Top Practice Tips

Play for a toy, or a stuffed animal, or a pet. Make the animal give instructions.

Every time a child learns a song, make a card (a different colour for each book) use these cards as review. For example you can say draw 2 book 1, 2 book 2, and 2 book 3 songs to play. After they play these songs put the cards into a “done” container. Eventually all the songs get played.

Have the child choose a goal on a review song.

When the child is working on a goal play a game where you ring a bell for the player to stop and check on themselves.

If a young player has a lot of things they are working on. For example, “bent thumb”, “scroll up”, “straight bow”, “chin on chinrest”, and “mouse hole in violin hand”. When all the cards are made the student can draw a goal card for each review piece. Work on that goal only for that song. (Remember to keep quiet about the other goals, they may not be able to focus on more than one thing at a time).

Limit yourself to a certain number of constructive (negative) comments a session. It might only be 2-3. All other comments will be positive.

Practice difficult passages at a speed on your metronome where you can play every note in tune, on time. Work up gradually to the performance speed, using your metronome every time.

Make sure that you can play each section of your piece at least 5-7 times in a row without a mistake. This moves the information from your short term memory to your long term memory.

Try to find a consistent time in your schedule to practice. This way practice becomes a habit.

Use your lesson notes every day to make sure that you understand and remember what your teacher asked you to do.

Mark your practice chart. This is your record of what did and did not get done in your practice.

Use a metronome. Or get someone to clap in time. Find ways to internalize the beat, like marching and playing.

Slow practice makes fast progress. Avoid rushing through pieces. Slowing down will help to get clean playing at performance tempi.

Recognise what is working and build from there. Take time to realize each day, what is better and how you got there.

When you know all the notes of your piece, especially in long pieces, try playing the piece backward (the last section first, then the next to last and the last, etc.)

Try to find interesting ways to do necessary repetitions. Use a counter, small treats, make a picture etc. Ask your teacher for more ideas.

'I teach from the premise that given a proper musical environment, parental support, and eagerness to learn, any child can be a talented musician'.