Motivating young musicians to practice

One of the most difficult things for young musicians is practicing.

It’s boring, they say. Parents are frequently so frustrated that they’re ready to give up on the instrument. However, with a little cooperation between parents and teachers, motivating young musicians to practice isn’t too difficult.

First, realise that young kids have short attention spans. Practicing for more than 15 minutes at a time is going to impossible for most young kids. Pushing them to practice too long is going to make them reluctant to practice at all. Remember: it’s better that your child pick up his instrument for five minutes than not at all, so encourage him to play but don’t push for time limits.

Young kids also learn through play. Don’t try to make practice times too structured for the kids; they want to play around and figure out how things work and what they’re capable of. Making them repeat specific skills or practice in a logical, orderly way (as an adolescent or adult might) will bore them.

Encourage them to play the instrument as much as they would like and to take the time to “figure it out”. If you, as a parent, know how to play the instrument, occasionally issue gentle reminders like, “Where is your hand position? Did those notes sound right to you?” Don’t correct them; let them see if they can figure it out alone. Usually, they can (with the gentle reminder).

Don’t expect perfection. A young child might have learned something as well as he is going to learn it, because he simply doesn’t have the motor skills yet to learn it any better. Accept this and help him to discover more. If you’re not sure what your child should be capable of at a particular age or skill level, ask your child’s teacher.

If your child wrinkles his nose at the word “practice,” ask him instead, “Will you play for me?” The end result is the same, but the child is much more obliged to obey. (This works – a nine-year-old refused to “practice” at her mother’s insistence, but was more than happy to “play for” her father at his request.)

Offer rewards (in conjunction with the teacher, if it’s a private lesson situation). For example, Johnny gets a sticker for every 10 minutes he practices. After 10 stickers, he gets a small toy. Cost to you: $2 – $3. Reward for him: 100 minutes of practice time and new skills learned during that time.

Remember that young children don’t do well with intrinsic motivation. They don’t yet see how practicing an instrument will help them in the future. Beyond that, they live pretty much in the moment! Offering rewards is a form of extrinsic motivation that will keep them interested long enough to develop intrinsic motivation.

Expect to see the development of intrinsic motivation around 10 or 12, especially if your child has already been playing for several years.

Another caution: never make practice into a punishment. Statements like, “You can’t go play with your friends until you practice” makes playing with friends desirable, and practicing undesirable. If you treat practicing this way, it becomes a chore, and you have ruined it for the young child. Always make practice seem positive (as a small joke, you may even say, “You can’t practice until you make your bed!”). Your child will pick up on your attitude toward the instrument and toward practice, so make sure it seems fun.

The final thing you can do is to play music frequently. Play classical music or anything that prominently features your child’s instrument. This is often motivation for children to work hard, because they want to “sound like that” someday. Also, listening to music helps them to understand music, which can help their overall musical skills.

If you motivate your young musician to practice now, he will be far better off in the future in so many different ways. More talented, more disciplined, and possibly more intelligent. Music, and motivation, are very important.

By Catherine Hillard, www.essortment.com

Keeping healthy with family fitness

In the words of Henry Ford, “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes of your goal”.

Never is this more apt than when you are trying to get fit and healthy. It is minefield out there and anyone wanting to get slimmer and/or healthier has to pick their way across, around and over a plethora of obstacles.

One way to make this minefield passage easier is to navigate it as a family – parents, kids, and even extended family members.

Look no further than one of the winning teams of the Catch Fitness, 20 Week Body & Lifestyle competition for inspiration.

Cate Grace, her husband Riwai, her mother and her aunt lost more than 33kg between them – and more than 139 cm.  They did it by setting goals and working together to achieve them, despite some significant health issues including very painful arthritis, diabetes and significant risk of heart disease. Cate said that “without each other it wouldn’t have been half as much fun. What we have learned is that “progress is not achieved alone but many striving as one”.”

Why it works to workout with your family

Strength:  Family members will have different strengths. You can draw on these and learn from each other.  For example, one family member may be better at exercising regularly and can pull the others out on cold mornings, whereas another may have a better grip on the food situation and be prepared to make healthy lunches for everyone.

Empathy: If you work together as a team there is a sense of not being alone; you have other people around you who can understand and relate to the challenges you are facing.

Support: Sharing goals means encouragement and support. When you are flagging, some else will have the strength to provide the motivation you need to get back on track.

Bonding: Exercising together is a great way to catch up with each other, to share quality time as a family and enjoy new experiences.

Share goals: Having a shared goal that all members are striving towards, with shared rewards, can be very motivating. 

Less work: With more of you on board you can take turns dreaming up healthy meals, buying health foods and throwing junk food out of the cupboards.

More fun: Having the family involved means you can play games, like “punishing” people with push-ups if they are caught eating more than their fair share of chocolate.

How to get started – the importance of goal setting

1)    Choose individual health goals and goals that you will achieve as a group.

2)    On a big sheet of paper lay out an action plan with dates that the goals will be achieved by.

3)    Detail week by week what you will each do to achieve your goals.

4)    Put the sheet somewhere obvious like on the fridge door so everyone can see it often and be reminded of what they will be doing.

5)    If motivation is a problem, apply leverage. Each week reward those who do what you had all agreed to do, or “punish” those who don’t.  Ideally reward each other with things other than food!

6)    Be sure to include family activities in your action steps whether it is walks, cooking or challenging yourselves to try a new activity together each week.

7)    Ideally enter yourselves into something you have to train for, like a 10km walk or the 20 week competition or even a cycle tour holiday.  Studies show that by committing to a race or an event like these, people are twice as likely to stick to a game plan. 

By Broni McSweeney: owner of the Catch Fitness, 20 Week Body & Lifestyle Competition.  For more stories of successful families visit www.20weeks.co.nz.