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When taking up an instrument it is important to create good habits of practice from the beginning. I am often asked by parents how much time their child should spend practising between the lessons and I have therefore put together some suggestions:
When?
Find a regular time slot for practice and try as far as you can to keep that time. Don’t leave the practice until the end of the day as you may be too tired by then. Schedule your practice time for when you are fresh, perhaps in the morning before leaving for school.
How much?
Regularity is the key here, not the amount. Much more will be achieved with 20 minutes practise a day throughout the week then trying to do a marathon practise session the night before the next lesson. For young beginners, 5-10 minutes a day can be sufficient. When students get to grades 4 or 5 they should be aiming to do 30 minutes a day.
What to practise?
Always make sure that you are covering the work your teacher has set you. Keep a practice diary where both your teacher and you can make notes to help remind you of the repertoire you are to work on between the lessons.
At the start of your practice sessions, it is good habit to begin with a warm up using scales and arpeggios. Start with the ones which are familiar to you and continue by moving on to less familiar or new ones. Keep practising old scales and arpeggios once you have learnt them to keep them fresh.
When working on your pieces, try to identify the difficult passages that need extra work. You may need to play very short phrases over and over many times, so set yourself a goal of perfecting just a few bars during each practice session. This is a more effective way of learning a new piece, since playing a piece through from the beginning to the end is only really beneficial once the piece is already polished.
Alongside practising your pieces and scales, try your hand at improvising, sight-reading new pieces or revisiting old pieces you have previously learnt. Most importantly, try to use your practice time productively.
Support from parents
Practising in a lonely activity and a lot of children benefit from encouragement and support from their parents. Parents’ company and praise are especially useful in the early stages. Take an active interest in your child’s playing and try to periodically sit in and listen to their practice sessions. Create opportunities for your child to perform by playing to family or friends. Perhaps ask your child to teach you something they are currently working on in their instrumental lessons? Try to find the time to listen to music together, either by attending concerts or listening to radio or CDs.
I hope that these suggestions will be useful to students and parents and that they will help to establish good habits and a supportive environment in which good progress can be made.
