Surviving Musical Instrument Practice - Part 1 of 2

Is your kid new to band or orchestra? Are they practicing at home? Are you coaching them?

My daughter started trumpet this year and has already worked her way up to first chair! We started the year with a lot of frustration, but now she is excited about her progress and generally enjoys practicing. I’ve been coaching her at home, and it occurred to me that I have plenty of good advice to share.

If your kid is learning an instrument - brass, woodwind, string, guitar, piano, percussion, whatever -  and you want to help him get the most out of practice time at home, then read on. Whether you were a “bandy” yourself or are one of those people who feel totally inept at music, it doesn’t matter. There are plenty of ways you can be an effective coach...

Start With a Positive Attitude

Practice time can be frustrating for both you and your child, especially if she is a resistant beginner. Even if she wants to do well, practice can be just plain hard to survive. Besides the mental anguish of doing something you’re not good at (yet) for what seems like an eternity (thirty minutes!), the instrument will likely cause physical discomfort or even pain until she gets used to it. Fingers for strings, lips for woodwinds or brass, hands, arms, and shoulders are all being asked to perform awkward new tasks. 

You can help by acting as a sympathetic partner. Sit in the room with your child during practice. Just your quiet show of support may help pull him through. Shorter stretches with breaks in between can help alleviate any physical discomfort as he builds up endurance over time. Even a single ten minute session to start with is better than no practice at all. Let him know that things will get better. Over time you will both gain confidence about what the instrument should sound like and what learning techniques work well. As you begin to hear tangible improvements, practice may even become a time of day you both look forward to!

This may seem to go without saying, but please please please monitor your own speech when you talk about your child’s practice to your friends and relatives. Too often I’ve heard parents speak jokingly (or not!) about how awful it is to hear their child play. Even when the child is not present (and let’s hope she isn’t!), such negative speech only serves to reinforce the parent’s bad attitude. A parent who hates practice time is not going to be an effective helper. The sounds coming out of your child’s instrument may be difficult to endure at first, but if you can take a positive role in helping her improve, you’ll soon begin to hear things differently.

Whatever frustrations you may encounter around practice time, it may also help to consider that your child will reap many benefits beyond just improving on his instrument. He is also practicing focus, self-control, and resilience. These skills will transfer to other situations and will serve him well in any endeavor throughout his life. 

Setting Up

Set up a regular time for practice. Your band director may have a minimum requirement; make sure you work at least this much practice time into your daily schedule. If your child knows when to expect it and how long it will last, she’ll be much more cooperative about sitting down to do it. Set a timer so she can monitor the time spent and there will be no guessing about when practice should end. 

Find a comfortable practice chair and insist on good posture. Your child won’t learn proper intonation or fingering while slouched on the couch. Sitting up straight will also help him focus attention on the task at hand. Use a music stand. It’s impossible for him to maintain good posture while twisting around to try to see the music book. Folding stands are inexpensive and take up very little space. You’ll find one at your local music store. 

Structuring Practice Time

Imposing some structure on your child’s half-hour will ensure a productive practice with all the important components included. It will also help her time pass more quickly.

Make sure she starts with a few minutes warming up. Whatever warmup they normally do in class is fine. She may beg to skip this because it’s boring and easy, but insist. Warmup is important even for professional musicians. You need to get your body and mind into playing mode in order for the entire practice to go well.

After warmup move to a few minutes of exercises, such as scales. These can probably be found in the front or back pages of the band book. These are meant to strengthen general skills, such as fingering and tone. Again, they may seem boring to your child, but insist. 

Then begin working on assigned pieces from the book. If your child jumps straight into these he may experience some telltale frustrations such as trouble producing a clear tone, missing pitches, and forgetting fingerings. In other words you’ll hear lots of struggling. This is a good time to remind him of the importance of warming up. Then point out the difference it makes! 

If there’s time after the assigned pieces, you should encourage some exploration. This might include experimenting with new notes and techniques, trying pieces that haven’t been assigned yet, improvising or composing original pieces, or picking out favorite tunes by ear. This free time will serve as an incentive for some kids; others may not be so comfortable with it. Do what feels right for your child.

Delivering Praise

As your child’s practice coach, you will of course want to cheer her on and praise her for a job well done. Specifically what you praise (or don’t) is important and can have a great effect on her progress one way or the other.

I’m a huge fan of the growth mindset, which I learned about from the Greater Good website. The upshot is that kids can achieve growth when we focus praise on the things they have the power to change. When it comes to music practice, these include:

Time spent practicing. Keep a chart and acknowledge when she meets her practice goals for the week.

Effort. “Wow, that was a tough passage, but you kept trying and you figured it out!” Or even, “I can see how hard you’re trying. Keep it up and you’ll get it.”

Specific improvements. “I think you’re getting a much clearer sound out of your trumpet now than you were last week.” Or, “You got three notes further this time! You’re making progress!” 

The evil twin of the growth mindset is the fixed mindset, which communicates that we do not have the power to change. Praise for fixed qualities, such as “musical genius,” can backfire. When the going gets tough, a child who believes he is a born musical genius may conclude that his mother was just wrong about that and stop trying, whereas a child who believes that improvement comes through effort will be more likely to power through.

The other pitfall to avoid with praise is overdoing it. Kids know when we’re just trying to prop them up, and they don’t need or want that. The goal with praise is to provide accurate feedback; to let your child know both that he’s getting it right, and that you’ve noticed he’s getting it right. So offer praise when it’s truly earned, and keep it honest. A little well-placed praise will go a very long way!

More to Come

When your child is starting out, it may be all you can do to adjust attitudes, set up a regular practice routine, and offer well-placed praise. Once practice becomes an established habit, there are plenty more ways you can help your child get the most out of it. In my next post I’ll cover some specific tips and techniques you can use when you sit down to actually coach your kid through a practice session.