an injury and I'm finding that I have to be so very efficient!  Here are some of the ideas that I am keeping in mind for my practice:

  • Set a clear goal to accomplish by the end of the practice session
  • Make sure the goal is small, and your child knows how to accomplish the goal
  • Play through the piece with the new accomplished portion
  • Move on to another goal, or run through a performance piece or do some improvising!
  • If the goals are accomplished before the regular time set aside for practicing, finish up early!


For the young child, teaching the idea and feeling for self-motivated discipline is so important, and music study is a perfect way to tackle this.

Here is an article with more details on practice techniques that you might enjoy.