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Group class Keeps you in good shape - like dribbling and passing drills in basketball - these are the fundamentals and once you know how to do them you keep them a part of each practice - they are the foundation of other skills you will work on. sample practice chart

Four Very Different Reasons We Practice Music

This article is based on Time to Practice Podcast Episode 35, a solo episode with host Christine Goodner where we discuss different reasons we practice. The text has been edited slightly for ease of reading. This episode is sponsored by Music Practice Makeover. This new resource is out on March 21st, 2022 and is all about helping young musicians with home practice. You can pre-order the kindle version now to be delivered on publication day. You’ll be able to order a paperback copy, and through other platforms, on the 21st.

At a talk I gave recently about practice, I mentioned in passing that there are many reasons why we practice. They are all different and all valid. At the end, a parent told me thank you for sharing that because their spouse was a professional musician who couldn’t wait to practice growing up, and it seemed like something was wrong since their own child was resistant to it.

That made me think about how important it is to talk about the discipline of practice.

I recently shared some thoughts about this on my Instagram account www.Instagram.com/Suzukitriangle. If you want to look for my post there you can read some of the ideas below with graphics.

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible , Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

Four Very Different Reasons We Practice Time To Practice

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Practice, Performance, & The Creative Process: An Interview with Courtney Woodward

Courtney Vowell Woodward is a wife, mom, former music educator, business owner, and author. After teaching music education in the classroom for 15 years, Courtney now hopes to share her passion for music through early children’s literature. Wanting to introduce a love of music in every family’s home, Courtney incorporates basic musical knowledge inside heartfelt stories — stories that include long-lasting life lessons.

Her classroom not only focused on upper-level musical skills, but on family, fun, and inclusion — themes that you will also see reflected in her writing. Courtney hopes that music education will become an easily accessible, essential subject for students of all ages! 

In this episode, we talk about what Courtney shared with her students in the classroom about practice, how the process of writing and publishing a book is so related to music, and all about her new children’s book out today!

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible , Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

Practice, Performance, & The Creative Process with Courtney Woodward Time To Practice

Highlights Include:

On practice advice to her students in the classroom: “You have to keep it short and then end

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Motivation & A Musical Environment: An Interview with Barbie Wong

This week on the Time to Practice Podcast we’re speaking with music educator Barbie Wong. We talk about her research into the lives of musicians, how we can create an environment that supports young musicians’ growth, and some great tips for motivation and music practice.

More about Barbie: Barbie Wong is a music educator who helps parents raise joyful, musical kids. With music degrees from Stanford University and Smith College, Barbie believes that everyone has the capacity to learn music. She teaches parents how to raise musical children through her classes, workshops, and videos. Over the course of two decades, Barbie has taught over 200 music students spanning various ages and backgrounds. Through her extensive research into the lives of musicians, Barbie has discovered simple, practical ways for parents to raise kids who love music. When she is not teaching or making music, Barbie loves to do parkour and hang out with her teenage kids.

Time to Practice Episode 33: Motivation & A musical Environment with Barbie Wong

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

Motivation & A Musical Environment with Barbie Wong Time To Practice

Highlights Include:

“You know, getting kids to practice, it’s not a black and white issue. There’s so many nuances and it depends on so many different things. And I think all so a lot of times parents and I had this idea too that “oh, I really want practicing to just be fun. I want everything to go smoothly.” And the reality is that sometimes practicing is hard. Some days I know even adults, I have musician friends who say, “yeah, I don’t want to practice,” but this that’s just part of the whole package. And if you can see the big picture and most kids can’t, you know, we adults have to help them either see it for them and then guide them along or eventually help them see the big picture.”

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Building Motivation & Enjoyment for Music Practice: An Interview with Tiana Angus

This week we’re speaking with violinist, performer, & Suzuki Teacher Tiana Angus. Tiana Angus is an enthusiastic and passionate Suzuki violin teacher in QLD, Australia. 

Tiana loves creating resources to help violinists learn and practice with colour and fun at www.dolcestrings.com.au.  She has two young children who play, with whom Tiana is an enthusiastic practice partner – a 6 year old son who plays cello, and a 3-year-old daughter who plays violin. Tiana is an artistic associate of Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, and has been performing with this ensemble since 2005.  Tiana is passionate about music education for young people, and absolutely loves sharing the joy of music with her students. 

We talk about what she remembers about music growing up, the unexpected declaration she made to her very first teacher, and ideas for keeping practice motivating for young musicians. 

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

Building Motivation & Enjoyment in Music Practice with Tiana Angus Time To Practice

Highlights from Tiana Angus Include:

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The Connection Between Feeling & Sound: An Interview with Kayleigh Miller 

This week we’re speaking with Violist and movement specialist Kayleigh Miller. Kayleigh is certified in yoga, pilates, and personal training. She is also a performing musician in the Pacific Northwest. We talk about how her relationship to practice has changed over time, the connection between movement and music, and many thoughts about practice and life as a musician. 

