Five Tips for Making Practice Fun

metronome and notes

1. Play Practice Games.

It’s effective for young children to play a song or passage three times during a practice session.  To make this more fun, draw a picture with three different places and have your child place a small toy on the picture.  Each time a song is played well, your child can move the character to the next spot on the picture.

2. Revisit Old Favorites.

Revisiting songs that your child enjoyed and learned to play well builds confidence and makes practice fun.  These songs should remain a part of regular practice even after the teacher considers them finished and has moved on to new pieces

3. Have the Student become the Teacher.

Ask your child to teach you how to play a song.  Ask your child to show you the notes, how to play it, and give comments on how you sound.

4. Listen to Music.

You should consider every listening experience a part of music learning.  Going to a local concert or playing your or your child’s favorite album and talking about what parts you enjoy and why can help your child develop an appreciation for music.

5. Try a New Activity.

Teachers have lots of worksheets and other tools to help your child learn music.  In addition, we recommend getting a note speller book to practice notes and you can also find flashcards that will help learning music symbols.

For information about music lessons at the Altadena Academy of Music, please call    (626) 296-0799 or use our email contact form.