How much should my child practice?
If you grew up taking music lessons or playing in school band, then the word "practice" may still make you shudder. This word may even recall images of being forced to play for hours on end. And put plainly, that's just not enjoyable. Unless a student is double digits in age and intends to study music professionally at a collegiate level, hours and hours of practice is not necessary.
At The Harmony Garden we're out to redefine practicing to be something young musicians enjoy and are motivated to do (and that brings them success) rather than something they dread. Our two top tricks: focusing on many short sessions rather than long sessions, and achieving high quality results through goal setting.
Short sessions add up!
More important than length of practice session is the frequency of practice. Students are expected to practice their assignments at least 5 days a week. Performing an action just once or twice makes it familiar. But repeating it frequently makes it second nature - and this is the goal of practicing!
Think of it this way - if I practice two days a week for half an hour each, I've practiced 60 minutes. And much of that time will be spent trying to remember what I learned. But if I practice 15 minutes each for five days, I've practiced a total of 75 minutes, and the frequency allowed me to build upon my learning each day.
Or, think of it this way: lifting lighter weights five days a week is far more effective than lifting super-heavy weights once a week.
Quality over Quantity
How would you like to sit in your car, engine running, parked in neutral for an hour? Nope, you aren’t traveling anywhere. The idea is to make an hour of time pass by. You’re probably making a face at your screen right now wondering why on earth you’d do such an unproductive thing, and waste gas at the same time.
When we tell a student to “practice for half an hour” or “play each song three times,” we’re asking them to park a running car for a certain amount of time. In doing so, they will likely become more familiar with each song, just as you may become familiar with the cracks in your driveway as you sit there and stare at them. But will they achieve anything? Likely not. It’s unproductive and frustrating, and more likely than not will make the student resentful of their time at the instrument.
If I asked you to take your car to the closest grocery store and buy the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, you’d probably be back within half an hour and have achieved something (and be excited to bake!).
Rolling with this analogy, this is akin to a teacher or helpful parent giving the student a clear goal: “practice this piece with a metronome set to 80,” or “play this piece with special awareness of the dynamics.” Now, the student has a concrete task to perform other than watching the clock. Most likely, it will take less time to achieve these goals than if practicing were tracked by time. Best of all, by reaching towards a goal, the student is analyzing their own playing, which provides tons more learning than just mindless repetition. This method of practice is High Quality, which is far more effective than High Quantity.
The Bottom Line
So, how much should your child practice? This is going to depend on their age, level of development, level of musicianship, and the goals set by them and their teacher. No two musicians are the same, so there is no set standard here. We love partnering with our students and their families to set attainable practice goals and establish practice routines that fit into the fabric of their day-to-day life, all adding up to practicing bliss and happily growing musicians!
