Peripatetic Lessons

Practice

Below, you will find some tips for making your practice between lessons as productive as possible:

• Set aside at least 20 minutes per day in which to practice your instrument.
• If you have a space where your instrument can safely be left set up, this may help you maximise your practice time.
• Don’t rush! Once you have played through a piece, go back to any hard sections and play them at a slower pace repeatedly, until you have mastered them.
• Listen to your teacher in your weekly lesson. What have they told you to work on? Make that the focus of your practice for the week.
• At the end of each practice session, hold a mini-concert. Ask a parent or guardian to come and listen to you play through the piece you’ve been working on.

Tips for parents:

• In order to support your child, you may find this website useful. https://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/resources/articles/practice/ You’ll find some instructional videos that might help you support your child’s practice.
• Consider taking them to a live performance. Giving your child the opportunity to see what they can aim towards if they work hard can help keep them motivated. They may even identify a role model to provide inspiration!
• As they progress through their lessons, your child’s teacher may suggest that they join a music ensemble. This gives children a value opportunity to perform a variety of music, whilst also developing friendships and important life skills such as discipline.