helena Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 how long does your child practice their instrument? i just found out how much our classes are going to cost (ouch). we were on a barter system for the past 2 years, and i never really thought about it. i have a 9 & 7 year old they both play piano and violin. they practice once a day, i've never timed them. i'm thinking that it's not that long and maybe i should have them play a few pieces in the evening as well. so between the $$$ and the fact that they've had 2 pressure free years to play, it's time to get serious. i need a schedule and a more disciplined out look. how do you schedule your music? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shasta Mom Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 Well, we do between 1 and 1/2 hrs/day five days/week - but my ds is pretty involved in music.................It may be time to turn up the pressure slightly on your kids and see how they react....I've noticed with my ds, on any topic, if I tell him we're raising the bar, he objects, but ends up cooperating. Then I remind him later how little he used to do, and he's proud....cc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melmc Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 My three do piano and my oldest also just started flute with a homeschool band program a local music store runs. Music practice is on their list of things to get done each day and I've only been assigning them practice during the week though they can choose to do it on the weekend themselves and have. For piano: My youngest - age 5 - practices 10-15 minutes. I let her practice the songs she knows on her own, then will help her with the new things she's learning. Her teacher would like to get her to 30 minutes a day practice so that's what we're working towards and will be breaking her practice into two daily sessions to reach this time. My next two are supposed to be practicing 30 minutes a day according to their piano teacher, but I think they're more around 15-20. I'm going to start doing the egg timer thing and having them record the actual times. I need to watch them closer, but that's usually when I'm working with one of the other two so it's easy for them to not practice the entire time. As for flute, my oldest just started and the band teacher tells them what to do for practice. Last week it was blowing into instrument 20 times a day, and she did it no questions asked which made me happy. She took two years of violin lessons that were a pure struggle when it came to practice because she didn't like the squeaky sound. I'd guess she practiced no more than 10 minutes when I could get her to practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Testimony Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 My sons are in a music program where they are learning Suzuki violin. Then I take them to private piano lessons too. We started practicing first thing in the morning because we found many times after school it was not getting done. They do 30 minutes of violin and 15-20 minutes of piano. The violin program that they are in gives them bucks. It is a made up money. At the end of the year, the children get to buy different items at the "store" (the parents buy the stuff). The children love it because they get games and prizes. I love it because it is a great motivator for practice. If the boys play more than 100 minutes in a week, they get two bucks. They are second year students so I think the time is more. Every year they have to practice more minutes to earn one buck and then even more to earn two. They get nothing for piano, but they are so busy practicing for violin that piano come right along with it. Blessing in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoggirl Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 (edited) My sons are in a music program where they are learning Suzuki violin. Then I take them to private piano lessons too. We started practicing first thing in the morning because we found many times after school it was not getting done. They do 30 minutes of violin and 15-20 minutes of piano. The violin program that they are in gives them bucks. It is a made up money. At the end of the year, the children get to buy different items at the "store" (the parents buy the stuff). The children love it because they get games and prizes. I love it because it is a great motivator for practice. If the boys play more than 100 minutes in a week, they get two bucks. They are second year students so I think the time is more. Every year they have to practice more minutes to earn one buck and then even more to earn two. They get nothing for piano, but they are so busy practicing for violin that piano come right along with it. Blessing in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony Ack! I am too stoopid to only quote part of a previous message! I am totally agreeing with Karen about practicing first thing in the morning. Practicing always got done, but ds has a much better attitude about it if he does he first thing in the morning. Plus, it gives me some "me" time. Ds has practiced one hour per day since he was nine years old. Edited October 12, 2008 by Hoggirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyinNNV Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 14 yo dd practices two instruments. One is practiced before school and one after. On school days she practices about 2 hours. On weekends it is more like 2-3 hours. I do not require practice on an instrument that she is going to take a private lesson on that day. So she ends up practicing 6 days a week. 8 yo ds practices one instrument 6 days a week. He practices for 15-20 minutes. Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 minimum 15 minutes per instrument 7 days a week. That means Ds does 30 total(15 on his acoustic and 15 minutes on his electric guitars) and dd does 15. Both tend to do more than those 15 but they HAVE to do 15 a day at the very least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beansprouts Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 My 9 1/2 year old dd practices piano 30 - 45 minutes every day before school (5 days a week). She also frequently plays her favorite songs for fun on her own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah CB Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 My 8 year old practices violin for an hour each day in addition to his outside lessons and groups. We practice first thing in the morning and we alternate as to who goes first. I schedule an hour to work with my 6 year old on violin but it usually ends up being about 40 minutes unless we're doing a games based practice. My three year old practices for 5 minutes at a time, but sometimes he'll do two or three practices in a day:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melanie Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 My children both practice piano for 45-60 minutes every day of the week. That is not including all the minutes they play just because they feel like it. I've listened to nearly four hours of "music" today - it's no wonder my head is pounding! :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus.Two.Five Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 DS7 - Piano, 10 mins per day, 7 days per week DD10 - Piano, 30 mins per day, 5-6 days per week DS12 - Piano, 30 mins per day, 5-6 days per week. Saxophone, 30-45 mins, 3 days per week DD13 - Piano, 30-45 mins per day, 5-6 days per week. Clarinet, 30-45 mins twice weekly. Flute, 60-90 mins once weekly. Strange, I know. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommylawyer Posted October 12, 2008 Share Posted October 12, 2008 My 5 year old daughter's piano teacher says for her to practice each piece two times each day. The first day after her lesson, when she has new material, she may practice for 20 minutes or so, but by the end of the week, it may only take her 5-10 minutes. She practices every day except for the days she has lessons. Lately, however, she's playing for about an hour every day - she just loves it so much. She naturally gravitates to the piano and first practices her lesson then continues to review old material on her own. She LOVES it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfamily Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 45 minutes 6 days a week (except for busy weeks-then it's 5) and my younger dd5 is up to 30 minutes a week but we usually only practice 5 days a week and we try to split the 30 minutes up. Actually, my older dd breaks her practices up sometimes too. She especially does when we need to practice a hour. Her teacher would like us to reach 5+ hours a week so we need to step up again. Usually their practice time should increase as they get older and as their pieces get longer and more complicated. We also do Suzuki and some of our time is listening and singing the music but we do this in the morning. The girls are both playing the piano. HTH:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra in va Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 (edited) 7th grader - 60 mins daily except music lesson day and Sunday - piano 5th grader - 45 mins daily piano 3rd grader - 45 mins daily violin 1st grader - 15 mins daily piano (with 10 mins flashcards/theory drill/games) preK - starting violin this week! will be around 10 mins daily My oldest also took 3 years of violin with piano, so I can really relate to your situation wrt to cost of lessons...it gets really expensive!! We stopped violin this year because it was too much practice time and she needed time for school and to pursue other interests. I miss hearing her play...it's always hard to stop something that you have invested so much in. She is doing some duets with her brother just to keep it up. With regard to schedule - the 5th/3rd grader go first, then the 7th grader - first thing in the morning. I work with the younger kids later in the day after school time is over. Edited October 14, 2008 by sandra in va Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLHCO Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 My son (eight) probably plays about 30-45 minutes, sometimes more if he's practicing some specific fiddle tunes for something. I have a checklist I've made for him. I fill it out during his lesson as he goes over a new technique with his teacher or starts a new song. It goes something like this: Review songs _________ Scales ________ New Technique_________ Music Reading __________ New Music_________ Fiddle Review________ New Fiddle Music________ I have boxes next to each one where I can put in time and the goal is to spread it out so he spends perhaps 10-15 minutes on his new music, about 2-5 on scales, another 5-10 on review music, etc. It totals at least 30 minutes, usually more like 40 but rarely up to an hour at his age. Anything longer and it's not as effective because he burns out, losing focus. My older daughters are expected to practice 45-60 minutes. I have a checklist for them but their teachers are too relaxed and aren't as into using it and I'm not in there with them. I sometimes make them a list then of the things I need them to go over (we have a band), then they are to work through reviews and whatever their teacher has assigned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 ds 12, 30 plus minutes on piano heading quickly toward an hour. Guitar time if he does his piano. Dd 14, 45 min to an hour daily. This is 5 - 6 days a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apheartsong Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Ds8's guitar teacher wanted 60 minutes per day, so we either did 15 minutes 4 times a day or 20 minutes 3 times per day 7 days per week. Another guitar teacher in our area recommends only 30 minutes per day at this age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Dd14 practices half an hour a day first thing in the morning. She learns piano for fun- for recreation- and although the lessons cost me, I don't want to turn it into work. She really enjoys the songs she plays and