Practicing

Ask More Questions

If practice is always a student playing something, an adult telling them what needs to be fixed and then student playing again and looking to the adult to tell them if it is good enough something is lacking.

Progress might be made but the student is not learning how to practice, how to self-analyze, or how to think critically.

Especially as students get older it is much more effective to ask questions than give the answers.

“How did that sound to you?”

“What do you think we should try to do better/improve?”

“Did you remember _______ (insert the teacher’s assignment/focus point here) for the whole song/section?”

“Did you think about what you were playing the whole time?”

“How do you think we should practice that?”

This post is the last in a series about inspiring and motivating students through lessons and practice. You can read the other posts here: Overview, Seeing Progress & Feeling Capable.

Learning to enjoy the process is a critical part of helping our children and students stay motivated and inspired. Of any of the aspects of motivation we have discussed in this series, it has the most long-lasting effects on them as people and musicians. It is easy to get too focused on outcomes and results and kill the joy of learning in the process. Let’s find ways to help both students and ourselves (as teachers and parents) enjoy this process together!

If learning something new is a daunting and dreaded task then why would anyone want to keep doing it?

I often tell parents that games and rewards can be very useful for very young students until they start to see learning music (and enjoying that process) as the reward. How do we develop this in our children and students?

Below are 5 great ways to help students develop the ability to enjoy the process of learning music. I was inspired for this post by a great article on the website Parents.com (click here to read) . The points in the article really echo what I see in my teaching and I expanded on some of them to fit our experiences as Suzuki parents and teachers.

Understand how your child learns – Young students learn very differently from teens (or how we learn as adults). Within each age group there are variations in the style of learning that works best for each individual student as well.

This Post is third in a series on keeping students inspired and motivated. You can read the first two posts here: Overview, Why Students Need Help Seeing Progress.

“I can’t do this!” “It’s too hard!” “I’ll never get it!”

Comments like these (or trying to avoid practicing a specific practice task) are strong indications that a student does not feel they are capable of something we are asking them to do.

Some students may not even be able to verbalize these thoughts and simply act out or seem to lose interest in studying their instrument.

To keep our students motivated it’s important to to address these feelings. Feeling capable and seeing that it is possible to accomplish something plays a huge role in staying motivated.

I’d like to suggest 4 ways to help students feel capable & would love to hear what you think works the best for your children or students.

Keep Students Motivated by Helping them See their Progress

Last week I started a new blog series about keeping students inspired and motivated. You can read the first post in the series HERE.

In that article I outlined three things students need to stay motivated and inspired including seeing progress, feeling capable, and finding joy in the process. Today we’re focusing on the importance of helping students see their progress!

Students stay engaged & motivated in the process of learning their instrument by being able to see that they are, in fact, making progress.

Practicing is hard. It takes a huge amount of concentration, discipline, and persistence to get it done everyday. It’s just human nature to feel like it is not worth it if we can’t see some kind of tangible progress along the way!

Effective Practice Routines

Effective Suzuki Practice

I have seen many different approaches to practice that work. Families in my studio find what works for them and helps them be successful. One size does not fit all and the way practice is done often needs to be modified depending on the child and practice parent.

That being said I have found there are certain strategies that effective practice sessions have in common, especially for young students. How they are done, is much less important than the fact that they are done.

I used to try to sprinkle information about how to practice effectively into my lessons on an ongoing basis but I’ve found over the years that this approach often left families in my studio surprised about my expectations a year or two into lessons.

Clearly I was not giving out this information as well as I thought I was. I have recently re-vamped my approach with new materials that explain what to expect, and how to be successful, in a much more clear and organized way.

How Repetition Develops Mastery

We all know the definition people throw around about insanity . . . doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I think this is how many adults feel in general about repeating something over and over again – no matter what the results. It can be a little crazy making.

It’s important to remember as parents (and communicate well as teachers) that not only does repetition feel totally different to young students and play an important role in the way they learn, but often they actually enjoy it. Can you think of that book or song that your child wanted (or currently wants) to hear over and over again?

When my own children were young they had a few favorite books that came out every night to be read & I dare not skip a page or two in the interest of time – they always noticed.

Repetition was something they craved – and it wasn’t only books. Certain Raffi songs and movies were requested over and over again as well. The repetition might have made my skin crawl at times, but they ate it up and it was exactly what they needed.

Repetition = Mastery

In fact, research shows that repetition plays a huge role in learning language, vocabulary, physical tasks and music.

20 Ways to Review Your Suzuki Pieces

If you’re a Suzuki parent you have probably heard how important review is.

Review sets the foundation on which more advanced pieces can be built. It allows us to play with other people easily & it helps make our technical skills easier because we revisit them over and over.

Sometimes the review process can get a little stale and it’s good to find new ways to keep it fresh and interesting.

Younger students may be more motivated by games & dice or drawing cards where teens (at least in my studio) tend to be more motivated by social situations or using review to accomplish something. That being said some of these ideas will appeal to all ages.

Leave your favorite ideas in the comments!

Here are 20 different ways to review to get you started . . .

Developing Ownership in Practice

Ownership in Practice

I am in the midst of expanding my parent education materials, for the new families in my studio, this year and the second week of materials will focus on what I think are the most important things to keep in mind about practice.

I narrowed it down to 7 items (I am sure there are more but these will get people started on the right foot in my experience).

They Include:

What You Practice Today is Not Important

The Suzuki Method is amazing . . . I could fill a whole book with stories about students, teachers and families who can attest to the fact that their lives have been changed for the better because of how this method has impacted them in musical and non musical ways alike.

Professional orchestra players and a number of well-known soloists got their start through the Suzuki Method – so there’s proof that it works for raising professional musicians and great adults who pursue other careers alike.

Suzuki parents: all the effort and hard work you put into this is worth it. There are a lot of must dos in order to parent a Suzuki student : practice everyday, attend lessons and group classes, listen to recordings daily, and attend recitals and performances. Teachers constantly ask you ” Did you listen this week?” “How many days did you practice?” “Are you able to come to X,Y, Z event/class/workshop?”

So much to do in an already busy life . . .

But it’s not really about all that – it’s not about what your child does today that is most important.

To make hard skills easy

To have music ready to play with others

For mastery

To build confidence

To build technique

In our culture we tend to value novelty and consider anything new to be exciting. Especially as adults, many of us love variety and newness.

In the Suzuki method we emphasize mastery and review. Sometimes, that can create a tension between this desire for newness and what you are being asked to do in practice with your child. However, it is this repetition that helps young players build skills on their instrument and connections in the brain.