Ideas of practicing during the summer

With the sun shining, it often gets more difficult to get your child, or yourself, to sit down and practice. I once had a choir teacher who said that everything you learned the first day, 80% will be lost the next if you don't re-study it the next. Whether or not that is true, remains to be seen. However, his point is that it's important to try and practice a little bit every day because we do forget what we have learned as time goes on.

So, here are some ideas from the piano blog: Frances Wilson's Piano Studio

Set realistic goals – If you’ve been set a piece to learn over the holiday, don’t try and learn all of it in one practice session. Break the piece down into manageable sections. Move on to a new section when you feel you’ve learnt the previous section properly. Music fact: the great Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter claimed he never turned over the page of the music until he had learnt that page correctly.

Practice little and often – Regular practice is better than once a week, or only once during the holidays the day before the first lesson of the new term (!). Try and practice at the same time each day, perhaps first thing after breakfast so that you have the rest of the day clear for other holiday activities.

Get inspired – go to a concert: seeing and hearing other musicians in action can be incredibly inspiring. Or listen to some recordings or watch YouTube videos of great musicians at work. 

I think that "Getting Inspired" is one of the most important out Frances's list. When kids (we) realize the type of beautiful music that they can create, it will encourage them to want to keep practicing. 

Keep it up!

{Keep kids thinking about music and it will help them!}