practices enthusiasticaly. Ds12 practices for about 20 minutes a day. He is a fairly advanced classical recorder player, but his teacher, an elderly woman, is like a grandmother to him, and she feels he progresses very well. She has asked that we not time his practices, but that instead it is the quality of his practices that matters- a few scales, or just one played several times until perfected, and working on one or two pieces each day- working on the new bits and playing them over several times. He has a tendency to just want to rush through and play everything through once and not work on the hard bits. His teacher has said he could get more out of a short practice if his focus is right, than a long one. Although she has trained several musicians who have gone on to be famous, she has quite a liberal approach and has been a gift for our son who has had his musical gift brought forward by her. If she had told him to practice for 30 minutes and do theory, she would have lost him long ago. Both my kids only practice 5 days a week. Dd also plays guitar and goes to a class at the local school, and I never tell her to practice that because she is completely self motivated and practices as she feels inspired, which is plenty as she is top of the class. I was brought up on formal music and exams, and I am musically inclined...but for me I don't want to turn music lessons into so much of a chore that they don't want to do the practice. I guess I am not "classical" that way. We dont do much theory although both know how to read music. They can always pick it up later. I want them to enjoy it, play pieces they love and for music to be a part of their lives, and I don't feel like pushing it too hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 For ds, 6.75yo, we do something like CherylCO's checklist which is in my head... good idea to actually write it down. As someone who was formally trained, my belief now is more toward "what is effective practice?" rather than simply an amount of time. Too often in my training, traditional music lessons were based on drills that were finger strengthening, sure, but mind-numbing and not musical so I'm more in favor of learning pieces properly - Suzuki style. My ds enjoys the theory aspects too so I have added in scales, chords and we are just beginning to touch on learning intervals and the staves. Yet the practice time will sometimes be no more than 15 minutes. For my ds's age and personality, that is fine for now with longer practice times on days when he's really into it or on fire. By age 8, I would hope for about a half hour a day, five days a week as long as the student is engaged. - Jill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Lyn Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 My one daughter is just beginning the harp since this past summer. She just turned 9 and practices 15-20 minutes per day. My other daughter plays the piano, but is not taking lessons currently. She still is reviewing her last book and plays for 30 per day in preparation for hopefully taking guitar lessons soon. I told her if she reviewed chords and such it would be easier to start up the guitar. We are not really strict with it all, but let the girls do for enjoyment and to learn to read music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diane Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 My son is in his 3rd year of playing violin. He has two one hour lessons per week. On top of that he practices 15-20 min. per day Mon-Saturday. He just turned 8, and at this age, I want him to initiate practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Our teacher wants the kids to practice each new song five times a day and three old ones. This takes about 15 - 20 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dani n Monies Mom Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 DD12.5 practices at least 60 mins per day on her trumpet. She has begun her 4th year of play and is involved in Concert Band, Marching Band and private lessons, all of which require practice on "their" assigned pieces. She also wants to learn piano and flute, but we haven't seriously explored those options yet. Ava Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natalija Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Music is a big part of our lives and a lot of time (and $$$$!) is spent on it. Our 13 yo dd plays piano and our 11 yo dd plays violin. They take lessons twice a week with fabulous Russian teachers. They practice twice a day Monday through Saturday for about an hour each time, so about 2 hours a day. First practice is always the first thing after breakfast. Then also the first thing after our lunch break. (That way, they are not hungry! :-) Snack breaks thus avoided! Older dd was doing about about 2 1/2 a day but needs to get back to that. She needs to get up to about 3 hours a day. They both get Sunday off from practicing. (But my older dd has a chamber music lesson in the afternoon.) When a concert or competition is coming up, we also add in a dress rehearsal ...several evenings in a row before the day of the event. I also bought the Alfred Essentials of Music CD-Rom for my younger to improve her music theory and my older daughter to review the lower levels and continue on the 3rd level. (There are three books/levels total.) I have them do 15 minutes a day before or after their 1st practice. Should be longer but at least it is consistent. