How do I get my kids to want to practice music? Tips to help music practice go from a task to a joy-filled activity!
As a piano teacher to 30 kids, I know all too well the challenge that parents face to instill consistent practice habits in the home. The reason kids resist practicing is usually because they practice sporadically.
Playing a musical instrument is an incredibly complicated activity that is all at once an art, an athletic feat, and an incredibly complex language.
This means that to “speak” it fluently you need to tap into the full creative and expressive potential of the human spirit, get “fit” on your instrument, and play it regularly enough so that it becomes a natural language.
Sounds pretty hard, right? Well truthfully it is, and that's why kids (or ourselves!) sometimes resist daily practice.
But all it takes is committing to a few minutes daily to see the transformation from “I have to practice” to “I get to practice" and to see it take off in someone as an expressive art form they can speak fluently and joyfully.
Growing up, music practice in our home was never a question of *if* I felt like it that day. It wasn't something that was an *option* - it was simply just part of my education. Just as I had to do my math and assigned reading among all the other assigned topics, I also had to sit down at the piano every weekday to practice for 30-45 min.
There were some days as a child when I really didn't want to (I think some of these moments would even have been classified as "fits" by my mother...) There were also days where I struggled to master a difficult passage and almost (or actually) cried with frustration over the challenge and the seemingly impossible feat of ever mastering it...
But the cumulative effect of many solid practice days clumped together showed me the gratifying joy of hard work, routine, and consistency. As a child I realized I actually *could* do what had previously seemed impossible, and because of consistent practice habits I was able to experience the *joy* of fully immersing myself within a flow state with music.
Many people believe Mozart was divinely appointed to become one of the greatest geniuses that has ever lived in the world of music. But he only became that genius because he responded to the call to greatness with hours upon hours of practice!
Here are 7 tips for helping your child achieve consistent practice habits, along with some recommendations for other ways to help music flourish in your home!
1.Set a realistic practice goal:
Though it would be ideal to practice for 30-45 minutes a day minimum, if you or your child isn't used to this, start small and gradually build up to this. Try a week of 15 min per day, then the following week add on 5 min, and keep doing this until you or your child reach your (or your teacher's) goal.
2.Set a timer and move all electronics far away from the instrument (ideally in a different room).
3. Streak Challenges:
Can you or your child complete 5 Days in a Row? 10? 20? 30? Although I know people have different philosophies about reward systems, I'm a big fan of little celebrations to mark milestones and achievements, and have seen this work wonders for my students.
4.Music Listening Inspiration:
The many music styles across the world enrich and inform each other, and it's important to expose you or your child to a wide variety.
For excellent ear training and inspiration, include classical music in your listening. Because classical music is intrinsically complex and highly organized, this genre of music is tremendously important for developing sharp ears, not to speak of encompassing some of the world's greatest musical masterpieces! (To delve more deeply into the reasons for this, read this blogpost). If you need pointers on where to start, download a Checklist of 25 Great Classics Your Child Will Love!
5. Sticker Chart:
If you have a young child, creating a sticker chart where they put a sticker on each day they complete a practice session is a great incentive. There's something about kids and stickers...;) If you need a downloadable chart, my 12 Month Practice Calendar would be perfect for this - they would just put a sticker on each square instead of checking it off!
6. Not enough material to fill practice session?
If you or your child flies through their practice session too quickly, ask them to try the following:
Break the music into small sections and practice these sections several times each, until it flows effortlessly, with expression and beautiful colors. (A fun way for kids to put this into practice is to play it the number of times that corresponds to their age.)
Play old pieces! This is a fantastic way to build up repertoire of and increase dexterity on the instrument.
Think about the picture or story they want to create as they play their pieces. What is this piece about? Can you bring that to life through the notes? Remind them that if they simply play the notes without thinking this through, they are like an actor just reading their part without any expression!
Descriptive words: Have them write down a couple words to describe the piece they are playing, then ask them to play their piece without showing you what they wrote to see if you can hear the same words or words that have a similar meaning.
7. Fill any extra time with either Sight Reading or Improvisation.
Practicing regular sight-reading is incredibly important for continued growth, and if your child is spending a lot of time perfecting pieces (weeks), then this means they are not being regularly challenged to read new notes. If this is the case, I’d highly recommend purchasing a Sight Reading Book, and having them complete a few activities per day. If your child takes music lessons, ask the teacher if they can incorporate this into their lessons. Here is a book that I regularly use for my piano students when I sense their sight reading growth is slowing down and needs a push. The levels of these books tend to correspond to the same levels of most method books, but check with your teacher if you’re not sure which level would be a good fit:
If your child has a lot of trouble figuring out note names (they should be able to name the note within seconds), it would be extremely beneficial to purchase a Note Reader activity book, that they could regularly do until their note reading is up to speed. This book is terrific - repetitive and simple in the best way to help the child master and memorize notes quickly:
Improvisation:
It’s important that children experience the joy of creating their own music in addition to playing music already written! An easy way to kick this into motion is to ask them to play their arpeggios and chords in different rhythms and in different inversions and registers of their instrument. Then ask them to write down their ideas on a manuscript paper - this will help both reinforce understanding of notation, and also empower them to make music their own personalized mode of expression. Purchase manuscript paper like this one to have on hand:
If your child is taking piano, learning Lead Sheets is a GREAT way to practice improvisation. Lead sheets only provide the melody with chord symbols, so your child will learn how to follow chord symbols and how to create an accompaniment pattern that is all their own. (ask your teacher about this!)
8. Practice Charts
It’s SO helpful to have a visual for children to see and track their progress on goals and habits. Checking boxes and seeing a streak build - it creates so much motivation + healthy pride! If you’re in need of a printable for this, I created a 12 Month Inspired Musical Calendar to help form consistent practice habits.
INCLUDES:
✔️12 beautifully designed monthly calendars
✔️Boxes on each day to check off each time a daily practice is completed
✔️Inspiring quotes from famous composers + musicians
✔️Monthly assessment questions to track practice goals + progress
✔️Composers' birthdays for inspiration from the greatest masters
✔️Extensive Tips + Resources for how to get music to flourish in your home!
I hope this blog contained some helpful tips on how to get music practice flowing! Let's commit to the expressive + creative essence of the human spirit by dedicating daily practice to the universal language that is music!
“Music is the universal language of mankind.”
Disclaimer: this article contains affiliate links. This means if you purchase through the link I provided, I will also get a little bonus.