Some great "notes" of practice (See what I did there?!)
During the early stages of piano, there is a big focus on knowledge acquisition. Learning music is like learning a language... and the first book of the piano series is primarily interested in teaching them the "vocabulary" of that language. What that means for home practice is that the time at the piano won't have to be significant. Even ten minutes per day might be sufficient for the first book in the series. As I mentioned when we first met... my goal is for students to learn most or all of their music with me. I do this for several reasons:
Here's what those things translate to in the real world:
When practice feels like exploration and play, internal motivation increases... and that translates into love for music, self-confidence, and increasing skill at the piano.
Here is a handy guide that you can keep to help you know about how much students should be practicing each day:
PRIMER LEVEL 10-15 minutes per day
LEVEL 1 / LEVEL 2A 15-20 minutes per day
LEVEL 2B / LEVEL 3A 15-25 minutes per day
LEVEL 3B / LEVEL 4 25-35 minutes per day
Keep in mind these are recommended minimums. Students should try to get some practice in between 4-6 days per week, even if those sessions are short. If you have questions or comments... just shoot me a text! We look forward to continuing to assist with their music success!
- Home practice feels easier
- Prevents wrong notes and rhythms from being learned week after week
- Promotes strong sight reading and rhythm reading skills I realize that list seems kind of "boring"...
Here's what those things translate to in the real world:
- My students are able to play "hands together" music much quicker than normal
- I've virtually eliminated counting problems by the end of the first year of study
- By instilling good habits early, my students aren't bogged down by all the "fixes" that most students hate (excessive counting drills or focus on exercises)
- The overall effect of this is that learning music feels more like a game than homework
When practice feels like exploration and play, internal motivation increases... and that translates into love for music, self-confidence, and increasing skill at the piano.
Here is a handy guide that you can keep to help you know about how much students should be practicing each day:
PRIMER LEVEL 10-15 minutes per day
LEVEL 1 / LEVEL 2A 15-20 minutes per day
LEVEL 2B / LEVEL 3A 15-25 minutes per day
LEVEL 3B / LEVEL 4 25-35 minutes per day
Keep in mind these are recommended minimums. Students should try to get some practice in between 4-6 days per week, even if those sessions are short. If you have questions or comments... just shoot me a text! We look forward to continuing to assist with their music success!
We created the video below as a great resource for the student to maintain consistency in practice. It's called habit stacking. Consistent practice time helps the student to get into the groove quickly and builds great habits.
Parents often ask us how they can support their child at home with practice and how they can help encourage their child in their music. We put together this video specifically to address these challenges!
Great Note Learning Resource
As students of music, it is critical that they know how to read music from the staff. This can be tedious at first but we like to use both physical and digital flashcards to help make the process much more fun! One of the best Apps that we've found out there is Flashnote Derby. If you have been around during our lessons, you've probably noticed some of our students practicing their note reading on the IPAD with this app. We love this app for children and adults because it makes it so fun to learn!
I highly recommend that the student work on their notes at home as well, incorporating it into their practice time. As of right now, the app is only $3! Quite a bargain for a fun way to learn your notes!
If you click on the website here, it will take you to the app page. Click on the device you want to load the app to and it will direct you to that page. As of right now, I know that it is available on IOS and Kindle tablets directly. It says it is available for Android on the Google Play store, but have not seen it there. If you do want to load the App on Android devices there is a work around by downloading it through Amazon app Store. Here is a walk through of how to download the Amazon Apps store to your phone or android tablet: How to install Amazon App Store
Once the Amazon App Store is loaded on your Android phone or tablet, Click Here to download the app.
Click here for the tutorial on the official page. Scroll down towards the bottom and there is a 90 second video that shows how to use the app. You can even use it with a piano and hit the keys to trigger a response on the app!
Happy learning!
I highly recommend that the student work on their notes at home as well, incorporating it into their practice time. As of right now, the app is only $3! Quite a bargain for a fun way to learn your notes!
If you click on the website here, it will take you to the app page. Click on the device you want to load the app to and it will direct you to that page. As of right now, I know that it is available on IOS and Kindle tablets directly. It says it is available for Android on the Google Play store, but have not seen it there. If you do want to load the App on Android devices there is a work around by downloading it through Amazon app Store. Here is a walk through of how to download the Amazon Apps store to your phone or android tablet: How to install Amazon App Store
Once the Amazon App Store is loaded on your Android phone or tablet, Click Here to download the app.
Click here for the tutorial on the official page. Scroll down towards the bottom and there is a 90 second video that shows how to use the app. You can even use it with a piano and hit the keys to trigger a response on the app!
Happy learning!
We've had so many requests for an additional resource for learning notes on the staff outside of the app mentioned above. We put together this video to help beginning students to learn their notes quickly while having fun with it! I've also added a printable PDF document below to have a physical copy on hand to help students for quick reference. This would be great to print out and keep right in your binder!
Click here to download a PDF printable note resource
Music intervals are one of the basic fundamentals of music that every musician needs to know well in order to succeed in their skills. We created the video below to go into detail on intervals to include hearing the sound and visualizing what it looks like on the staff as printed music and what it look like on your instrument as well. Below the video is a link to download a copy of the intervals for the student's personal reference.