The Opportunity to Succeed!
So you’ve provided the opportunity for your child to learn to play a musical instrument. Now what? Since your child will be learning an art form that does so much for their human spirit, not to mention improving their coordination, mental focus, discipline and self-esteem, it makes sense to be diligent in making sure that all the necessary steps are taken so that your child succeeds. Let’s work together to get it right.
Every child has the potential to reach a high level of skill on an instrument. Read on to find out the formula for making sure that your child learns to their maximum potential!
The truth of this statement can be felt in the field of music education as well. You can find inexpensive musical instruction, but at what expense in the long term? If you are going to invest in a musical education for your child, why not make sure that they are learning correctly? Imagine that many years later you realize that your child did not even learn some of the most basic things that are required to play a musical instrument well. Unfortunately, this is sometimes the case, and though we feel bad about having to break the news to a student that they need to go back to some more basic and much more simple repertoire for a while, it is the only way to correct their poor playing and practicing habits.
"The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten."
It's PERFECT PRACTICE that is the key to success.
Practice does NOT make perfect.
Ask your child if they have practiced today!
THIS SIMPLE QUESTION WILL PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT!!
This is often overlooked by parents as if it is an optional activity. If you are paying for lessons, you want to see
them achieve results by learning how to play well. Almost every child can learn to a high level if they
are guided in the right way. Young people will derail sometimes. And when that happens it is our job to nudge
them back onto the tracks. Ask your child if they have done their practicing. Don’t assume that you are
interfering with their activity. Think of it as a child centered but parent run activity. After all, you want them to
learn, right?
HINT!....Practicing works best when it is spread out over the course of the entire week, not just the day before
the lesson. The later approach to learning a musical instrument never works and only creates a source of
frustration for the student as they will not improve. As a parent, you can help your child succeed by helping
them to create a schedule that includes practicing every day so that it becomes a healthy habit. Practice
regularly while focusing on specific goals and progress is guaranteed.
Listening
Listening to great classical recordings serves as a model for how students should aspire to sound when they play their instrument. Without a model, they only hear their own sound during their home practice sessions. They will get used to that sound and not realize that they should be trying to improve it to sound more like a professional. Students may unintentionally set a very low standard for themselves because they don't have a reference point for what is considered a HIGH standard. Listening to recordings of professional musicians will help a great deal in providing a model of what a high standard really is. The moment that a student achieves a more refined sound is the moment when the doors of expression can really be opened. Self-expression takes flight and this is truly one of the most remarkable stages in a student’s journey.
Imitation
Trying hard to imitate the teacher in the lessons and at home is one of the ways students learn to create a sound that more resembles that of a professional musician.
Repetition
Students constantly review and refine the pieces that they have learned. This in turn:
1. Strengthens memory
2. Solidifies technique
3. Helps to develop their ability to musically express themselves
Make sure that you are listening to your child practicing. It should sound like they are playing the same small parts of their assignments repetitively. If they are playing their assignment from the beginning to the end all the time and you hear lots of mistakes, this needs to be corrected. They are actually learning the mistakes!
Listening, Imitation and Repetition are the building blocks of how people learn to speak a language - the trifecta of learning, if you will. The concept is the same with all learned tasks including playing an instrument. This is simply how the human mind learns new information.
Daily Practice - Unleash the Power of Repetition!
Students who don’t practice enough never quite feel comfortable playing their instrument. It especially shows up when they are expected to perform the assigned tasks in their lessons when they feel a bit under pressure. With daily, correct practice, this will be a thing of the past. They will be eager to get the instrument out to show their teacher what they can do! That confidence then becomes a catalyst for more focused practice and before they know it, they have surpassed their own expectations. The most important step the student must take is to put in the initial effort and sustain that effort for a period of time within which they notice results. Then they can learn to trust the system of practice laid forth by the instructor. It is not easy for some children to practice carefully, and many times slowly, with attention to detail. That is especially where you can help them. Adults can organize and help direct home practice sessions. Of course, if a student is 12 years old and above, this responsibility should be their own. Still, once in a while parents may need to remind their child of the benefits of mastering small portions of an assignment before continuing. See Step-by-Step Mastery below.
For more information on how important this is, please check out these websites:
http://blog.brainscape.com/2011/05/repetition-is-the-mother-of-all-learning/
Start Early
Similar to learning a new language, it is always best to start early. In most cases, 5 - 8 years old is ideal. At Advanced Arts Music Studios we set up a time for you and your child to observe a lesson so that we can assess your child’s readiness for instruction.
Parent Involvement is Crucial
When a student is very young and is not able to practice on their own, the parent takes on the role as the home teacher. The parent attends every lesson, takes notes on assignments, and directs home practice according to the private teacher’s lesson plan. Many parents worry that their own limited or lack of musical training will be problematic when trying to help their child. This is not the case at all. As long as you are in the lesson and taking notes (video is encouraged), that is a step in the right direction. At Advanced Arts Music Studios, we teach the parents some basic concepts of music which are necessary to remind their child on a daily basis. For example, it does not take a musician to know when a child’s posture does not look like what they saw in the lesson, particularly if a picture or video was taken as a model.
Step-by-Step Mastery
Each skill and piece of music is broken down into the most basic units, which are carefully mastered before continuing. This insures a child’s ease of playing and ultimate success in performance.
Positive Reinforcement
It is important that students enjoy playing their musical instrument. The teacher and parent should do their best to praise the child’s efforts and success. Together, we can all find supportive and creative ways to encourage and nudge the child towards further improvement.
Review of Previously Learned Material
Continual review of learned pieces provides the student with the opportunity to play familiar pieces while refining the new techniques that they are currently learning. One thing we see again and again is the confidence that builds in the student when they know that they can play many pieces from memory! Musical geniuses like Mozart wrote some of his most amazing works in his head before penning even one note!
Although we make use of the Livescribe Pulse Pen for the student to view, listen to and practice with at home, it is important to remember that it must be used semi-regularly for the student to get any real benefit out of it. The information on those lessons would not be recorded unless it was extremely important and as such they will need your assistance to get started and continue building good practice habits.
Through our Livescribe application, we can see how many times students have viewed the lesson but cannot tell how well they have assimilated the information until we see them the following week. It is important for them to remember that it takes a lot of diligence over a long period of time to master the skills necessary to play on a high level. If students take too many missteps on the journey, they may not master much of anything at all. This is how the recorded lessons can help. Please make sure that your child is using the recorded “pencasts” and they will progress!