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Audible Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

The Connection Between Feeling & Sound with Kayleigh Miller Time To Practice

Highlights with Kayleigh Miller Include:

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Teamwork & Practice with Young Musicians

This week on the Time to Practice podcast we’re talking about working as a team, with our young musicians, to get practice done. Adopting this mindset, or approach can be a huge game-changer! You can read more about this in this article HERE. This blog post is a transcript, with a few edits for ease of reading, of this week’s podcast episode where I talk about this idea more, including a clip from a recent talk to teachers and parents. I hope you find it helpful as you create a positive, productive working relationship around home music practice.

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below:

Teamwork & Practice with Young Musicians Time To Practice

Teamwork & Young Musicians

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Bringing Our Human Experience to Music: An Interview with Raymond Mallari

This week we’re speaking with violinist & violist Raymond Mallari. We talk about motivation, how he used to think he didn’t like to practice when he was younger but has changed his mind, and the importance of incorporating the human side of ourselves as musicians into our music. I hope you find this episode as fun & inspirational as I did.

Raymond Mallari acquired his advancing musical powers from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Much to his crazy ambition, he completed his degrees in both violin & viola! A great example of his craziness was when he participated in the MTNA Music Competition not once, but 4 times. No – he didn’t win 1st place, but the judges did like his playing as he was awarded “2nd” & “Honorable Mention” in some categories. His orchestral experience includes many groups, but these days he just plays with Kennett Symphony & Berks Sinfonietta as a section violist. One orchestra even hired him to tour China back in the day! Another time he left the country was when he earned a diploma of chamber music in Madrid, Spain.

“Mr. Ray,” has over 15 years experience teaching at many institutes. He is currently a faculty member at Immaculata University Malvern & West Chester Music Academy. He is also wildly active with the Greater Philadelphia Suzuki Association — having the honor of being a Board Member. Most recently, he joined another team of excellent Board Members with the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County. He is passionate about the Suzuki method & heavily incorporates it into his lessons & lectures. Outside of music, he is currently attempting yoga, attempting a 5K, & attempting to navigate the huge grocery store Wegmans. 

Time to Practice Episode 29: Bringing our Human Experience to Music with Raymond Mallari

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

Bringing Our Human Experience to Music with Violinist & Violist Raymond Mallari Time To Practice

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Nurture Each Student As They Are: An Interview with Violinist Kristina Turner

This week we are talking to violinist, music teacher, and parent Kristina Turner. From her website: Kristina Turner grew up in Bellingham, Washington. She attended Eastern Washington University and studied Violin with Kelly Farris while performing in the EWU Symphony Orchestra and Gonzaga University Symphony. Kristina transferred back home to finish her Bachelor of Arts in Music at Western Washington University, studying Violin with Walter Schwede and continuing to perform in Symphony, Chamber, and New Music Ensembles. Kristina was a member of the Whatcom (now Bellingham) Symphony Orchestra from 2007 until 2019.

Kristina Turner taught in Bellingham from 2003 until 2019 when she moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. She is a registered and active teacher with the Suzuki Association of the Americas.

In this episode of the Time to Practice podcast, we talk about what drew Kristina to teaching, what she learned about practicing the hard way, and the lessons she’s learned from practicing music with her son.

Time to Practice podcast episode 28: Nurturing Each Music Student as They Are with Kristina Turner

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

Nurturing Each Music Student As They Are with Violinist Kristina Turner Time To Practice

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The Importance of Efficient Practice: An Interview with Violist Lisa Dyvig

In this week’s episode, we’re speaking with Lisa Dyvig. Lisa is a professional violist living in Olympia Washington. She is also a music teacher & parent of two young musicians.

Lisa is the owner and creator of Alto Clef gifts – which features fun gifts, mugs, t-shirts and more that she was inspired to create after realizing how many cool music items are out there for other instruments and wanting violists to be included too. 

We talk about efficient practice, what can make practice challenging, and how Lisa has found ways to mentor teens learning to teach in her community. 

Time to Practice Podcast Episode 27: The Importance of Efficient Practice with Violist Lisa Dyvig. White text on a two tone blue background. A picture of a woman holding a large viola

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

The Importance of Efficient Practice with Violist Lisa Dyvig Time To Practice

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Best Practice Tips of 2021 (Part Two)

This week’s podcast episode is the second in a two-part series recapping the practice tips from all of our amazing Time to Practice guests shared at the end of their episodes this year. You can find part one of the series HERE.

This series a great way to remember all the great practice ideas shared on the podcast in 2021 and if you missed any of these interviews, it may spark your interest in catching up with some past episodes. If you found this episode helpful or inspiring please share it with your music program, teacher, colleagues, or friend. Thanks for spreading the word about the podcast!

To Listen to the full episode you can find the Time to Practice Podcast on Apple PodcastsSpotifyGoogle Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform. You can also listen directly from the link below: 

Best Practice Tips of 2021 (Part Two) Time To Practice

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