How should piano practice go?

[CadenceSophia]

This is long. I can't seem to write a post without a million words. Sorry.

 

My third grader is taking his third year of piano lessons this year. We are NOT serious musicians. I have only asked for 5-10 minutes of practice per day so far. Our music teacher gives a small assignment each week and a sticker chart for daily practice. Until this year, I didn't even require him to play what she assigned as long as he spent time at the keyboard. Until this year, piano was a favorite and he usually spent more time than asked, 20-30 minutes at least, often more, playing favorite songs (star wars, Indiana Jones, etc) and making up his own compositions. He still likes it, but is not a fan of being told what to practice even though I feel like 10 minutes of an assignment is a reasonable request.

 

I also have a kindergartener who is taking her first year of lessons. She begged and begged last year and taught herself the first few lessons in her brother's first year books but now is resisting 5 mins a day of practice because she is enormously stubborn and hates being told what to do :) (It's a life thing, not a piano thing. She does love the lessons and her music).

 

I have a tiny bit of piano and flute background from grade school and high school. I have been thinking about using Hoffman Academy lessons and letting the kids "teach" me piano to try and get them more engaged and set an example for practice. I have read that practice should be balanced between old and new music, theory and scale type work. I really don't know what the structure of a practice should look like though.

 

Can anyone tell me what a piano practice should look like for elementary kids? And are there suggestions for more music theory to do together? I have Keyboard Capers but haven't opened it in a few years. I remember it required lots of prep and pieces. If we do anything, it needs to be laid out for me "do the next thing" style because I have too much to prep already. I want to gradually work everyone to 30 minutes a day but not with misery and tears.

 

(Both my kids function on the same level in regards to reading and independence.. DD6 would gladly work through a checklist all by herself)

[Momto6inIN]

My kids' piano teacher always said it wasn't the amount of time they practiced but the number of times they went through each song (as well as how diligently they tried to correct their mistakes, of course). Obviously as they improve and get longer songs, the practice time will increase, but her guideline was always:

 

1-2 repetitions/day will not lead to improvement

3-4 repetitions/day will lead to improvement

5+ repetitions/day will lead to drastic improvement

 

Hope that helps!

[CadenceSophia]

1-2 repetitions/day will not lead to improvement

3-4 repetitions/day will lead to improvement

5+ repetitions/day will lead to drastic improvement

 

Hope that helps!

I suppose this is really dependant in the type of music they are working on? My kids are using the My First Piano Adventures and some simplified sheets of music the teacher creates. Each song takes about one minute to play through. I think they are both getting 5 repetitions a day but I can't say there is dramatic

improvement :-/ In fact my older is still struggling with fluency reading notes which I think is entirely lack of practice. I'd really like to help him get it sorted out so he can move up to a higher level book this year.

[HomeAgain]

Different instrument here, but practice in our house goes like this:

 

Warm up

Guess The Note game.  We each take turns playing a note and guessing what the other person played.  This evolved to Guess The Song when he was learning little ditties that were 5 to a page (more difficult than one thinks, since they were only a span of 3 notes and differed by length of notes and rests)

 

Practice assignment.  Critique, practice again.

 

Play older song for a break
.

Practice assignment again, singing along.  Try it once more.  If need be break out the xylophone to get the timing right.

 

Play older song from the beginning of the book, just for fun.  Done for the day.

 

This takes about 20 minutes right now.  He likes to make up his own compositions sometimes instead of replaying something at the end, but either way, he puts in a good bit of practice and progresses each week.

[Momto6inIN]

I suppose this is really dependant in the type of music they are working on? My kids are using the My First Piano Adventures and some simplified sheets of music the teacher creates. Each song takes about one minute to play through. I think they are both getting 5 repetitions a day but I can't say there is dramatic

improvement :-/ In fact my older is still struggling with fluency reading notes which I think is entirely lack of practice. I'd really like to help him get it sorted out so he can move up to a higher level book this year.

Even with short songs, she always emphasized correct fingering, counting the beats, and number of repetitions over a set practice time. Fluency with notes came with practice and flash cards. From what I understand, sometimes it takes a while for it to "click" but when it does it all becomes more fun instead if drudgery. Sorry I'm not more help!

 

Sent from my Z988 using Tapatalk

[Ausmumof3]

My kids ended up quitting about your kids ages because I was getting a lot of pushback about having to practise and I have enough to make them do without forcing them to practise too.

 

One thing I did find helpful, was a science study done that showed that those that got the most from their practice would all use the same technique. They would play the piece all the way through. Then rather then just practicing bits they had trouble with they would play the whole piece through again but intentionally drop to half pace over the difficult bits before speeding up to finish the piece. As many times as they needed.

[CadenceSophia]

Even with short songs, she always emphasized correct fingering, counting the beats, and number of repetitions over a set practice time. Fluency with notes came with practice and flash cards. From what I understand, sometimes it takes a while for it to "click" but when it does it all becomes more fun instead if drudgery. Sorry I'm not more help!

 

Sent from my Z988 using Tapatalk

No that is a help! Sorry if my post did not come across well. It was not intentional. Even the mention of flash cards is helpful -- never thought of that but it might fix the issue quickly.

[UCF612]

This is good information. I need to step up my game in regards to practice! Thus far I've always just sent my son to practice and I listen in once in awhile.

Edited December 7, 2016 by UCF612

[Jackie]

My daughter and I are taking lessons together, and are both novices, so I'm not likely much help.

 

The thing that seems to help me the most is that when we think we have a piece more or less "right", we record it and listen to it back. Often, we can hear the things that need worked on better if our brains are only listening and not working on playing, too.

[lllll]

nm

Edited December 12, 2016 by ..Kathy..

[Bluegoat]

My two daughters have been quite different in terms of practice at that age.  Dd1 was pretty independant, practiced longer, and repeated things more.  She was really careful about playing what was on the page.

 

My younger daughter is less likely to want to practice, or want to practice what se has been assigned.  She often has her own opinions about what something should sound like.  She gets more frustrated when she has trouble. 

 

Both are very musical, but their personalities really differ and their musical strengths.  I've pushed a lot less with my younger girl - I insist that her assigned practice is part of her school work, even if she doesn't like it, but I try not to put the pressure on to much so she can still play around.  Sometimes I compromise good practice - working on problem areas as much, and just concentrate on keeping up a good habit of doing it at all.  I think as she gets older, she'll understand the purpose more, and have more patience.

[displace]

I took piano as a child. I was talented but I didn't like to practice much. I practiced probably about three times a week, plus a lesson day. I don't remember how many minutes, but it seemed like a lot. I progressed quickly even with the sparse schedule.

 

For DS, piano is more of a therapy, non-optional, educational, and physical requirement. DS doesn't love it, but I have him practice about 10 min per day (5-6 days a week). He gets through about 7 songs twice on that schedule. It's not a ton, but our goals are probably a lot different than others'. He is progressing fine, and will practice, but probably views it as a boring school subject vs hobby.

Edited December 7, 2016 by displace