How much should my child practice?

How much should my child practice their musical instrument? This is one of the questions that we get most often from parents and it really depends on how old the student is.

For Younger Children:

For children ages four to seven, shorter practice sessions work best. With younger children, the focus with their practice should be on the quality and not necessarily the quantity. Often, what works better than a set time limit is using the repetition method. Instead of asking your child to practice for ten or fifteen minutes, ask them to play their song five times.

Tip: Make tracking repetitions fun. Get two small bowls and fill one with five marbles. Every time your little musician plays their song, they can move one marble to the other bowl. Not only does it help young children conceptualize what they need to do to complete their practice, they will get an extra sense of accomplishment when all of the marbles are moved over to the second bowl.

For Children Eight to Twelve years old:

Once children reach this age, they are capable of focusing for a longer period of time and should make the transition from repetition to a set time limit. We recommend setting up a regular practice schedule and trying to get between 75 and 100 minutes of practice each week. We have found that students who consistently practice about 100 minutes a week do very well.

It is often best to do four 25 minute sessions or five 20 minute sessions if your schedule permits it. While 100 minutes is ideal, students can still make progress practicing 50-60 minutes per week, however they tend to move a bit slower than those who consistently hit the 75-100 minute mark.

Tip: Set up some kind of reward system for every time your child hits their practicing goal for the week. Reward systems are a great way to encourage students to develop good practice habits. Eventually, students won’t need them and will learn to practice on their own without any outside motivation, however developing this kind of intrinsic motivation takes time.

For Teenagers:

Teenagers can continue to do very well practicing their musical instrument about 100 minutes each week. Advanced music students playing very complicated songs may need additional time. For the serious student, we recommend 45 minutes per day.

If you are interested in getting started with music lessons or have questions about how to make practicing easier for your child feel free to contact us at 740-913-1718.

Level Up: Get Musically Motivated At LCMA!

If you’re a current student or parent of a student at the Lewis Center Music Academy, you may have seen some shiny, colorful medals hanging on our wall by our front desk. These medals are for participants in our Level Up music program. Have you ever heard of the black belt program in karate? This is just that, but music-oriented! The Level Up music program was created to bolster motivation in our music students, and it sets us apart from other music schools. Our instructors carefully craft ten specific musical goals that their students must achieve, and once they achieve all ten goals, they complete Level 1, receive a medal and certificate, and move on to the following level. The goals can be anything from memorizing scales and songs, to just playing a song correctly through ten times. What’s most important is that our instructors make sure to create goals that make sense for their students.

Practice no longer has to be monotonous or meaningless, with goals and a clear purpose now imbued in your child’s mind. Moreover, this program creates progress. Kids make meaningful progress in their musical journeys with us through the Level Up program, and they now look forward to practicing, reaching a goal, and knowing what the next step is. The Level Up program creates structure and a positive routine.

Goal-setting is so crucial for everyone, of all ages, but here are three reasons why goals are so important, especially for children:

Confidence

Learning to play an instrument is a daunting task -- that, and it can also be something that understandably makes every beginner nervous. Music has its own language and rules, and instruments can be complicated and confusing to handle. However, being able to conquer the task of learning to play an instrument can be immensely rewarding and help build much-needed confidence in all kids, timid or outgoing. Additionally, performing in front of others at our summer and winter recitals helps bolster children’s bravery, that sense that they can do anything they put their minds to.

Focus

Bruce Lee once said, “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” According to him, mental focus is what separates people from being normal vs. extraordinary. If we’re able to perfect our mental focus, we can achieve that much more and become successful and phenomenal. Here’s the catch: We’re only able to better our mental focus when we practice it, and we can only practice focus through structured programs that encourage people to hone in on a specific goal. That’s exactly why we love Level Up, as it’s designed to help kids learn mental focus.

Perseverance

Arguably the most important trait any child or adult can have is perseverance. It’s not giving up. It’s tenacity, persistence, strength. It’s doing something and doing it until the very end, even if it’s difficult. We all want our kids to learn perseverance because a person with perseverance can tackle anything and handle anything the world throws at them. The Level Up program physically rewards kids for persevering and conquering their ten goals, which can be incredibly motivating. It’s a physical reminder that hard work will always pay off!

Give us a call today to start your child in music lessons and get musically motivated with our Level Up program!

Maintaining Normalcy Amid Quarantine

What is distance learning? It sounds strange, but it’s a simple concept. It’s any form of remote education where the student isn’t physically present for the lesson. You’ve most likely been experiencing this amidst the COVID-19 crisis, as your child is now doing online schooling.

As the statewide quarantine continues, schools have had to turn to distance learning to continue to educate our children and prepare them for the future. At the Lewis Center Music Academy, we’re doing the exact same thing! A lot of people might wonder what the true value is of music lessons if they’re not in-person. The answer? Music lessons are still incredibly valuable right now, especially if your child was previously in lessons and took a break!

Our instructors are all well-trained in using Zoom, which we’ve used for music lessons for roughly a month at this point. We’ve done thousands of Zoom lessons successfully, and a lot of our families have let us know how grateful they are that music lessons still exist during this crisis.

For many children, a sense of normalcy is exactly what they need right now. Everything has shifted drastically. Things will continue to be rocky and uncertain for the next few months, especially for young children who aren’t used to such massive changes. This is our reality. However, keeping students in music lessons regularly is a great way to provide that level of consistency, routine, and stability that we as humans need.

