To begin with, any new hobby that your son or daughter tries out will be incredibly exciting, and it’s probably the only thing they’ll want to be doing! However, as time progresses, the initial excitement may wear off, and your child may get stuck in a little rut where practicing becomes more of a chore than a labour of love.
We recently wrote a blog about encouraging your child to practice, but seeing as practicing is crucial for your child to progress, here are several things you can do to spice up their practice routine and to get them even more motivated!
1. Create the Ideal Practice Space
A fun rainy day activity to do with your child is to set up their perfect practice space. This will help your child associate a particular space with practicing, which in turn will encourage greater concentration and focus.
Having said this, it can be a good idea to mix things up every now and again, so if you sense your son or daughter lacking enthusiasm, encourage them to practice in a different spot for a few sessions.
2. Set goals
Without something to aim for, practicing can become a little aimless and lose focus. Before beginning their practice session, make sure your child has looked at the tasks assigned by their teacher, so they know exactly what to be working on. This might be a specific piece, or technical exercise - either way, outlining a goal at the start of each practice is incredibly important!
3. No Autopilot Practicing:
It can be very easy to just play through pieces set by a teacher, but practicing is about more than that...it’s about working on the sections we find challenging, and really focussing on them. Why not use a metronome at different speeds or play with an accompaniment track.
4. Keep Things Varied:
To make sure that your child is practicing what they need to work on, but not getting bored or demotivated, it’s important to keep mixing things up. Make sure they focus on a variety of tasks within their practice sessions, including some of their favourite things to play, like a specific piece or exercise.
5. Reward your Young Violinist:
As much as we would like to think that mastering a musical instrument is enough of a reward in itself, sometimes young musicians need a little bit more of an incentive. Why not create a practice chart at home that your child can add stickers to each time they’ve practiced? Or encourage them to take part in the #100daysofpractice challenge with a big reward at the end? If you’d like to keep the reward relevant, consider getting them an accessory for their instrument, or tickets to a concert of some kind.