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessMcG Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 We're up to about 30 minutes a day split into two sessions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Jenny Flint Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Hee hee. Peela's response reflects accurately how things go around here, too. My son is very musical, my daughter not so much. However, I don't want to make it a huge chore for either of them, and my musician (degree in classical bass, brought up on bluegrass, ear-trained) husband feels the same way- probably more than I do, in fact. Neither of my kids can read music. (GASP) Dh is much more concerned with ear training them than with theory. His perspective is that theory can always be picked up, but ear training is much harder if you learn to read and don't learn to hear the music. I won't let them drop music (particularly my daughter, who would probably dearly love to drop it) but I don't want it to be drudgery. I want them to be glad they know some music so that if they wanted to pursue it as an adult they would have a foundation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I know I'm in the minority, but we are very lax about practice here. My 10 year old practices piano whenever he feels like it. Okay, not *whenever. I had to cut him off last night while trying to get the baby to sleep. For us, music is only about fun. I'm rigid on too many other things. Sometimes I do feel guilty for not prioritizing music. Ds has really shocked us with an enormous amount of natural talent. He can listen to a rock song 2 or 3 times and work out a good portion of it on the piano. In chords, not single notes! And we recently discovered that he has a pretty good singing voice. I can't help but wonder what he could accomplish if I were more firm. We pay for piano lessons and expect them to be taken seriously. Sometimes we add drama/musical theater classes and expect the same. I don't make any specific rules, though. As long as the instructors feel ds is meeting his responsibilities, I'm content. Part of it is because I truly believe music is all about enjoyment and shouldn't be a chore. The other part is because I know my personality could easily lend to stage-parent-itis. I'm protecting my children from the monster inside me.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 However, I don't want to make it a huge chore for either of them, and my musician (degree in classical bass, brought up on bluegrass, ear-trained) husband feels the same way- probably more than I do, in fact. Neither of my kids can read music. (GASP) Dh is much more concerned with ear training them than with theory. His perspective is that theory can always be picked up, but ear training is much harder if you learn to read and don't learn to hear the music. Just for clarification - in my mind and ear, ear training and theory are really a combination, inseparable. Maybe this is just semantics. I'd enjoy hearing your dh's and Peela's comments on this. When I say theory, esp at 6.5, I mean knowing a couple of the easy major scales, the major triad of said scale and the A natural minor scale and its minor chord. Fingerings are appropriate to current hand size. I don't mean theory on paper - music theory removed from the sound of music is just a bad idea, imho. DS doesn't read music and we aren't analyzing chord progressions. :D But we play games where I will say, "I'm starting on C" and then play something simple like 1,2,3,2,1. and then he comes to the piano and plays it back. Or I might play 1,3,5,3,1 or other intervals and combos now and he plays it back. when it's his turn, he'll throw in various accidentals and I'm supposed to get those right. Good for keeping my ear in shape! That is really music theory in practice. understanding what you hear and being able to replicate it. And yes the "seeing" in your mind on staves et al is part of music theory that can come later. I discuss the names of intervals only in reference to what is being played. We've been discussing thirds and playing them for a couple of days now - the sound difference between a major and minor third though I don't expect him to ID them. I know for me, and it seems to work for him, that having a name and "math" idea for categorizing what he already knows in his ear and its sound, helps him access it faster when he wants to pick out a song he knows. The "if you can sing it you can play it" method but with "if you can sing it and you already understand the sounds you're hearing in relationship to your instrument, you can play it" being more like it. He really enjoys being able to pick out songs he knows or makes up without excess frustration and I've noticed this ear-training/theory combo helps him with that. Does this make sense? Peela's DS's recorder teacher sounds like a dream teacher. Quality of practice, indeed. - Jill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Just for clarification - in my mind and ear, ear training and theory are really a combination, inseparable. Maybe this is just semantics. I'd enjoy hearing your dh's and Peela's comments on this. When I say theory, esp at 6.5, I mean knowing a couple of the easy major scales, the major triad of said scale and the A natural minor scale and its minor chord. Fingerings are appropriate to current hand size. I don't mean theory on paper - music theory removed from the sound of music is just a bad idea, imho. Yes...both kids learn theory as in scales (key sigs) and how to read music and ds in particular learns a bit about each composer etc I meant theory as in on paper...both have done a bit- ds lasted one lesson- dd did her first exam but dropped it after that. I don't have a problem with them learning mostly by ear. Ds does- but his recorder teacher makes sure he reads the music too...and he has become an excellent sight reader- but I think the first step is always by ear for him. I think with his dyslexia, "patterns" make sense to him, so both sight reading and and a good ear come naturally. I had dd do a year of Simply Music, where you only learn by ear for quite a while- when she was about 8 or 9. She begged me to change her to a teacher where she could learn how to read music straight away, and she has been happy with that. But if either had been content, or their teachers had been content, to just let them learn by ear, I would have been happy with that too. I am happier that both read music though, as well as having good ears- it is a gift in life, like knowing another language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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