How to Practice Music Effectively | Free Online Piano Lesson for Kids - MakingMusicFun.net



Want to make the most of the time you spend practicing? This lesson from the MakingMusicFun.net Music Academy shares a valuable practice strategy that will help you learn music faster and leap ahead of other students.


How to Practice Music Efectively for Kids (Lesson Transcript)


Want to make the most of the time you spend practicing? I’m going to show you how.

Let’s start with a story and then I’ll be back to show you how it applies to practicing.


The Bullseye Kid - A Popsicle Stick Theater Presentation

Johnny wanted to learn to shoot a bow and arrow, so he told his mother and she found him an archery teacher.

At the first lesson the teacher told Johnny to place the arrow six inches from the target, draw the bow, and shoot the arrow. Bullseye! He hit the target.

The teacher asked him to practice this 200 times, and come back next week. Johnny practiced, and practiced, and never missed the target.

At the second lesson the teacher told Johnny to place the arrow three feet from the target, draw the bow, and shoot the arrow. It was still an easy goal, so he was sure to hit the target. Bullseye! He hit the target again.

The teacher asked him to practice this 200 times, and come back next week. Johnny practiced, and practiced, and never missed the target.

At the third lesson the teacher told Johnny to place the arrow six feet from the target, draw the bow, and shoot the arrow. Bullseye again!

In the weeks that followed the teacher continued to increase the distance, until Johnny was able to shoot from the same distance as the big kids and never miss the target.


To get the most out of the time you spend practicing you need a plan. Johnny’s archery teacher gave Johnny a plan that would help him shoot a bullseye every time and get better really fast.

Johnny first goal was crazy easy! There was just no way he was going to miss a target 6 inches away.

When you’re learning a new piece of music you need crazy easy goals like Johnny - and a practice plan.

Your plan should start with picking a part of the music that’s tricky. Maybe it’s two measures? Maybe it’s only two notes?

Next, pick a tempo that will help you play the music perfectly. For most people, even grown-ups, it’s really slow.

Finally, practice that part correctly five times. That’s usually enough to make it stick.

It's okay if you don’t play your music perfectly every time. Nobody can. But you should try, because you’ll only get better when you play the music correctly.

Here’s a phrase that I’ve taught students many times.

(Für Elise [First Phrase] by Ludwig van Beethoven performed.)

To learn this phrase - or any phrase you want to learn - you should play it so slowly that there’s no way you can make a mistake.

After practicing each phrase in the same way you’ll be well your way to learning your piece.

(Für Elise [8 Measures] by Ludwig van Beethoven performed.)

Practicing very slowly always helps. You might be surprised how talented you are!

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