Positive Practice

Getting children to practice their music lessons can be challenging to say the least.  One strategy for encouraging practice is to keep it positive.


Whenever your child does practice, find something positive to say when they are finished.

The praise should be genuine, especially if your child is a little older.  There are plenty of things for which you can offer genuine praise.  If they have been working on a specific skill or section of music and it is getting better, be sure to let them know!  If they don't seem to be making much progress right now, praise their hard work and perseverance,  or a praise them for practicing at all, especially when tired after finishing chores and homework.  Let your kids know how proud you are of them!

Don't offer any criticism unless your child specifically asks about an aspect of their music.  Let your child's music teacher be the critical one; your  job is to be your child's number one fan.  If you are your child's music teacher, save the detailed comments for designated lesson times; at practice time be a cheerleader.

*If your child's musical progress seems to be stalled, talk to your child's teacher, preferably out of your child's hearing (call them during the day rather chatting at the end of your child's lesson).  Discuss your concern and ask the teacher for suggestions.  Perhaps your child is practicing poor posture, making a beautiful sound almost impossible to produce.  Perhaps your child's instrument is in need of repair; students are often afraid they will get in trouble for repairs or maintenance issues.  Perhaps your child has gone as far as their current instrument can take them and is in need of a larger size or slightly better model to progress to the next level.  Your child's teacher can provide you with some insight to help you support your developing musician.