It is common wisdom that more practices equal better outcome. However, there are times when that isn’t the case. If your child encounters an obstacle during practice, brute-forcing and doing more of it isn’t going to work. Instead, here are some tips to encourage them to see through it without losing their determination.
Quality Over Quantity
For young kids aged between 3 - 5 years old, a minimum of 5 - 10 minutes of practice would be enough. The misconception that the kids should be practicing at least 30 minutes to an hour doesn’t actually work. The 5 - 10 minutes practice, should be ‘quality’ practice; 100% focus on the task at hand with a specific goal in mind. This timeframe is the usual attention span for a child of that age group.
Break It Down
While practicing, break the pieces into manageable sections, working on phrases during practice instead of restarting from the beginning of the piece. This would prevent frustration on the child which is a common issue for students to encounter. It would result in a more consistent improvement as the piece progresses.
Support System
Set small weekly goals at the start of the lesson. These bite-sized goals are to help them build confidence and perseverance by getting children to stay focused. After successful completion of each piece, a mini celebration of some sort is in order. This is to encourage them to keep going with the lesson.
Toys and Games
Practicing doesn't have to be boring. Toys and games can be incorporated into the practice. Dice or cards for example can be used to select how many times they need to practice. For each completed practice, placing a toy next to their scorebook helps them visualize that they are getting closer to completing the task. This works particularly well for visual learners.
Have a go with these suggestions to make music lessons more engaging and see the results for yourself. As educators, we need to keep up with the times and use all sorts of digital interactive tools at our disposal and not be shackled by traditional methods. What we do here is to encourage interest in music as that will naturally lead to a long term passion.
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