It’s that time of the year: The shiny new instrument has been shown off at home; everyone in the family has heard a command performance of Three Blind Mice. But now comes the hard part. You need to persuade your beginner musician to get into the habit of regular practice. So what do you do?
Luckily music education expert Dr Anita Collins — you’ll remember her from the ABC’s ‘Don’t Stop the Music’ — has a few tips:
Five minutes of practice, no more!
Tell your child that they have 5 minutes MAXIMUM a day to practise. See how this changes the psychology of their practice routine. Suddenly they’ll want to practise more — but don’t let them!
Establish a routine
Get used to a particular time of day being practice time, whether it be before dinner or before shower and bed time. Stick to it religiously.
A practice space
Make sure your child has a space to practise. It doesn’t have to be a room — it can just be a corner. A good tip is to have a little rug that defines the space. It should become the special space that is reserved for this part of your child’s life.
Bribery
Well who hasn’t tried this with their kids? It really works with practising a musical instrument. The bribe can be something simple and basic. Stickers work really well!