Carrie75 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 How long do you have your children practice their instrument each day and how many times a week? I don't want to push too hard with our piano practice but I really feel like my boys aren't practicing enough to justify the cost of the lessons. They are 6 and 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 DD10 started piano lessons at age 6. Her teacher wanted her to practice 20 minutes a day, preferably in 2 10-minute sessions. Now, at age 10, she practices about 45 minutes a day, usually in 2 sessions but sometimes 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris in VA Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Piano, 3rd year--about 30 minutes, 5 or 6 times a week. Viola, 1.5 year (last year was like half a year, b/c the instruction stinks)--about 20 minutes 5X a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyto4 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 My seven year old (who just started violin) practices 20-30 minutes each day. My nine year old (who has been playing for two years) practices 30-40 minutes each day. I wish my older son would practice more, but he does have a 45 minute private lesson, an hour group lesson, and about 2 hours with the church band each week on top of his practice time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 We target 15min, 6x per week. The reality is usually more like 20min, 4x per week. My girls are 5-ish. I feel the lessons/practice are really good for my visually challenged 5yo, even though she does not progress at the pace some might expect. My almost-5yo is learning pretty well, but she doesn't have the interest in sitting at the piano for longer periods of time yet. I suspect it will develop as she becomes able to tackle more music independently. In her case, I'm doing it more for her future benefit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 How long do you have your children practice their instrument each day and how many times a week? I don't want to push too hard with our piano practice but I really feel like my boys aren't practicing enough to justify the cost of the lessons. They are 6 and 7. Our teacher said to work up to the length of your lesson at least 5 days a week to make continual progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie75 Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 Thank you for the replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaichiki Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Over here --- different amount of practice for different kids One kid at 6 did a LOT more than another does at 6... it's because they have different interest levels and different levels of involvement with music. My current nearly-6 year old boy practices about 15 minutes a day 5 days a week. He takes one 30 minute private lesson and one 30 minute group class each week. And for him, that's fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mabelen Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 My 7 yo 1st year piano student is expected to practice a minimum of 15 minutes a day 5 times a week. She usually exceeds the target. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tranquility7 Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 We don't have a set time, but rather a set list of pieces he has to play (some multiple times) and then new stuff to work on. He could get them all done well in probably 25 min, but he often dawdles and so we end up at the piano for more like 45 min, 4-5 times per week. He is 5.5 now, and we started 1.5 years ago. He was initially playing just maybe 5-10 min per day, but as he has learned more pieces, his practice list has lengthened and thus so has his practice time. BUT so has his enjoyment, since he can play so many different pieces. He knows this is just part of our daily routine and we rarely have any resistance about it (and trust me, he had NO interest or natural ability in music when we started!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 General rule of thumb is that the kids should practice every day, and that the practice should equal the length of the weekly lesson. In reality, I think of 6 days a week as awesome, as with the lesson, that is 7 days. When my kids were those ages, we had a ritual of going out for icecream after lessons each week IF ALL THE KIDS HAD PRACTICED 6 TIMES THAT WEEK. It was very motivational and fun. When my kids were 6/7 years old, their daily practice time was about 30 min. Some kids will do better if you split that into two 15 minute sessions if they have trouble staying focused for that long. We rarely did that, as my kids could keep their focus for the 30 min, and I wanted to get it DONE. Right now, my 9 yo practices piano about 30-40 min, and fiddle about 45 min. My 12 yo practices guitar about 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 hours a day (but he is an exceptional guitarist and very devoted). My 14 yo practices harp about an hour, and fiddle about 45 min. They all practice every single day, unless they are travelling the entire day and away from the instruments. If we are home for a few hours, the first priority is always the instruments, so they get done the vast majority of days. Suzuki has a famous saying of, "Practice every day you eat." I try to live by that. It is actually EASIER to get the practicing done when it is such a fundamental habit. I think it'd be a lot harder to keep it going if they on;y played 4 or 5 days a week. Note for little kid practice: Be sure to keep it fun. Be sure to listen, applaud, etc. Be sure to play games, involve candies, etc. This should be FUN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisbeth Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 DD11 - we've upped it recently to 45 for piano, 45 minute for violin, 6 days per wk. DS9 - 20 min on piano, 6 days per week. DD5 - 20 min violin 6 days per week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PenKase Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 My girls just began piano instruction in September. They are progressing very well and their teacher and I attribute that to their daily practice. She sees their potential and has recommended that both of my girls, ages 11 & 8, build their practice to an hour each day. The little one practices about 45 minutes now (but I will soon have to split her practice time into two sessions) and her older sister is up to about 1 hour 15 minutes. Because they see that practice leads directly to more and more success, they are highly motivated to put in the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 Length of practice in our house has slowly increased over the years. Dd started practicing 10-15 min 2-3 times a day when she began Suzuki violin at 3yo. Now she practices every day for at least 2 hours on violin (usually longer) and at least 30-60 min. on fiddle depending on performance schedule. She is highly motivated with her music and has a lot of material to cover each day. She is going to begin piano after Christmas (she's been asking since she was 5yo and has been picking through piano books so I think she's ready for a "real" teacher/rather than me). I am hoping 15-20 min of practice with that each day will be enough because I cannot figure out how we would fit in more. My ds practices his guitar anywhere from 30 min to 2 hours depending on how much homework he has and whether he has a performance coming up or not. Before he started going to ps, he practiced around 2 hours every day. He splits his practice up between guitar and banjo and just got a bouzouki so has been spending time practicing that as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 My 11 y/o practices guitar about 20 minutes a day, usually five days a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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