Of course, distance learning is not some magical object that can replace in-person learning. There will always be tons of benefits to in-person education, but right now, as we’re all holding our breath and waiting for further developments, what we can do is keep doing what we’ve always done. And if that’s music lessons? We’re here for that. If you would like to get started with lessons please call us at 740-913-1718 or email us at info@lewiscentermusicacademy.com.

What is the best age to start music lessons?

How young is too young?
Children love music. We’ve all seen toddlers, barely able to walk, start dancing and light up with joy when they hear a song that they like. It’s an innate passion that we are all born with.

We feel very strongly that music education should start early, even as early as a few months old. For children between the ages of 6 weeks and 4 years old, there are a variety of amazing group classes and music and movement programs, such as Kindermusik, We Joy Sing and Level Up Junior just to name a few.

Can my 2/3 year old take private music lessons?
We get this question a lot and after working with thousands of students for over a decade, we’ve seen what works and what doesn’t.

Typically, children at this age are not ready for structured music lessons. They lack the attention span to sit and focus for 30 minutes or an hour and are easily bored and frustrated. The last thing you want to do is turn a child off of music because of a bad experience at such an early age.

Starting private lessons at the right age can be the difference between developing a life-long love of music and a student washing out of classes after just a few months!

So what is the best age to start private music lessons? Check out our infographic to find the recommended starting age for each instrument.

Why Should Children Take Music Lessons?

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THAT THERE WAS A WAY TO MAKE YOUR CHILDREN SMARTER, more engaged in school, more creative, confident, happier, harder working and a more well-rounded and successful individuals?

What if I told you that there was one extracurricular activity that drastically outperformed sports, dance, art, drama, and martial arts AND there were hundreds upon hundreds of scientific studies that proved all of this to be true? Most importantly, learning it is a whole lot of fun! When it comes to choosing activities for your children, music instruction is the best thing you can do for your kids!

Music Develops Creativity

Children are so naturally creative when they are young. Every parent remembers the endless crayon drawings that took over the refrigerator when their kids were little, or the hours of make believe and stories. When kids are very young they don’t see things for what they are, they see them for what they could be. As children get older a lot of this creativity gets lost. Many child psychologists believe that we have fundamentally changed the way we educate our children to the detriment of fostering their creativity. So often, kids spend the majority of their time in school memorizing and analyzing information. Learning to produce the “correct” answers and being punished for getting things “wrong.” This approach is great for producing high test scores in math and literacy but it hinders children’s ability to take chances and be creative.

One of the best ways to foster creativity is to nurture and develop an environment where students know that it is ok to make mistakes. That is exactly what great music teachers do! So much in music is subjective and there aren’t any right or wrong answers. Students are encouraged to take chances, create their own sounds, improvise and write songs. Music lessons can be a safe place where children are able to explore ideas without criticism or worry about “getting the wrong answers.” It’s the perfect environment for developing creativity to the fullest!

Music Develops Confidence

Confidence is Built, Not Given. Real confidence, the kind that improves self-esteem, is built through achievement. For kids growing up today, their world is filled with video games, instant gratification and participation awards. It is more important now than ever before for children to learn to be successful at things that require effort. When children master a difficult piece of music (often requiring weeks or months of hard work), the satisfaction they get and the confidence boost that comes along with it are unmatched. Over time, the culmination of these small successes can really boost a child’s self confidence!

Music Develops Grit

What is grit and why does my kid need it?

“Perseverance and passion for long-term goals.”

- Angela Duckworth

Grit is the ability to work through challenges or stick-toitiveness found in a person. We used to associate grit with athletes and think that it was just something football players needed to make a comeback when they were trailing in the 4th quarter. That perception has changed quite a bit in the last 10 to 15 years. A lot of evidence is starting to show that grit might be the most important predictor of future success and, more importantly, happiness! Music lends itself very well to developing grit in young people. There is no instant gratification with learning an instrument. The only way to get better is through putting in the work over a period of time. Learning music is a great way to teach children about the self-discipline and determination it takes to be successful.

Music Develops Teamwork

Playing in bands, chamber groups or ensembles provides music students with the opportunity to develop their teamwork and social skills. Playing in a group inspires students to make connections, collaborate and cooperate with their peers. Students can build lifelong skills that not only help them become better musicians but will also prepare them to excel in small group settings outside of music.

Learning Music Makes You Smarter

Regularly playing an instrument can make you smarter! It has been shown to increase IQ by up to 7 points. The benefits don’t stop there though! Improved memory, fine-motor skills, auditory processing, spatial skills and even emotional awareness are all improved through learning music.

Music Rewires Your Brain

It’s pretty common knowledge that learning music makes you smarter, but did you know that it can also rewire your brain to help you develop a plethora of other skills. Playing a musical instrument requires using both hemispheres of the brain at the same time. Music can help the brain rewire and increase the size of the corpus callosum (the tissues that connect the right and left brain). Many medical researchers attribute Albert Einstein's genius to how well connected his left and right brain were. It’s also worth noting that Einstein was a very dedicated violinist!

Music Makes Students More Engaged In School

Music lessons have been shown to improve grades and test scores! According to the Nature Neuroscience publication from April of 2007 “Students in high-quality school music education programs score higher on standardized tests compared to students in schools with deficient music education programs, regardless of the socioeconomic level of community. Some studies have shown that music students score as much as 22% higher on tests than their non-music peers.

Music Is FUN!!!

Playing music is fun! Everyone loves to listen to music but nothing compares with actually playing a favorite song or jamming on stage with your friends.

- Article by Chad Ebert