Notes on Practicing
The issue of students having regular practices has always been a common problem that parents bring up so here are some general suggestions on how you can help your child develop a good practice habit.
1. Routine
Primary school aged children, more likely than not, WILL need parents’ help to get a regular practice routine. It doesn’t mean parents have to commit to sitting down with the child for every practice session. It’s more of helping to organise regular days/times during the week as practice sessions. When children go to school, after school activities, go to bed, get ready for school in the morning etc, they are all planned time tabled activities or routine activities. So it’s putting guitar practice into part of a weekly “time table” that will produce regular practices.
Choose suitable time/days that will suit your family and child and "pencil in" those times/days as "guitar practice".
2. A Practice Area
If it is possible, set up a practice corner: The chair, music stand, footstool are all set up in the correct position, music on the stand (and if possible keep the guitar out of the case sitting on the guitar stand or somewhere that is safe and not stepped on!) Sometimes, just the hassle of getting the guitar out of the case, get the music on the stand, pull a chair over, set the footstool up etc is enough to think that's too much trouble, let alone to have a good practice session.
If space is a constraint, try to have all the practice items in the same area so everything can be set up quickly and proceed with the practice.
3. Short but Focused Practice
Practice does not need to be long. A short focused practice is much better than a long mindless one.
In each practice, start with some warm up exercies. Next, play an old song that he/she knows well. Then move on to the current piece he/she is working on in the lesson. Read the notes on what to practice and focus on that. Finish the practice with another old song (or 2 or 3 or as many as he/she likes!)
4. Distractions
Your child will need a quiet area to practice, free of distractions. When your child is practicing, please do not have other family members watching TV, playing games, computer games etc nearby. It's just for 15-20mins or so, let your child have the chance to focus and work on his/her pieces.
5. Avoid "Practicing Mistakes"
Quite often, students loose motivation to practice because they just can't seem to get the tricky bits. A common reason is playing too fast too soon. When a student is working on something new, practicing slowly AND correctly (according to what the teacher suggests how he/she should practice to overcome the problematic spot) is a much more effective strategy. When one plays too fast too soon, he/she is simply going to make the same mistake over and over again. As a result, he/she simply gets good at making the same mistake because he/she has been "practicing" it.
Yes, the slow version doesn't sound as nice, but it gives you time to think and execute the movement/technique properly, which will in turn solve the tricky bits. By practicing this way, you will be able to play the piece at the proper tempo in a much shorter time frame.
6. Frequency of Practice
There is no secret to this, the more you practice (focused and effectively), the faster you will improve. However I also understand that families are often involve in other activities so the number of times your child can practice will vary from family to family.
I will suggest at least 2 focused sessions a week. Try to have the first practice session soon after guitar lesson (that afternoon or the day after lesson) as what were taught are still fresh in the student's mind. So practicing soon after lesson will really reinforce what they have done in the lesson.
7. Be Patient
Help your child understand that they won't become a virtuoso soon after taking lessons! A beginner learning an instrument is pretty much similar to a prep student who had to make sense of what letters, sounds of letters, sight words, numbers etc are. However they all eventually make sense and children find that they are able to read stories from books, relate numbers to their everyday life activities. But all these take time AND effort.
It's the same with learning an instrument, the music notation, where those notes are on the instrument, how to play them in time etc. They will eventually make sense and students find that they can simply read music and play what is on the sheet music. Again, these take time AND effort.
8. Learning an instrument is a journey
Learning an instrument is a journey, there will be periods when things go seemingly well and other times when things seem stagnant. When I detect any issue during lesson, I will communicate that to parents and together, we can often help the student overcome the hurdle and move on to the next level in playing. Similarly, if parents have any queries, issues with regards to lessons, child's improvement, motivation etc, please have a chat with me and see if we can come up with a solution together.
What I have written above are general suggestions and will vary from family to family. Please feel free to phone/email me if you want to discuss this further.
1. Routine
Primary school aged children, more likely than not, WILL need parents’ help to get a regular practice routine. It doesn’t mean parents have to commit to sitting down with the child for every practice session. It’s more of helping to organise regular days/times during the week as practice sessions. When children go to school, after school activities, go to bed, get ready for school in the morning etc, they are all planned time tabled activities or routine activities. So it’s putting guitar practice into part of a weekly “time table” that will produce regular practices.
Choose suitable time/days that will suit your family and child and "pencil in" those times/days as "guitar practice".
2. A Practice Area
If it is possible, set up a practice corner: The chair, music stand, footstool are all set up in the correct position, music on the stand (and if possible keep the guitar out of the case sitting on the guitar stand or somewhere that is safe and not stepped on!) Sometimes, just the hassle of getting the guitar out of the case, get the music on the stand, pull a chair over, set the footstool up etc is enough to think that's too much trouble, let alone to have a good practice session.
If space is a constraint, try to have all the practice items in the same area so everything can be set up quickly and proceed with the practice.
3. Short but Focused Practice
Practice does not need to be long. A short focused practice is much better than a long mindless one.
In each practice, start with some warm up exercies. Next, play an old song that he/she knows well. Then move on to the current piece he/she is working on in the lesson. Read the notes on what to practice and focus on that. Finish the practice with another old song (or 2 or 3 or as many as he/she likes!)
4. Distractions
Your child will need a quiet area to practice, free of distractions. When your child is practicing, please do not have other family members watching TV, playing games, computer games etc nearby. It's just for 15-20mins or so, let your child have the chance to focus and work on his/her pieces.
5. Avoid "Practicing Mistakes"
Quite often, students loose motivation to practice because they just can't seem to get the tricky bits. A common reason is playing too fast too soon. When a student is working on something new, practicing slowly AND correctly (according to what the teacher suggests how he/she should practice to overcome the problematic spot) is a much more effective strategy. When one plays too fast too soon, he/she is simply going to make the same mistake over and over again. As a result, he/she simply gets good at making the same mistake because he/she has been "practicing" it.
Yes, the slow version doesn't sound as nice, but it gives you time to think and execute the movement/technique properly, which will in turn solve the tricky bits. By practicing this way, you will be able to play the piece at the proper tempo in a much shorter time frame.
6. Frequency of Practice
There is no secret to this, the more you practice (focused and effectively), the faster you will improve. However I also understand that families are often involve in other activities so the number of times your child can practice will vary from family to family.
I will suggest at least 2 focused sessions a week. Try to have the first practice session soon after guitar lesson (that afternoon or the day after lesson) as what were taught are still fresh in the student's mind. So practicing soon after lesson will really reinforce what they have done in the lesson.
7. Be Patient
Help your child understand that they won't become a virtuoso soon after taking lessons! A beginner learning an instrument is pretty much similar to a prep student who had to make sense of what letters, sounds of letters, sight words, numbers etc are. However they all eventually make sense and children find that they are able to read stories from books, relate numbers to their everyday life activities. But all these take time AND effort.
It's the same with learning an instrument, the music notation, where those notes are on the instrument, how to play them in time etc. They will eventually make sense and students find that they can simply read music and play what is on the sheet music. Again, these take time AND effort.
8. Learning an instrument is a journey
Learning an instrument is a journey, there will be periods when things go seemingly well and other times when things seem stagnant. When I detect any issue during lesson, I will communicate that to parents and together, we can often help the student overcome the hurdle and move on to the next level in playing. Similarly, if parents have any queries, issues with regards to lessons, child's improvement, motivation etc, please have a chat with me and see if we can come up with a solution together.
What I have written above are general suggestions and will vary from family to family. Please feel free to phone/email me if you want to discuss this further.