​

• Encourage a love of all types of music by playing music in the car, at home, in the playroom, etc. Take your child to events showcasing different music styles.

• Different strategies work for different students.

• You can adapt or modify a strategy specifically for your student.  (Modifications are suggested in Practice Games.)

• Younger students need a great deal of repetition to succeed.

• Practice is ongoing. Help the student notice and understand the correlation between practice and playing the instrument well.

• Tell your student that  "his/her favorite musician" practices and even practices on the day of the performance.

​​

• Help your student to identify improvement due to practice, for example, playing the notes more accurately, kept better time, etc. 

• In the beginning, a parent must be involved in practice sessions to help the student learn how to practice effectively.

•  Students need to learn how to practice. 

• Good practice is intentional practice.

• Success, confidence and progress are always practice goals. Use what works best for your student.

• Practice should be part of a routine if possible. 

• Set practice goals at the beginning of practice. Practice is over when goals are achieved.

• Practice sessions should begin with easily attainable goals. Continue with goals that are reasonable and attainable with some effort. It is important that the student experience success when s/he is trying.  

• The criterion for mastery of the practice goals is specific. 

• Determine criterion based on the level of difficulty of the practice material, age of student and how well s/he knows the piece. 

• Practice parts of a piece. Break down especially difficult parts.

• If practice sessions aren’t going well, consider changing the time of day for practice. Ten minutes of a good practice does much more than 20 minutes of an argumentative practice when the student is tired.

• Make practice sessions positive and engaging by incorporating games or special activities. (See Practice Games.)

• Students are often motivated to practice before a performance and after a successful one.

• The music teacher’s assignments are priority. 

​​

•  Practice what you "have to" practice first and then set your own goals for what you "want to" practice.

• Whenever possible, empower the student by giving him/her choices. Choices can be which piece to practice first for a younger child and allowing the student to take full responsibility for practice time. ​​

• Focus on what the student did correctly before pointing out mistakes. 

• Inappropriate behavior reduces the likelihood of a successful practice. Perhaps you can give rewards more frequently, appeal to his/her desire to be "mature," remind him/her that practice is over when the goals are achieved.  

 

• Everything you tell your student is a promise. Keep your promises. Make sure you can keep your promises. Not keeping your promise is a lie. 

• Don’t tell the student something you know will not happen. (Saying "maybe" is not helpful.)

• Do not delay the reward. If you said we can go to the park, go to the park. If the student knows s/he will get the reward every time, this strategy will be more effective.

• Make the size of the reward match the task. If you buy him/her a bike for one good practice session, what will you do when s/he completes a more difficult task?

• Do not give in to crying, begging, whining, etc. If you do, s/he is motivated to cry/whine longer because it works. Giving in sometimes will cause the student to continue the inappropriate behavior for longer periods of time. 

 

Good Practice Using a Timer

• Give your child a 5-minute “practice time” warning.

• Take advantage of the young students’ love of winning by setting a timer and then competing with him/her to see who arrives at the practice spot first.

• Set the timer for a few seconds, up to a minute, depending on the age of the student.  Can s/he focus on a teaching point, like keeping good playing feet, proper position, straight bow, etc. until it goes off? 

• See how many correct repetitions of the practice task can be completed in a designated time, usually a minute or two.

• The timer will not maintain its effectiveness if the agreed upon event doesn’t occur.

​

Rewards

Earning rewards empowers students and makes practicing more fun.

• Use charts, graphs, marbles or pennies in a (small) jar to monitor progress. Young students and some older students might need to be rewarded immediately.

• Use rewards the student finds highly desirable. The reward can reflect the difficulty of the goal.

• Rewards can include

  • A special activity with you or another family member, for example, grandparents.

  • Food.

  • Stickers, smiley faces, stars, etc. to keep or put on a chart are rewarding for some-usually younger students. 

• You can use inexpensive tangible rewards effectively. 

• Competitive students can use a chart or graph to set and then beat their own goals.

• Keep a notebook with daily practice goals. Some students find it rewarding to go back and compare current practice goals with the goals s/he set when s/he was "a beginner." 

 

​Monetary Rewards

• Use money as a reward when the student is old enough to understand the concept of money and can delay gratification. Designate a specific amount s/he must earn to access the money.

• Earn money to save towards an expensive item s/he wants, for example a computer, a bike, etc.

• S/he earns different amounts based on the difficulty of the task.

• Provide meaningful choices by making a menu of tasks and amounts. However, the system should not allow the student to select only easy tasks.

• Earn money to buy a gift for someone or give to a charity. Allow him/her to keep a percentage of his/her earnings.