Practice, Kids, and Families

What? Again? I did it already. Wasn't it good enough?

 

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by Karen Zethmayr

The difference between the hack and the pro is the number of repetitions it took to get where they are now. Before I go on, note that you can find encouraging words about practice in Shinichi Suzuki's Nurtured by Love.

For an adult, the glorious connection between repetition and achievement is almost too good to be true. It's like legalized cheating, an incredible bargain. But most kids have stiff sales resistance. So how do we sell repetition? With a mixed bag of tricks:

Bribery

We all need rewards; just keep them in perspective. Focus on small things, like stickers, choosing tonight's dessert, going the park a little earlier, and examples that fit your family. Any twist to "having things go my way" can be used to the child's real (developmental) advantage, as compared with immediate (I want it now) advantage. Some families use accumulated stickers or thermometer charts to help a child with a longer term goal that may or may not be related to music. Tailor the idea to your family.

Respect

Praise, if honest and heartfelt is a way of conveying respect. Listening to the child's concerns is also a respectful interaction. If a child winces at "funny sounds" coming from the violin, letting him go ahead and say he doesn't like that squeak is affirming his sharp ears. "You really heard the difference. We can use your good hearing to figure out how to make a cool sound." Affirming the child's perceptions is as important as praising a good performance of a song in process.

When you ask a child to repeat a phrase to fix something, affirm (specifically) all the things that went well, because she really needs to know which things to keep doing.

Subversion and Disguise

Same song, new twist is one way to get repetition without seeming like same old, same old. Same song, new audience does it too; extended family and friends are good allies. We go to Segoe Gardens to play for people who light up at the sight of a kid playing music and just being a kid. The kids get good vibes, and for what? Doing the same old things we keep asking them to do, but it's a new atmosphere. What things in your home might make practice seem different and special? A stage, a curtain, tickets? Depending on your particular child, there are ways of letting the violin enter other kinds of creative play.

Are these things really "subversion," or are they making "practice" and "repetition," a more organic part of what is real to the child?

For some, it might be successful to keep a secret checklist of times the child has either practiced in the context of play or shared a skill game with a sister or a friend. On a day when the child is reluctant to practice, you could pull out that list and say, "see how many things you've already done? You don't have that much left to do today." For this tactic to work, it's a very good idea to have a practice checklist (jotted down during the most recent lesson) already going to refer to.

A checklist (the second kind above) is one way of organizing lesson notes.

Balance and Rhythm

Build rhythm, like the rhythm of the day, into the practice session. Alternate between small and large muscles: stretch between pieces or phrases or "spot work" on tricky passages. Muscles get tight, especially for beginners, even adults. The child seriously needs stretch and "flow" to learn how to manage muscular tension as pieces get harder. Let tension release be fun.

Alternate between left and right hand, between bow and fingering. Mom or dad or a partner student can do the other half for some of the practice. When you're only focusing on one hand, the bow grip or the left hand issues we nag about get suddenly easier.

Here's one example of how practice time could be broken up:

Bow or big movement activity while listening to CD
Playing new piece with parent doing left hand
Stretch!
Left hand activity
Playing new piece with parent doing bow
Reinforcement card game
Spot checking tricky part of review piece
Playing review piece "all by myself"
Stretch!
Calling Grandma on the phone to play review piece
That's a long list, but in the beginning, the average time of each segment is between 1 and 2 minutes.

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For more information on the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center Suzuki program, see http://www.msfac.org/
or email grandma@grandmaskite.com.

 

Suzuki is
Hands On
Education

•Parent Letter Topics
Bow hold:
•Pencil exercises I
•Pencil exercises II
Left hand strength and flexibility:
•1 Little Elephant
•4 Little Elephants Jumping on a Web
• Smallmotor "pick up" game
Position in Motion:
•"Home built" violins with activities
Reading readiness:
"Who Ran Away?"
"Twinkle Rhythm Flash Cards"
Supplementary Music and Midis
Twinkle Rag
Daisy Daisy
Daisy sheet music

Email Karen Zethmayr grandma@grandmaskite.com • Teaching Resume • Design Resume