By Christy | the Practicing Pro
Summer is here and halfway gone, and I know many of you are enjoying your well-deserved relaxation and fun. However, keeping up with your musical practice is also important. Even though regular lessons might pause for a few months, keeping routine and practicing habits can make a huge difference when you return to lessons in the fall. Here’s how to keep the momentum going and make practice enjoyable during the rest of your summer break.
Why Daily Practice Matters:
Daily practice, even if it’s just for a few minutes, is important for several reasons:
Muscle Memory
Playing an instrument is as much about muscle memory as it is about understanding the music. Regular practice helps maintain this memory, making it easier to pick up where you left off when your regular lessons start again.
Confidence
Keeping up with daily practice, even short, helps keep your child’s confidence. When they return to lessons and realize they haven’t lost their skills, they’ll feel proud and motivated for next year!
Avoiding Rustiness
Taking a long break can make last year's easy pieces feel challenging all over again. Regular practice makes sure that your child won’t feel like they’re starting all over again when they return to lessons.
Continued Enjoyment
Consistent practice keeps the joy of playing alive for your child. When progress is steady, it’s easier to stay excited about learning new pieces and techniques, when progress slows down to a halt, it’s just not fun anymore. Keep reviewing to keep it easy and fun.
Some ways to make summer practice fun and effective:
Set Small Goals
Break down pieces into manageable sections. Aim to master a small section each day, which keeps practice sessions short and focused.
Incorporate Games
Turn practice into a game. For instance, draw a piece of paper to determine which piece or section to play next, or time yourself to see how long you can play without missing a beat on your metronome.
Record Progress
Make a practice journal where your child can jot down what they worked on and any improvements they noticed. Recording short videos of their progress can also be motivating. Send progress videos to grandparents. Make an Instagram post every day or every week with your progress (private or public for your friends and family). Make a video each monday and compare from the start to end of a decided on amount of time.
Involve the Family
Arrange mini-recitals at home where your child can perform for family members. This gives them a goal to work towards and makes practice feel more rewarding.
Learn a Fun Piece
Pick a fun, popular song that your child loves and make it a summer project. Working on something they’re excited about can make practice feel less like a chore.
Sign up for some summer lessons
Couldn't go to music camp? Make your own mini music camp with your teacher and have a lesson a few times in one week to see some big improvement or learn a specific piece.
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The Bigger Picture:
Remind your child that summer practice isn’t about perfection; it’s about maintaining their skills and continuing to enjoy their instrument. Consistent practice will ensure they return to lessons, confident and ready to tackle new challenges when lessons start up again.
Avoiding the frustration of feeling rusty can make all the difference in their musical journey. Students might feel embarrassed or discouraged without regular practice, which can make returning to lessons difficult. But with just a little bit of daily practice, they can maintain their skills and keep their confidence and developing love for music alive.
A Simple Summer Idea - Pipecleaner Practice Project
One great way to keep practice engaging is to take on a summer project. This could be learning a new piece, creating a music video, or even composing a short song. Having a project to work on gives structure to practice sessions and provides a sense of accomplishment when completed. Here is one I LOVE that I challenge you to try to finish off this summer.
Buy a lot of pipe cleaners online or from a craft store. Choose your adventure based on your child’s likes and age. For example, if they need to practice scales and review pieces, use lots of green coupled with different colours of pipe cleaners and make this flower garden project:
Flower Garden Project
Use green pipe cleaners for scales and colourful ones for flowers. Each pipe cleaner represents one well-executed review piece for the top, and each scale played well three times is one green one for stems and leaves. As your child practices each day, create a flower garden with them. This way, the scales get done since the flowers will need their stems!! This simple thing will get them practicing scales I promise!
Review Piece Tapes
Write the name of each review piece on a small piece of tape and attach it to a pipe cleaner. Your child can reach into a container of pipe cleaners and earn 3-15 pipe cleaners a day, depending on the time available while they practice away! The goal is to practice at least three pieces daily.
Mystery Bag
Play a piece and then close your eyes to reach into a bag of pipe cleaners to select the next colour for your project. If you want a specific colour, keep practicing; eventually, you will find it!
Colour-coded Tasks
Assign different tasks to different colours of pipe cleaners. Have a list that correlates colours with tasks, and your child can pull out a pipe cleaner to see what to practice next.
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