Dotts Piano Conservatory

3. Focus on the routine of playing the assigned music as suggested above instead of the number of minutes!

Oftentimes parents want an exact number of minutes a child should practice daily.  I strongly recommend that beginners practice their new songs two times every day and then play their 4B4 one time every day.  The theory behind this is that it is a short spurt, but a FOCUSED and FUN practice.  The mind must be fully present and engaged when practicing, so short sessions yield optimum results. Children may want to do this routine once, twice or even three times a day because it’s short and fun. 

Timers

Set a timer for a young child and they will more than likely dawdle, unfocused until the timer goes off.  A professional musician, however, has learned how to effectively and efficiently utilize every available moment of practice to achieve his/her goals for a particular piece of music and is not concerned about how many minutes they have to practice.  We are not teaching children the correct approach to practicing when we pronounce that a certain number of minutes will produce the desired result.

Young children love to give "concerts" for their parents or a special stuffed animal.  The average 6 year old is NOT thinking about the longterm advantage--they are interested in having fun NOW.  The more fun the parent makes it, the more the child will want to participate in practicing.

Older and more advanced students are taught specific practice procedures for specific challenges, such as “yellow lights” and block practicing.   The important thing is that children should be rewarded for the PROCESS (the practicing) as much if not more than the PRODUCT.  A good process will always lead to the desired product.

Mechanical vs Musical

Lastly, playing older songs that feel very easy to play are of great benefit to students of all ages.  Not only do students feel a sense of accomplishment in playing a song well, but it also reinforces sight-reading skills, accurate rhythm, and consistent tempo. When a piece is extremely familiar, a student can play it musically and expressively. 

When learning a song the focus is on Mechanics:  rhythms, pitches, which key to play, etc.

It is almost impossible to play musically and expressively in the early stages of learning a song.  I call this playing mechanically.  It is, of course, the first steps that must be attained in learning a song, but we don't want the song to stay in that place.  We want each song to go to the next level and be played expressively.  A piece must be extremely familiar to the student before it can be played with ease.  It is only when the mechanics of a song can be accomplished easily that a student can play it musically.  We're not just pushing buttons in rhythm---we are interpreting a song with all the nuances of tempo, articulation, and dynamics.

Remember to have fun with it….that is why we make music….!