Mastering the mechanical aspects of an instrument is a lot about training muscle memory. The more often you practice a particular skill, the faster you will pick it up and the easier it will become. Essentially, the more often you practice, the better.
Weekly lessons provide instruction and guidance, but the real work happens at home. As a beginner, you will see good results from 20 minutes of practice five days per week. You can count your lesson as one of those days!
In the very early stages, when we are just learning to hold the instrument correctly, a few minutes each day is perfectly sufficient. The goal should be to form a practice habit. The earlier you can do this, the easier it will be going forward. As we learn new skills, the time should increase naturally.
The focus should always be quality over quantity, however. Here are a few tips to get the most out of your practice time.
Sending a beginner into another room to practice solo is not a recipe for success as their ability to self-correct is limited.
Don’t drag out a session for too long trying to nail down every detail. Keep it short and focused. If you find that your child cannot concentrate for more than ten minutes then that’s your time limit. It will get easier with time.
– Is the posture correct?
– Are we playing in tune?
– Is the bow straight?
This is where parental participation can really makes a difference as kids have a very limited ability to self-assess or self-correct. You can help keep them focused and on-task.
Practice reward charts can be a great motivational tool. Tick them off every day you practice and reward getting to the end of a block.
There is a PDF you can print at home attached to this article.
For example – getting up for a snack? Play one of your pieces (or even sing one of your pieces) first. Asking for a bit of TV? Play a piece before you sit down.
For my own kids, I find it easiest to knock off the practice as soon as we get hone from school. The later we leave it the harder it becomes after there’s been a bit of a mental gear shift into “recreation mode”.
As with everything related to children, your mileage may vary — find the rhythm that works for your family.