Music Education #4 Getting Through Repetitive Practice Cheerfully

Here are some more practice tips I am discovering while practicing with my very littlest ones:

Getting a piece learned and polished takes a lot of repetition, and consequently takes some wise strategies so little kids don't feel like practice with Mom is deadly dull. These may take a few minutes longer, but the quality of practice goes up- it's worth it.

1. Break the desired section down into tiny, reachable goals. For every perfect repetition, draw a tally mark. For five tallies, reward him by drawing a train car on a large, durable sheet of paper. Let him choose the kind of train car it should be. Soon you will have a sprawling freight train (hopefully you are OK with line drawings) replete with tank cars, aquarium cars, circus cars, box cars, basketball cars, volcano cars... (yes, spewing lava.) I suppose this would work for little girls, too, though they might prefer you to draw jewelry on a princess or something like that, depending on the little girl. The handy thing about this is you can decide what a tally stands for.

2. Hold up ten fingers and say, "You are the farmer. We will repeat this section ten times, and for every perfect time you play this little bit, you will plant a seed." (he plays the little bit perfectly.) "Good job! Ok, you planted a bean seed. Knock down the first finger!" He gently pushes down one of your fingers and you have nine left. After the next section you say, "You planted a watermelon seed!" and he knocks down the second, and so on. It is good for him to knock it down, because it takes his hand off the keyboard, and he has to keep placing it there again so he really gets to know where his hand is supposed to play for that part! Different seeds you could "plant" are tree seeds or flower seeds, etc.. Not only are they learning how to play the piano, they might be hearing about parsnips, dogwoods and hydrangeas for the first time. If it isn't a good repetition, I say, "Hmm, that seed didn't sound like it's going to grow into the strongest tree- let's try again."

3. I set my figurines (the ones that I mentioned in the previous Music Education post), the metronome and any other cars or dollies available on one side of the piano. "Now play it for Mozart... Now, play it for Benny... Now play it for Bach... Now play it with Mr. Metronome," (he has a personality too: he nods and shakes his head and gives hugs. Otherwise, he just clicks.) When they have played the section for each of these entities, they have it pretty well lodged in their minds, especially when the imaginary listeners have been giving feedback. -Yes, Mr. Beethoven is still Mr. Opposite! He encourages them to keep notes that were stuck in their memories incorrectly, and they wake up to what it means to play it perfectly in a hurry!

Musicians are Peculiar #2

Here is a link to a little video of Victor Borge and a friend- and after watching it, do you start to wonder if maybe that's what the music really means? This is always funnier if you watch it after 11 PM.

Up and Coming Pianist #1 Stephen Beus

We are looking forward to a concert by Stephen Beus, much about whom I have heard through his (and my) teacher Dr. Leonard Richter. If you have never heard Stephen Beus or heard about him, click here to hear him play. He really plays a great piece, too! It is so beautiful through the opening, and I really like how he treats minute 2:20-2:32. The whole thing is so... well, it's fast. He manages to say a lot even with that kind of speed. I am looking forward to comparing this movement with other artists' interpretations.

If you want to go to that concert too, it is on Friday October 29, 2010, at 7:00 PM at Bellevue First Presbyterian Church, and I can reserve you some tickets!

Music Education #3 Jumping Over Practice Boundaries

I am not just a piano teacher: I am a "piano Mom". That means I oversee my children's practice every day. My kids are young: two four year olds and one age seven, so I do know about the challenges of attitude toward home practice. But we have overcome some difficulties, and I am handing out FREE TIPS on this subject RIGHT HERE!! :)

1. Make it a Habit.

This summer we virtually forgot how to play the piano. It took just a couple of weeks of neglect to forget: our vacation, our lazy days in the pool... So when I brought them into the studio again for practice I met with a lot of resistance for a whole week I tried to be patient and kind, but they were still easily frustrated (sometimes to tears!) or else lacking focus.

My husband was encouraging, though. "They've just been out of the habit of practice," he insisted when I unburdened to him. "They'll be fine when they get back into it." This was true. The first week we practiced every day, reluctantly, doggedly. The second week things went a lot better. They expected to practice each morning, at least 30 minutes daily, (60 for the seven year old- sometimes his practice time is broken up into morning-evening sessions) there was no contention: it was just What We Do. There is a sense of a routine, which for our family is very healthy. Note- if it's late and we're wiped out, we don't push it, but we do try to make it up the next day. Being reasonable is healthy too.

Help them see, if they are having difficulties those first weeks acting on a fresh practice commitment that it's because they are not used to it, that [again] soon things will improve. Also check to see that the practice isn't just "doing time" but that the teacher has given the student clear goals to accomplish and that the student has a sense of this. If they practice a lot, there is clear progress, which is so encouraging! Even with a little regular practice progress can be noted, though it is exponentially better as the hours are increased.

3. Work Hard, Lovingly

Practicing is like owning an apple tree. Invest in it and it produces. If it produces fruit you are so inspired to prune and care for it year-round, but if you don't care for it enough, it does not produce much and your interest is low. It's a vicious circle that quickly be broken by creating a habit of daily practice. In this culture we tend to want to shield our children from hard work and let them play and just be kids. There should be some time for that, yes, but kids really need to be good at something. We as parents have to encourage, help and sometimes push for that. If consistently done in the right spirit of respect and commitment, the support and direction you provide in your child's practice will improve your relationship with your child rather than strain it.

Practically, I found that sitting with my child through the whole session of practice when they are this young is a must, for direction and encouragement. If they get frazzled over anything, I stay calm. I break the work up into small part and insist on quality. Keeping a neutral, gentle voice is important. Praise them for the littlest things. Set tiny goals. (Little kids have little sense of pacing to work for huge ones: they live pretty much in the here and now.) Be "totally surprised" when they exceed the set goals! I think the regular practice regimen has begun to grow benefits in other areas in their little hearts: today I walked out of my room to see them make quite a parade passing by with every cleaning brush, broom, duster and mop I own, and they set to work cleaning the living room!

3. Make it Funny

Recently I adopted the habit of using three figurines at the piano: Bach, Beethoven and Mozart. I pretend they are alive and that two are helpful and always right, but not too quick in supplying the right answer, giving the child a chance to competitively show them that he can get it first before having to be taught by them! The third figurine is Mr. Opposite: Nothing he advises is correct. He especially encourages them to miss notes and praises them for using the wrong fingering. Immediately the students are on high alert to the right and wrong ways of playing their pieces, and they invariably think it's funny! (There is the benefit of a real effort to "stymie the Bad Guy" - sorry Beethoven- as well as the fact that no matter what they do, at least they make someone happy!) They especially like it when Beethoven gets grumpy when they play perfectly. Even older students have said "I'm not too little: please use the figurines with me too!" Making lessons funny has made my children argue about who goes first rather than last. Arguing isn't right in any case, but if they had to argue, I'd take that argument over the other.

God gave you the authority to decide what your children are going to learn, and believing in that authority gives strength and dignity to your position as Parent in Charge of Kid. That, with love and admiring support of your child can bring a new depth and dimension to your relationship as well as progress in their playing.

If you want elaboration or more description on certain details, please feel free to ask for them in comments. I especially like to know if you have suggestions for getting children used to practicing.