Practice Routines

FINDING TIME TO PRACTICE: NAVIGATING THE MUSICAL OBSTACLE COURSE!

HEY THERE, INCREDIBLE MUSIC FAMILIES! High five for showing up to tackle one of the BIGGEST challenges of the musical journey—finding actual time to practice! I see you juggling soccer practice, math homework, family dinners, and now piano or guitar lessons. You're AMAZING, and I'm here with some GAME-CHANGING strategies to help you fit music into your already packed schedule!

The Reality Check: Time is TIGHT!

Let's face it, friends—kids today are BUSY! Between school, sports, homework, friend time, family obligations, and (let's be honest) the occasional well-deserved video game session, finding 20-30 minutes for music practice can feel like trying to squeeze one more marshmallow into an already stuffed mouth during a camp game!

The struggle is REAL, but here's the good news: we don't need to reinvent your entire family schedule to make this work! With a few clever strategies, consistent music practice CAN fit into even the busiest family calendars!

Time-Finding Magic Tricks

1. The "Micro-Practice" Revolution! ⚡

Who says practice needs to be one big chunk of time? Break it down into 5-10 minute "micro-sessions" throughout the day:

• 5 minutes before breakfast to warm up fingers

• 10 minutes right after homework when the brain needs a break

• 5 minutes before dinner to practice just that ONE tricky measure

These small sessions add up AND they're often more effective than one tired 20-minute marathon!

2. The Schedule Sandwich! 🥪

Attach practice to something that ALREADY happens every day:

• Right after brushing teeth in the morning

• Between homework and dinner

• Right before a favorite TV show (practice FIRST, show SECOND!)

When practice is consistently sandwiched between established activities, it becomes part of the natural flow of the day instead of something extra to remember!

3. The Visual Reminder System! 👀

Out of sight really IS out of mind when it comes to instruments! Try these visibility boosters:

• Keep the instrument in a central, visible location (NOT tucked away in a bedroom)

• Post a colorful practice chart on the refrigerator

• Set a recurring alarm with a fun music-themed ringtone

4. The Family Jam Session! 🎵

Who says practice needs to be a solo activity? Schedule 15-20 minutes when everyone stops what they're doing and engages with music:

• Young musicians practice while parents actively listen

• Siblings take turns performing for each other

• Everyone sings along while your musician plays

These sessions become special family moments rather than just another chore to complete!

Tackling the Big Time-Suckers

The After-School Exhaustion Zone

We've ALL been there—your child gets home from school, flops on the couch, and suddenly has "no energy" for practice. This is NORMAL! Try these workarounds:

• The 10-Minute Rule: Just 10 minutes of practice before ANY screens or downtime. Often, once they start, they'll keep going!

• The Physical Reset: A quick snack and 5 minutes of physical movement (jumping jacks, quick walk around the block) can refresh a tired brain

• The Morning Alternative: Some kids have more focus and energy in the morning—even just 15 minutes before school can be more productive than 30 tired minutes after school

The Weekend Sports Tournament Disruption

Saturday tournaments, Sunday games—these can throw off your whole practice routine! Instead of skipping practice completely, try:

• The Pre-Pack Strategy: Bring a travel-friendly practice tool (guitar or electronic keyboard) if possible

• The Theory Backup: Pack music theory worksheets or music reading games for tournament downtime

• The Double-Up Recovery: Schedule slightly longer sessions the days before and after to balance out the missed day

Keeping It Positive When Time is Tight

The LAST thing we want is for practice to become a source of family tension! Keep these mindset shifts handy:

• Celebrate Consistency Over Length: Five 10-minute sessions spread through the week is better than one missed lesson followed by one panicked 50-minute cram session!

• Acknowledge the Effort: "I noticed you fit in practice even though we had that busy day—that shows real commitment!"

• Connect Practice to Progress: "Remember three weeks ago when this song seemed impossible? Look at you playing it now! That's what those 10-minute practices accomplished!"

• Keep Perspective: Some weeks will flow beautifully, others will be messy. The overall pattern matters more than any single week!

The "No-Practice Week" Emergency Kit

Life happens! Family emergencies, illness, final exam week—sometimes practice genuinely needs to take a backseat. When those weeks hit, try:

• The Listen-Only Alternative: Put the instrument's music on during car rides or dinner prep

• The Visualization Technique: Have your child mentally practice while falling asleep

• The Zero-Pressure Reset: Sometimes, the best thing is simply acknowledging "This was a no-practice week, and that's OK! We'll get back to our routine next week."

