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PRACTISING YOUR MUSIC
Okay! So who was ever good at practising music? And yet, this is the most important thing of all! Practising makes perfect - and it is quite surprising just how many pupils don't practise! Usually the success of the pupil and their ability to play well is partially a result of how much support and encouragement their parent(s) and/or guardian gives. Support too, can vary in the way in which a child may succeed or not. I had one particular situation where a parent supported and encouraged their child to practise, but unfortunately the child kept practising the songs incorrectly without the parent really having a "good ear" for music to know whether the songs practised were actually sounding correct or not! Believe me, this does not happen very often, in fact it would represent 1% or less of all pupils I have taught! It is usually encouraged, therefore, for a parent or guardian to sit in on lessons occasionally so they are aware of the requirements with regard to practice. So, encouraging your child to practise - over the years there have been all types of strategies used, usually - I think the word is called "bribery" - and this may come from the parent or guardian of course! This can range from a special treat at the end of the week for exceeding so many minutes practising - or, practising most days per week - to a more diplomatic approach by setting out a period of time (possibly before school) to carry out this task. Sometimes tutors use some strategies that can assist too! There is a fine line between encouraging your child to practise and making your child practise. Sometimes "making" someone undertake tasks such as practising - by threatening them in a way that they may lose other "favourite" privileges - could affect the way in which a child responds attending music lessons. In fact it could discourage them from learning altogether. A regular routine and encouragement from within the family circle are the two most essential ingredients as far as children and practising goes. When we aspire to our heroes, be it in the arts or in sport - all these people who become good at what they do have had to practise! Even school teachers! Everyone has to practise to become clever at what they do. Take an AFL team member, - all members practise or train regularly before their game (or performance), all swimmers have to practise by training to get faster and faster........ all race horses have to train before they race, gymnasts have to practise to perform well.... all school pupils have to practise their spelling and reading to get better....... as should all music pupils (and dancing pupils for that matter!), so they can better and move on to the next level. Of course teenagers and adults know that practising is essential! Some pupils of course, do show extra enthusiasm - and they practise really hard on their own accord to surprise their music teacher when they come to their next lesson! Practising should include going over more difficult passages first, rather than playing a whole piece of music with several stops and starts. Practising a little a lot can be more beneficial than practising for long periods. It is good to record your practise times or how many times you played something without making a mistake. The amount of time involved in practising is dependent on the level the pupil is at. It also depends on whether the pupil is sitting music exams. Beginners may practise from 10 to 20 minutes a day, older pupils may practise from 15 to 30 minutes a day. It is good to get in to the habit of practising 4 or 5 days a week.
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