Practice habits for young student musicians

Practice is important for musicians of all ages. Young students need to practice to develop their skills and good habits. Professional musicians practice much for the same reason, with the goal of performances and repertoire maintenance in mind. Dr Anita Collins has researched best practice, so find out from her how to set yourself up for practice as a student.

I was in Canberra at the beginning of this year having lessons with Tim Kain. He told me a little of his philosophy as a teacher which I thought was very important to hear, being both a student and teacher myself. He asked, how much do I practice each week? The reason for this, was that the time I spent practicing was far greater than the time spent in lessons each week. As students and professionals, in the practice room we are our own teachers. Lessons should prepare us with the strategies to be able to identify problems and continuously improve while at home by ourselves. Therefore, practice is important to get right!

Dr Anita Collins is an educator, researcher and author in the field of brain development and music. In this short video, she outlines several ways to get young students to practice: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1616786571785591

The following are the main points from the video:

Practice everyday and set a limit - ‘You’re not allowed to practise more than 5 minutes.” This works as reverse psychology where children are told what not to do (practice longer than 5 minutes), and guess what, they want to practice more!

Practice at the same time everyday and attach it as a routine to other activities. For example, after eating a snack after school, this is the time for practice.

Set a space for practice and only practice - use a rug, music stand, and keep your instrument in this space

Bribery - this is often frowned upon by teachers and parents, but done in the right way, stickers can be the catalyst for having students practice

Check out the website of Dr Anita Collins here: https://www.anitacollinsmusic.com/

All the best for now - see you in the next blog!