How to Motivate a Child to Practice

 Tips on good music practice habits. 

It takes a certain kind of inspiration!

Of all the challenges parents have in handling their kid’s music lessons (buying an instrument and finding the right music teacher); getting kids to practice is the most daunting of all. And parents who have not had music lessons themselves don’t really know where to start.

Teachers have to face the challenge that once a child leaves the class, little or no homework is done until they come back to class the following week.

Because of this the child’s progress is slow and they give up music; thinking that music is boring and therefore not for them. Parents think, “I pay for lessons, yet my son or daughter isn’t learning anything”. They too are quite happy to give up music lessons.

So, teachers and parents; let's explore how we can motivate our young students toward good practice habits.

Why do children dislike practicing?

To a child of any young age, the word practice has no shape or form that has meaning. Quite often the daunting part of “practice” to a child is seeing the complete page of music they have to work through rather than the time it takes them to “practice” … to them it means reading and playing a lot of notes that don’t sound like anything exciting.

So, dear teachers; it’s time to take the fright and boredom out of “practice” and teach our students how it’s done. And, to readers who fill the role of parent…

“Insight and discernment come with knowledge.”

This is what I’ve discovered from over 30 years of teaching music and here’s what works!

"Miss Janice, what does practice mean?"

Every time I take on a new student, I hear the above. Whether they are 5 years old, or 15 years.
So, why not make it part of their first lesson to talk about what practice is and why it’s important. 

Taking the time to explain (in simple terms) often puts their anxiety to rest.

Bite off small bits instead of great chunks.

Having kids play through a page or more of music has been the norm for years; however, does this work? Does it make music exciting and fun to learn? 

in my experience, no it doesn't work. Quite often this leaves the teacher sitting around, helping kids muddle through page after page of music which takes them weeks or even months to conquer.

changing the norm; can we focus on how much each student can handle? If we cover only what the child can take on without anxiety (be it one page, one line or one bar). Our students have a better chance of learning something new every week. In my experience this stress-free method accomplishes much in making music lessons fun and encouraging!

Kid’s go home thinking “I can do that; it’s easy”. They come to class with a smile knowing they finished their homework (practicing). When they receive a ‘well done’ it fills them with a sense of accomplishment, and they receive any constructive criticism with a positive attitude.

With shining eyes, they see themselves progressing. In the space of a few lessons, they look back and realize they can play through a whole piece of music, without mistakes and enjoy it… now isn’t that what music lessons are all about!

Set Practice Goals

Repetition is the key to memory and memory is a big part of learning. 

Playing a bar of music or a line of music over more than once can commit it to memory. Setting a goal of how many times the portion should be played in class and at home, gives the student a goal to work towards and I have discovered that by the time they reach their goal, they have learned their portion for the week.

When some parts of the music need more practice than usual.

Let's face it, not all music is easily conquered. Some part will take more practice and a little more time to learn.

By looking ahead in the music teachers can anticipate it and deal with it when it comes up in class. That way the child doesn’t stress out at home; he knows exactly what to do…He’ll often say he knows how to do it, “Because Miss Janice taught me how to practice it.”

Sometimes, in spite of their best efforts the kids stress out when things don’t work out the way they’re supposed too. Knowing that it might take more than a week to learn something difficult and that’s OK; takes the panic and stress away. We don’t want our pupils to be frightened of music; we want them to love it and everything about it…which includes practicing!

I’m too tired to today.

Of course, there are days when the kids just don’t want to work… ‘I don’t want to do theory today’ (somehow, it’s the theory that gets kicked to the curb). Usually it’s because they’re in “lazy brain mode” ~ the stage where all they want to do is watch TV or they’ve had a busy day and they want to kick back.

• Having music education videos handy for times like these means they’re watching TV and learning music. turn it into a game by asking them to watch for certain things and write down the answer means learning is happening though they don't know it.

• Keeping a few music game worksheets handy turns on the power and nudges them toward a few minutes of theory… and even if it doesn’t, they are still learning as the games are music theory in disguise!

How parents can help.

Parents don’t have to be musicians to casually say “Today let's practice only the hard part so we can play it without any mistakes.” Whether reaching this goal takes 15 minutes or 50 minutes isn’t important. And whether they play it fast or slow isn’t important either. What is important is that they play it correctly.

“I will practice double tomorrow,”

Don’t barter with practice time because doing “double time tomorrow” accomplishes nothing but waste time. As any good teacher will tell you, music is never about the time you spend but what is accomplished in that time. So doing a little everyday reaches the goal of progressive learning better than ‘double tomorrow’.

Homework is important

Some parents: I find, have the belief that music must stay in music class… including practice. I often have parents tell me “Because she makes so many mistakes, I told her to stop playing at home and do it with you in class.”

Unfortunately, no musician came by their success with that attitude. Children must make mistakes! With practice the mistakes will eventually come right.

Playing music once a week; in class only makes them bored with music and getting bored with music because of slow progress should not be an option for your child.

A story of success

One of my students who practiced perfectly for seven years. In the eight year he played excellent pieces, but his musical scales were appalling. 

I asked him “why are your three octaves of scales so bad when your pieces are excellent?” And he replied “Miss Janice; it’s because I don’t have three octaves on my keyboard to practice my scales at home.” This touched me deeply. 

So, I re-scheduled his class to the last class of my day and gave him ½ an hour after class the practice his scales. He was an all-Island 1^st prize winner that year and his parents gifted him with an instrument worthy of his ability.

Practicing at home is as important as the music lessons. Don’t stifle your child’s love for music with bad practice habits; motivate them. Let them be the best they can be, and they will appreciate the gift you’ve given them.

Happy practicing Kids!