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ACCOUNTABILITY

The students who do best in music are those who practice regularly. 
The students who practice regularly are those who have a parent or
friend who demand accountability.

Parents requiring children to practice before being allowed TV, games
or phone time find that the childern will manage to find time to practice. 
Guaranteed! 

Parents who require students to practice within ear shot so they are
sure the student is practicing the assigned material instead of messing
around will see the student make better progress.

Every week in our music studio we hear from adults who wish their
parents had not allowed them to stop music lessons.   Our goal is to
keep students interested so they will stay with it and have no
musical regrets as adults.

Parents should not expect immature children to be completely in
charge of practice time.   Students need encouragement and accountability.

 Even adult students find they do better if they have an accountability partner.

INCREMENTAL PRACTICE

A typical method of practice is to start at the beginning of the song until
making a mistake.  When we make a mistake the tendency is to stop playing
and go back to the beginning and start over again, making the same mistake
and starting over again!

If we think about that we quickly see we are not making progress.  Maybe
we will play the first few measures really well, but we never get to the rest
of the song.

It is best to start playing and continue to the end.  Then evaluate and document
the problem areas.  Now the real work can begin!

Practice the first section in the piece where a mistake was made.  Play that
one or two measure section over and over until you have conquered it.  Then
play it 5 more times.  Then start at the beginning and see if you can insert
that section into the music without mistake.  If it does not go well, practice
the section several times and try again to insert it into the music.  It is very
rewarding when it comes together. 

Now continue through the piece until you come to the next tough spot and
repeat this process until you can play the whole song well.  Fabulous!

REWARDS

Some of us enjoy and look forward to practicing, but if you find it difficult,
try a reward system.  This works if you are an adult or you want to encourage
your child to practice.  An adult can tell him/herself to practice for half an
hour and the reward for that is a favorite TV show or video game.  Same with
kids.  It's best to stay away from food rewards!  The list of rewards is
endless but the key id\s to find one that will inspire the student to practice.