My Favorite Success Story

One of our families created what they call "Music Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays" where they all gather in the living room from 7:00-7:20pm. Their daughter practices piano while mom reads nearby and dad does dishes within earshot. They found that setting aside this specific family music time three days a week (plus one weekend session) created enough practice consistency for steady progress WITHOUT daily battles over finding time!

Remember the Big Picture!

In the grand scheme of things, the exact number of practice minutes matters less than keeping music a positive, consistent presence in your child's life. Some weeks will be practice champions, others will be... well, let's call them "growth opportunities"!

What matters most is that you're showing your child that music deserves to have SOME space in your busy family life. That message—that music is valued—will resonate far longer than any single practice session.

YOU'VE GOT THIS, MUSIC FAMILIES! Keep making space for those beautiful notes in the symphony of your busy lives! 🎵✨

Have an amazing practice-scheduling tip that works for your family? Share it in the comments below! We're all in this together!

Daily Challenges

The most common question we get from parents is, by far, “how often should we be practicing?” This is a hard question to answer without sounding like yoda. Practice, fun it must be. Should, only a word it is. But frankly, how we practice is how we live.

If your musician is told to practice for half an hour each day, she will likely see music as an obligation. She’ll sit down at the guitar in order to put in the time, and she’ll rush through the material. When we rush through something as beautiful as making music, we’re more likely to rush through the little things, like brushing our teeth or eating our dinner. And before you know it, we’ve grown up!

So, is there a way to help your musician savor that music time? Totally! The reason video games are so hard to put down is that they have progressively harder challenges and constantly changing obstacles. What if playing guitar could be as fun as playing a video game? It can!

“I just need to finish this level!” just became “I need to finish this phrase!” Please ask your teacher about getting daily challenges that will LEVEL UP the fun your musician is having with that guitar!

How to Sound like your Heroes

Learning guitar can easily become overwhelming. We listen to someone who inspires us and we think “how can I sound like them? What do they have that I don’t?” There’s a slew of subjects that we can study: chord voicings, scales, fretboard memorization, music literacy, rhythmic exercises, etc. But instead of overwhelming ourselves, let’s focus on one passage of one song. If our goal is to play like our favorite musicians, then let’s start by playing what they play.

I use an app called ‘The Amazing Slow Downer’ to isolate a phrase in a song and loop it over and over again. Slowly, the phrase becomes familiar to my ears and I’m able to replicate it on my guitar. This may sound difficult, but it just takes some patience and keen listening - I love teaching this part to students!

Once I become comfortable playing the phrase, I’ll use the ‘Slow Downer’ app again to play along with the recording at a slower speed. This is where the fun starts! My goal is to sound EXACTLY like the recording.

After doing this, I’ll own a new perspective on music and my instrument. I’ll know how a master would treat a certain phrase, and this will provide insight on how I can take their expertise and apply it to my own music.

Play What you Want to Play

I help my students learn the music that excites them. We begin playing right away, rather that means your favorite pop song or the soundtrack to your favorite movie. 

My job is to help you with any song you want to learn. It's a very happy accident that each song will be a little more challenging than the last, and so, you'll learn how music works!

But learning songs and how music works is really only effective if it inspires you to start asking questions: 'how did this musician do that?' or 'what if I put these notes together in this order?' The knowledge you receive from songs just expands your toolkit so that you can create from scratch or play any song.

So, what song do you have on repeat this week? Let's learn how to play it...right now!

5 Ways to Make Practice More Fun

No one picks up an instrument because they’re looking for more stress. And yet, effort is stressful. So how do you take the effort out of your practice time?

1. Play softly and slowly

Holding tension in your hands becomes a habit. Neither you nor your listeners want to hear you tensing up. If you’re making any mistakes at all, you’re playing too fast.

2. Close your eyes

No need to strain over your guitar, looking at your fingers. Lean back and feel yourself breathe. Are you holding tension in your neck, your jaw? Notice how you feel.

4. Listen

Listening closely to each note is more helpful than telling yourself to play a certain way. Giving your fingers commands will just form a cloud of judgment between you and your music. This will add to your tension. But if you’re just listening closely, you’ll hear what the guitar wants you to say.

5. Try another technique

If changing from one chord to another keeps producing an accidental note, re-arrange your fingers on that 2nd chord until you get the sound you want. Play that chord in the new position a few times before making the switch again, slowly.