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.