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Raise your hand if you love practicing your scales! …Hmmmm, why didn’t you raise your hand? Doesn’t practicing your scales just bring joy to soul?? Haha, I’m right there with you. Scales are one of those things that you know you should do and everyone says how wonderful it is for you do practice them. But really, I don’t enjoy it at all...until this book.  The best scales book ever!
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There are certain books that I pick up to read, thinking they will be a quick and easy read. But then I start reading it and realize it is jam-packed with so much great info that I have to slow down and digest the information over a much longer period of time than I expected. That is this book!  Helping Parents Practice “Helping Parents Practice – Ideas for Making it Easier” by Edmund Sprunger, a Suzuki violin teacher, is absolutely loaded with great ideas for practicing with your child. I will admit I have not read everything in the book – and that is ok, because it was written in a way that allows you to pick it up and read a small portion that looks helpful and then put it down until you need some more help.
The book is basically broken into five sections. Section one is more of an introduction for the parent reading it. It is only 8 pages long and lays a great foundation for the rest of the book. The next four sections cover practice basics, musicianship, rhythm, and games. Each of those sections is divided into small 1-4 pages sections on very specific concepts. So if your child is struggling with a rhythm, you can flip to the rhythm section and brush up on some tips about helping your child get over that hurdle. The last section is full of ideas to make practice time more enjoyable for you and your child with games! I’ve used a few of those ideas in my teaching and have seen how wonderfully they work at making violin practice less of a chore. I highly recommend this book to any parent who struggles with practicing with their young children…especially if they are taking violin or viola lessons. Piano parents will still find the book helpful, but they will have to sort thru the violin jargon. Happy practicing!
This year, I am challenging my students to learn 40 songs. I made each one a punch card with 40 squares ready to be punched as they learn each song. (Including a card for myself! A teacher who stops learning is a very ineffective teacher, in my book.) I’m so excited to hear the loads of music my students will be playing! :D  40-Songs-in-a-Year Punch Cards Sometimes practicing seems long and boring. So what do we do? We bring in the bugs! Plastic bugs, that is!  Bugs on a Piano School is out for the summer! Hip, hip, HOORAY! In order to help students stay motivated to practice even when the sunshine is beckoning them to run outside and play, they were given a challenge. A practicing challenge. If they practice at least 10 minutes a day for 80 days this summer, they will receive a prize at their first lesson in September. Will you take the challenge?  Practice Challenge Color Sheet Performing in a recital can be a very nerve-wracking activity. But with the correct preparation, you can play confidently…and calmly! The key is preparation. The more ready you are for the recital, the better you will feel playing. Here are some tips to help you prepare.   Christmas break is always a wonderful time of fun, laughter, and loads of delicious food. Homework is a long forgotten worry…and unfortunately, music practice is usually forgotten just a quickly in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas chaos. Music lessons started again last week. Students came with books still dusty from the break. Assignments were lost. Fingers moved slowly. So what do you do? Here are three tips for getting back into practice after a break. 1. Set a small goal. Challenge yourself to practice for just 10 minutes every day this week. 2. Review old pieces. Music that you already know very well will help rusty fingers and minds get back into the swing of practicing. 3. Play a piece that you love! There is nothing like playing you favorite piece of music to inspire you! Once you finally jump in and start playing again, you will find that it is easy to keep playing and practicing once again. What is your favorite way to get back into practicing again? |
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